Book 60, 2021

Southern Sass and Killer Cravings by Kate Young

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Earlier this evening, I finished the book Southern Sass and Killer Cravings by Kate Young. It is the first book in the "Marygene Brown" series of cozy mysteries.

Marygene left her island home of Peach Cove, GA to pursue her culinary dreams in Atlanta. In the midst of a bitter divorce, she returns home to help her sister run the Peach Diner, which has been in the family for generations. Soon after Marygene's return, one of the diner patrons dies of poisoning, and her sister, Jena Lynn, is arrested for murder. Determined to clear her sister's name and save the reputation of the diner, Marygene starts asking questions and conducting her own investigation, much to the chagrin of her father, Sheriff Eddie. In the course of her sleuthing, Marygene manages to anger her father, exasperate her high school sweetheart, attract the attention of a nosy journalist, get shot at, and be visited by the ghost of her Mama, but nothing is going to stop her from saving her sister and their diner.

This was a cozy for the most part, but it had some darker underlying themes, and for a cozy, it was pretty much balls to the wall throughout. There were a lot of twists and turns, but it did weave together neatly. I enjoyed the paranormal element. I wasn't so keen on how everyone just assumed that Marygene and Alex were getting back together--including Alex. I also didn't like that, in spite of how hard she worked to keep it her personal business, so many people learned that Marygene had left an abusive relationship. It was heartening to see her and her mother work through some of the issues they'd had when her Mama was alive.

Favorite line: "We're going to get through this...and when we do, we're going to be forces to be reckoned with."

Very good, and I look forward to more in the series. Four stars