A Spoonful of Murder
Soup Lover’s Mystery #1
Connie Archer

Berkley Prime Crime
August 2012/ 978-0-425-25147-8
Mystery/Amateur Sleuth
Amazon

Reviewed by Laura Hinds

Lucky Jamieson’s luck seems to have run out. After her parents’ untimely death in an auto accident, Lucky returned to her hometown of Snowflake, Vermont to handle her parents' affairs. There is the house to deal with, and their business, By the Spoonful, a soup shop located in town.

When By the Spoonful’s chef, Sage DuBois is arrested for murder, Lucky is forced to give the business her all—and while she’s at it prove Sage’s innocence. The victim is Patricia Honeywell, an instructor at the nearby ski resort. Rumors swirl about Honeywell’s social life and her involvement with several men. Because her body is dumped behind By The Spoonful, and the chef charged with murder, the restaurant’s clientele stay away in droves, adding to Lucky’s worries about the business.

Lucky’s grandfather, Jack, is helping out at the shop and she has a couple of waitresses to work as needed. With so few customers, not only is the workload light, but the bank account is quickly running towards empty. The one bright spot in Lucky’s life is her blossoming relationship with Doctor Elias Scott, who she’s had a crush on since her school days. Despite her years away at college and work, her feelings bubble to the surface the first time she sees him. He is older than she, but now the difference in ages may not matter so much. Until she starts to suspect everyone as she noses around about Honeywell’s relationships.

I liked this book a lot, but I didn’t love it. There are characters I became interested in easily, and the mystery is plotted well. The descriptions of people, places and things are detailed enough to make them feel real, and I could picture them in my mind. However, Lucky frequently made me want to shake her. She doesn’t willingly put herself in danger, she’s not TSTL (too stupid to live), but she speaks and makes accusations without thinking, and she repeats the pattern too often for my taste.

Overall, this is a fine cozy mystery, and I hope that the series will continue and Lucky will be written to show she learns to think first, talk later. I’m interested in her romance with Elias, her grandfather and his health, and the regular customers at the shop. The book is a fast read and written in a manner that makes reading it easy and comfortable.