Book 10, 2026

[chez_jae]

Heart of Scone: A Culinary Murder Morsel by Allen Henry

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


View all my reviews

I finished an ebook last night: Heart of Scone by Allen Henry. It’s the first in the “Placid Harbor” series of cozy mysteries. The main character is Harriet, who owns and operates a bakery/cafe on the Oregon coast.

At the town’s annual fundraiser, one of Placid Harbor’s troublemakers is shot and killed. The police immediately arrest the man whose gun was found at the scene, but Harriet is convinced Gus is innocent. Even the victim’s estranged wife doesn’t believe Gus killed Jesse. Curious, Harriet begins asking questions around town, and when she gets contradicting stories in return, she realizes there is more going on than anyone imagined.

The book’s blurb made it sound far more interesting than it was. In reality, it was a confusing jumble.

- First of all, if the motive for murdering Jesse was simple robbery, why kill him at such a public event? Talk about increasing the chances of being seen!
- Speaking of the victim, was his name Jesse or Jessie? The spelling alternated with merciless abandon.
- If you’re going to murder someone for money, why go through the elaborate dog and pony show of having someone else steal a rare, valuable gun from another citizen, just so you can use that to frame him?
- Speaking of which, if I was going to murder someone with my great-granddaddy’s rare and valuable shotgun, I WOULDN’T LEAVE IT AT THE SCENE! The police went ahead and arrested Gus anyway, based on the fact that the gun was his. Oka-ay…
- There were two Sharons in the story. It was a bold move by the author, and I approved at first. I mean, we all know several people who share the same name. However, along with the two Sharons, there were two Bobbys as well. Now you’ve gone from bold to bewildering.
- Never mind the Sharons and Bobbys, there were simply too many characters introduced for a relatively short book. It was confusing.
- Harriet had a corgi, which apparently just came and went as she pleased. Are there no leash laws in town? Even if not, you’re just going to trust that your dog isn’t going to get hit on the road or snatched by a random stranger?
- Why on earth did Harriet get up at the asscrack of dawn each day just to walk to her bakery and let the cook in, only to return home and go back to bed for another two hours? Give the guy a key! And, if you don’t trust him, you shouldn’t have hired him in the first place. Duh.

Favorite lines:
♦ “It’s funny how you can get so used to something that you don’t notice it any more.”

In short, too many characters to keep track of, plot had precious little cohesion, and very little made any sense. Two stars, which is about half a point more than this deserved.

Comments

[felaine]

Those aspects don't make much sense, especially the key thing. Also double naming Teo character sets for no other reason.
Silly.