A Frying Shame

Deep Fried Mystery, Book #3

By Linda Reilly

ISBN: 9780425274156

Author website: http://www.lindasreilly.com/

 

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Kayt

Synopsis:

A cooking contest becomes a fry to the finish in the new Deep Fried Mystery from the author of Out of the Dying Pan.

Fry another day.

The town of Wrensdale is abuzz with excitement when Steeltop Foods sponsors a cooking contest to promote its new product, the Flavor Dial. With a $25,000 prize at stake, all the contestants are on edge, including Talia Marby, owner of Fry Me A Sliver. She hopes her mini deep-fried apple pies will win her the money to pay off the renovations on her restaurant. But when Norma Ferguson wins with her flaky-top chicken stew, the tensions dial up even more.

After Norma is found dead at her cooking station, the police suspect a losing contestant got a little too hot under the collar. Now it’s crunch time as Talia works to catch the killer and clear her name before another cook gets burned.

Includes delicious recipes!

Review:

Reading the first few pages of A Frying Shame was like visiting home again. I love the characters, the setting, the atmosphere of the story. It was pure joy reading. Linda Reilly has a way of making you feel welcome into her book and keeps you entertained and intrigues the whole way through. The characters are all colorful and well developed. The storyline is full of secrets, mystery, enjoyment and humor as well. Talia Marby, owner of Fry Me a Sliver, is someone I would love to be friends with. She is caring and intelligent and gets things done. Plus she loves her little calico Bo and that is always a good sign. This is a wonderful read that truly keeps you glued to the book until you are done. Then you do not want to be done of course.

Protagonist Talia Marby has entered the much talked about contest sponsored by Steeltop Foods. She is one of 6 contestants to enter and this is a big deal for small town Wrensdale. No one knows why they brought the contest there, but no one is complaining, yet. Talia is going to be frying up her mini deep-fried apple pies for the sweet part of the contest and of course she knows most of the other competitors. She is not familiar with Norma Ferguson, however (who is entered in the savory section) and to Talia, Norma seems off a bit. When Norma wins with flaky-top chicken stew, others are not very happy. Talia is just excited to have been involved and super glad to be done with it. There are other festivities to be enjoyed with that out of the way. So she and her friends do just that. Unfortunately her coworker goes missing while getting a sweater and Norma ends up dead at her cooking station.

Things really get heated when the police think the second place contestant must be the killer. Then they find evidence to back it up. Talia knows this cannot be and has to do a bit of investigating to prove them wrong. There are some interesting back stories and history among the suspects too. Author Linda Reilly has so many tidbits of leads and misleads that I went down one path for the real killer, only to turn around completely and think it was another one. Her writing style is, as always fabulous. She layers the mystery so perfectly, the leads all seem important, and her characters are wonderful. Talia and friends search for answers and find a lot more on the way.

Reading A Frying Shame is a true joy. It sizzles, it pops, it is the perfect fryer and boy is it tasty!! Oh, and do not forget the delicious recipes at the end. Linda Reilly writes in a way that makes the reader feel comfortable and able to really relate to her characters. Then she adds in the spice of murder, the sizzle of clues here and there, the pop of misleads and leads. All to build the most delectable cozy mystery. Even if you have not read first two books in this exquisite series, you will have no trouble at all enjoying this one and relating to the characters. Linda Reilly is one of my favorite authors, her books are delightful, her characters are relatable, her stories are the best. A Frying Shame is the epitome of a cozy mystery. I just wish I could give more than 5 stars.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review as part of their ongoing blog tour*