Books, Brownies and Murder

Story Tree Cozy Mystery Series, Book 1

By: Lori Woods

Narrated by: Jennifer Groberg

Everyone in Valley Springs knows that the brownies at Story Tree are to die for, so why are they so surprised when it turns out to be true?

Clary St. James is content with her life in Valley Springs and her flourishing bookstore. She’s content, not bored. And if she keeps repeating that to herself, one day, it might just be true.

Everything changes one snowy afternoon, when a handsome stranger takes up residence next door. Tall, dark, handsome, and arrogant, he rolls into town like he owns the place. Before she can complain too much, Valley Springs is rocked by an unexpected murder of a local man.

All eyes turn to Clary’s bookstore cafe, when it’s revealed that lethal brownies were the murder weapon. The once-revered brownies become objects of suspicion, and Clary is forced to defend her talented chef and friend Marie.

It’s a race against the clock as the evidence keeps mounting and secrets come to light. Death by chocolate was supposed to be a marketing scheme, not a promise. Will Clary find the truth? Is her faith in her chef misplaced?

This is the first book in the Story Tree Cozy Mystery series, with a book-loving amateur sleuth, set in a picturesque town with sassy characters!

©2019 Lori Woods (P)2020 Lori Woods

Books and murder and sweets

I really liked the book and the narration.
cannot wait for the next book, hopefully Marie will be back in it

Entertaining light cozy mystery

Clary St. James runs a bookstore cafe, the Story Tree, in Valley Springs. Her chef is Marie, a few years older, originally from France, and an absolutely killer baker.

Which is great for business, until someone dies of rat poison that somehow found its way into one of Marie's brownies.

We meet an array of interesting local characters, some likable, some cantankerous, and one a bit more devious and less balanced than the town residents, including Clary, suspect.

We're not definitively told that the local police noticed early on why Marie wasn't a likely suspect, but I'm happy to say this is not a case of the police being stupid so the amateur sleuth can look smart.

Also, Clary doesn't do anything alone that she ought to have known was dangerous.

It's a light, entertaining cozy mystery, enjoyable and fun.

I received a free copy of this audiobook, and am reviewing it voluntarily.

Enjoyed

I have never read any books by this author but this book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review. I did enjoy the book and the characters. The book was well written and kept my interest throughout. My only negative comment would be how Clary treated Logan. I wanted to throttle her. LOL. I definitely will do more of this cute series.

The narrator did a fantastic job.

Perfect short cozy

If you’re looking for a short cozy this is exactly what you’ll get. I usually like to listen to cozies in between more intense books to help cleanse my literary palette if you will 😂. I like this one because the characters were fun and varied even for such a short book and I look forward to reading more in the series.

Good Story & Narration

I like the beginning, telling us that her brownies at Story Tree are to die for, then why is one surprised when one does die. .Small Town everyone knows one another. A new business going in next door, he comes to get coffee and brownies for his worker. Only to return and saying there has been a murder. Enjoyable will Clary be able to figure out, what happened and it wasn’t the brownies.
Given ARC audio also and it added and brought this story out in detail and good narration