Book 37, 2024

[chez_jae]

Birthday Cake and Burglary by Sue Hollowell

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I finished Birthday Cake and Burglary last night. It's the third book by Sue Hollowell in her "Belle Harbor" mystery series, featuring novice baker Tilley Griffin.

Tilley and her Uncle Jack are busy getting Jack's antique shop ready for Belle Harbor's annual Arts Walk. While taking a break and enjoying a ride on the Ferris wheel, Tilley sees someone fall from the cliffs near the lighthouse. She learns it was another local shop keeper who died. Although Poppy's death is ruled an accident, Tilley feels it was murder. Will her sleuthing lead to a solution or to her own demise?

First of all, I take umbrage with the title. The story had absolutely nothing to do with burglary. I get that the author likes alliteration (so do I!), but make it make sense, please. Second was Tilley's (in)action right after witnessing Poppy's fall. Had you witnessed such an event would you:

A) Call 911 immediately
B) Wait until you disembarked from the Ferris wheel to call 911
C) Call your BFF first
D) Call your BFF first to go check it out with you and then (and only then) call 911 when you saw someone dead at the bottom of the cliff

If you chose D, congratulations! You suck, right along with Tilley. Honest to Pete, why in the world did she not call it in right away? Maybe Poppy could have been saved if EMS got to her sooner. We'll never know, because instead of summoning help as quickly as possible, Tilley and Fiona hiked up to the lighthouse for a look-see. That colored my impression of the entire rest of the story.

Favorite line: I was choosing myself for probably the first time in my life.

This was an average read, and I would have awarded it an average score, but the egregious stupidity Tilley displayed in not calling 911 instantly has me knocking the score down to a two.

Comments

[felaine]

Between the "lack of burglary" title and not seeing falling off a cliff as an emergency, two major headdesk moments.

[chez_jae]

That not calling 911 was...I was gobsmacked.