Battered and Buried
All-Day Breakfast Café Mystery #7
By Lena Gregory
ISBN: 9781960511577
Website: Lenagregory.com
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra
Summary:
The best-laid plans may go awry, but the best-laid clues could frame a man for murder . . .
Never one to let a day off work go to waste, café owner Gia Morelli and a friend head out for a blissful kayaking trip through the local national forest. But the peacefulness of the day is soon shattered when they come across Cole, her head cook, standing over a dead body. Worse still, the victim was a lifelong enemy of Cole’s, and clues found on the body point to the cook as the culprit. When the police take Cole in and subject him to an intense grilling, Gia vows to do everything she can to prove his innocence.
As even more incriminating evidence surfaces—including when the murder weapon itself is found hidden at the café—Gia knows she’s up against someone brutal enough to kill and devious enough to frame Cole for the deed. With the police ready to make an official arrest and wrap up hat they consider an open-and-shut case, Gia turns for help to an old friend who’s not above breaking the law himself. Because if she can’t find the killer, Cole may go from serving up hot dishes to serving a life sentence . . . (Goodreads)
Review:
Battered and Buried is the seventh book in the All-Day Breakfast Café Mystery series by Lena Gregory. It is also the second book I have read by this author. So far, Ms. Gregory’s books are engaging and have kept my interest throughout. The best part was that it did take me a while to conclude who the real killer was! Which is crucial to me when reading a cozy mystery.
The crux of the story is that Gia Morelli, the owner of the All-Day Breakfast Café in Rolling Pines, hopes to find out who killed Rusty Bragge. The police believe (and circumstances point to) her good friend and full-time cook, Cole Barrister as the killer. And to further muddy the waters (and does not bode well for Cole) is the fact that the deceased is essentially a life-long enemy of Cole’s – they have history – and it is not pretty. This history revolves around, you guessed it, a woman – Rusty’s wife…an ex of Cole’s. Cole describes Rusty as “vicious, mean, spiteful and a person that who will stop at nothing to get his way”. Definitely not a nice person! And I must say – that is proven throughout this story.
Gia and Trevor (Gia’s friend) were out kayaking when they came upon Cole and Cybil walking in the marsh. They pulled over to see what Cole and Cybil were looking at…soon to discover it was a body. Which of course, turns out to be Rusty. At this point in time, Cole is going to be hard pressed convincing anyone, let alone the police, that he had nothing to do with Rusty’s murder since they had a shouting match at the All-Day Breakfast Café the day before… with a LOT of witnesses.
What made it an interesting read was that it was not obvious as to who the killer really was. I also enjoyed the journey that I had to follow while Gia unravelled the truth. While there are a few suspects, I think it was the myriad of towns folks that kept me interested. As the story proceeded, I truly began to really dislike the deceased. While I didn’t really wish him dead, I certainly think he did not have any redeeming qualities!
I quite enjoyed Trevor’s enthusiasm with respect to Gia’s impending nuptials, especially while kayaking. And then the fact that Gia and her fiancé Hunt (Captain Hunter Quinn – captain of the Boggy Creek PD) have not actually set a date or discussed any details. This made me chuckle just a wee bit.
I must say, the cover art for this book is good. The puppy was cute and I found the pancake in the shape of a skull eye catching. A bit of foreboding I must say.
If you are a fan of cozy mysteries – then I would like to suggest picking up this 7th book in the All-Day Breakfast Café Mystery series. I myself plan to go back to the beginning of the series and learn about Gia, her pets Thor and Klondike as well as the love story between her and her fiancé, Hunter. Maybe learn more about her bestie, Savannah and her hubby, Detective Leo Dumont and the other residents of Boggy Creek.
Though I must say, this book does stand on its own and was a delight to read.
