This is the start of a brand new series which sounds to me like it’s going to be a lot of fun and have tons of possibilities for cases. I read an interview with the author, Ginger Bolton, (also known as Janet Bolin who wrote the Threadville cozy series) and she said she based this donut shop on a real one called Cops and Doughnuts out of Michigan. Deputy Donuts is the name of the shop in this series and the shop was named after Emily’s adorable torbie cat, Deputy Donuts or Dep for short.
Look for this awesome new book on January 30, 2018!
Here’s my Goodreads review:
Survival of the Fritters by Ginger Bolton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What an awesome first book for this new series! And what a great idea for a donut shop with the whole police theme going on. Emily and her father-in-law own Deputy Donuts and are usually host to most of the town of Fallingworth’s (WI) police force. When Emily and some of the older ladies in a knitting club find one of the donut shop’s favorite customers murdered in her own home, Emily is forced into interacting with her late husband’s police partner, Brent. They had all three been good friends until one evening when Alec was shot and Brent was just hurt. Emily hadn’t contacted Brent since then. I liked how Brent and Emily can now remember things that Alec had said or done.
Just before the murder, the murdered woman’s good friend Lois moved back into town. This murder also took place five years after the murdered woman’s son was killed. This was a case Alec and Brent had not been able to solve. The main suspect now is Lois’s great nephew, Randy who was a real stinker in high school but seems to have reformed. A state detective is pulled in eventually on the case so Brent, Emily and Lois decide to do a little sleuthing on their own.
There were so many good twists in this plot that I never saw it coming when the killer was revealed. The ending was pretty exciting and Emily took charge of the situation until the police arrived and took the perp into custody.
I like that Emily is at least acknowledging that Brent was hurting too when Alec was shot. I know their friendship is going to be a little slow coming but I hope they can become even better friends. If Alec was anything like he was described, I would think he would have wanted his partner and best friend to be there for his wife after he passed. There were some good funny parts too. I think I have new favorite little catch-phrase (non verbal kind of noise now), mmp! Even the cat was saying it.
The characters were really well developed and very easy to like. Tom seemed like the type that anyone would just love to have as a friend or father-in-law. Emily’s friends Misty (police officer) and Samantha (EMT) were a lot of fun and good, faithful friends. Lois was a hoot! She was the funniest thing at times, kind of made me think of Betty White.
Oh there are some yummy sounding donut and fritter recipes at the end of the book, the favorites that Deputy Donuts serves.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book which was provided by the publisher and NetGalley.
Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery 