Burglars & Blintzes

Moorehaven Mysteries #2

By Morgan C. Talbot

ISBN13: 9781948051149

Author’s Website:  morganctalbot.blogspot.com

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra                   

Summary:

Moorehaven is swarming with guests during summer’s last hurrah, and Pippa has her hands full at the mystery-author B&B. When her gossip-group connections inform her that a local construction project has unearthed a skeleton with a pocketful of Spanish gold, the news spreads, and treasure hunters flood the beaches. But the skeleton has a more recent connection to the area than anyone suspected, unearthing a shameful secret that hits far too close to home.

A marine salvage team rolls into town, seeking the rest of the treasure. When they hire Pippa’s boyfriend, Lake, to be their pilot, the team’s pretty spelunker quickly stakes a claim, rousing Pippa’s jealousy. But Pippa’s been playing tug-of-war over Lake ever since his ex-wife, Mallory Tavish, became the new acting chief of police.

When a killer’s strike brings tragedy to Moorehaven’s door, Pippa must rally her friends, family, and mystery-writing guests to catch the murderer before she loses someone she can’t live without and all the warmth of summer dies with one last gasp.

Review:

Burglars & Blintzes is the second book in the Moorehaven Mysteries series by Morgan C. Talbot. The tale begins with Pippa and the guests of her B&B (aptly named Moorehaven) anticipating the arrival of a tsunami. What occurred was a tad bit underwhelming BUT this almost non-event did some damage to Pippa’s fence and aided in the discovery of bones. So whose bones are these? NOW we have the attention of all the guests at the B&B – all the mystery writers letting their writing take a back seat to help figure out the mystery.

I felt like I was with Pippa on the widow’s peak awaiting the tsunami and worrying about her boyfriend, the descriptions just took me away.

The imagery from the storytelling was another thing that caught my attention, for example:

“I’m actually on a widow’s walk, waiting for my sailor to come in from the sea, I thought, tearing up from a combination of emotion and wind. And he survived, so no widows here.”

I really enjoyed the little snippets at the beginning of each chapter, quotes by Raymond Moore. One I just have to highlight:

“Women are like onions-the closer you get to one, the more likely you are to cry” Raymond Moore, 1936.

The slow progression of the romance between Pippa and her boyfriend Lake was interesting and given its turtle pace, potentially more realistic. I did however enjoy one particular scene where Pippa is going to “rescue” Lake with a number of the mystery writer’s in tow. Pippa and crew (Butch, Sarah and Ogden) are barrelling down the highway with their windows open and waving their arms as a way of getting traffic to move out of their way. Butch is a bit of a nervous Nellie. I certainly felt like I was in the car with the writers and Pippa:

“We do wanna live long enough to find your boyfriend, right?” Butch gasped from the passenger seat. “Oh, we’re gonna live long enough,”…

“Oh, we’re gonna live long enough,”…

My eyes were glued to the road, and blood hammered at my temples. I’ll save you. I’ll save you. I’ll save you. As soon as I hit a straightaway, I swerved around a lumbering motor home from British Columbia. Then I had to edge my way around a train of long-haul cyclists whose wheels each bore tightly packed, brightly colored bags. Sadie’s horn barked at cars, trucks, and cyclists alike.

In this story, there is not only mystery surrounding deaths (two to be more precise), but also around the discovery of gold coins – several centuries old. One death occurred MANY years ago and it seems that Pippa’s grandpa

The relationship between Pippa and her sister, Trudie was interesting and at times it definitely portrayed what a relationship between sisters is like – tumultuous and loving all wrapped up in one big mess of emotions.

This mystery has it all: mystery (of course), blossoming love, wild driving, eating – lots of blintzes – loved the recipe at the end. In fact – went to Morgan Talbot’s web site and found a recipe for Maple Oat Hazelnut Scones which I cannot wait to try!

Most importantly – the mystery in this ‘whodonit’ was just that – a mystery – until the end. And that is just the way I like my mysteries. Here is hoping there is a third story in the Moorehaven Mysteries series!

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*