Grilled and Seasoned With Murder

Josie Rizzo Cozy Mystery, Book #1

By  J R Pearson

ASIN: B01C0TBZFC

Author’s Website: http://JosieRizzoCozyMysteries.weebly.com

 

Review brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra

Synopsis:

Josie Rizzo has a lot on her plate.
(Double bacon cheeseburger not included)

She and her furry companion, Petey, set out to start fresh in the food loving town of Greenville. Josie is excited to introduce the readers of her food blog to the town’s delicious creations.
But when a young woman is murdered at a local burger joint, Josie must sacrifice all she has planned to accomplish to prevent a person from her past from being wrongly accused of the woman’s death.
And things start to heat up when the killer sets his sights on Josie.
Will she’s be able to enjoy Greenville’s belly-rubbing cuisines and begin a new chapter in her life? Or will the killer cut Josie’s dreams short and make sure that basket of onion rings are her last?

Review:

What a gem.  I have not read any of JR Pearson’s books until today.  I certainly have been missing out!  Pearson writes a series of short, quick read, cozy mysteries. The amateur sleuth is Josie Rizzo.  Josie writes a food blog – Good Eatin’ for The Curvy Soul with the idea that her blog would gain attention from the ever popular food magazine, Forks and Knives.

I love how Josie is honest about her family…definitely kept me chuckling for a few minutes:

    “Despite the warnings and pleadings from her loving but bat-crap crazy mother….”

Another thing that kept me giggling was Petey, Josie’s slightly overweight dog (Josie referred to Petey as her baby-hippo-sized friend).  He definitely had attitude about the move from Jewel Cove to Greenville and to show his displeasure he peed on Josie’s new bath rug. Once this was done, all was well with the move.  Petey definitely has attitude!

Now on to the serious business of what makes this story a good cozy mystery.  Josie has met up to reconnect with her buddy Brad (no, not a love interest, just a good friend) at Triple B’s – a restaurant specializing in burgers, bacon and beer.  After some much needed catching up, what do they notice???  Tony Santino in to the Triple B. Tony is Josie’s childhood next door neighbor…and a hunky, six foot tattooed hottie (boy has he aged well)!  Tony quickly knocked back his drink and as he was preparing to leave, all the patrons of the Triple B heard a woman scream.  Turns out a woman was dead in the back alley.  One thing leads to another and Tony is a prime suspect in her murder.

Flash forward a bit and Tony comes knocking on Josie’s door and asks that she help him prove his innocence.

While Josie is attempting to help Tony, sparks fly. Wonder how far this attraction will go?   Good thing there are four books in the series, should be able to find out how the relationship develops over time ☺  You can tell Tony is a good guy who values what is on the inside most of all:

“…Tony took in Josie’s appearance, unable to hide his grin.  A few strands of hair escaped her high ponytail, her new name tag hung upside down, and patches of mustard stained her shirt.  She looked beautiful.”

I loved how Josie did not let Tony get away with anything either:

“…Don’t give me that. I don’t care what others think or say about you, and if you fight me on this, she said, pointing a finger at him, I will take you down like I did when we were kids playing football in Buck Tooth Sammy’s backyard.  Tony smiled broadly. He very much remembered that day.”

The murder was solved in due time (and no, I can’t and won’t give any spoilers….). It was pretty straight forward and having said that, a bit more intrigue, twisting and turning might have upped the enjoyment factor with respect to the cozy mystery aspect; I overall enjoyed the story and writing style of J R Pearson.

I must say…with Josie being a food blogger, there was definitely a plethora of food described throughout the book, which made me want to go out and eat at Triple B’s!!!  Grilled and Seasoned with Murder is a delightful cozy mystery which kept me engaged and guessing through the whole book. The characters were depicted in such a manner that I must continue on in my discovery of the Josie Rizzo Cozy Mystery series by reading the next book in the series, Sliced and Toasted with Murder.  As well, there was a BIG twist at the end which just screamed at me to continue with this series…so I am ☺