Caramel Pecan Roll Murder - A Review

 

Caramel Pecan
Roll Murder

by

Joanne Fluke

A Review

I quickly became confused as I began reading this cozy mystery. Was I reading a cozy mystery loaded with recipes or was I reading a cookbook with a side of cozy mystery. I first stumbled on a couple of recipes in the last few pages of the book - they sounded good and there were not too many. But as I began to read the mystery from the beginning of the book, I found myself inundated with more and more recipes. Some chapters (note: not every chapter has recipes) seemed to have more pages with recipes than mystery. What made this discovery even more discouraging was that a vast majority of the recipes would not be allowed to be a part of my diet by my physician - they looked good, but they would not be allowed . There were exceptions - Reuben Omelets, Baked Scotch Eggs, and Wild Rice Soup, would all pass muster, but the vast majority of recipes were sweet treats and/or desserts.

The mystery itself was well written. The Walleye fishing tournament brought some of the best fisherman out for the week as well as many of the locals. Hannah Swensen was a local pastry chef (and source for many of the recipes) and a helpful amatuer detective. The story held my interest as I wandered through the recipe collection. I really thought I had figured out the guilty party early on, but I was caught off guard. Despite misreading the clues, I still found the culmination of the mystery to be satisfying. 

The mystery will receive 4-½ stars; the book as a whole will receive only three stars.
_____________
This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.