Bran New Death

Merry Muffin Mystery Series #1

By: Victoria Hamilton

Narrated by: Margaret Strom

Merry is making a fresh start in small-town Autumn Vale, New York, in the mansion she's inherited from her late uncle, Melvin. The house is run-down, and someone has been digging giant holes on the grounds, but with its restaurant-quality kitchen, the place has potential for her new baking business. She even has her first client - the local retirement home.

Unfortunately, Merry soon finds that quite a few townsfolk didn't like Uncle Mel, and she has inherited their enmity as well as his home. Local baker Binny Turner and her crazy brother, Tom, blame Melvin for their father's death, and Tom may be the one vandalizing Merry's land. But when Tom turns up dead in one of the holes in her yard, Merry needs to prove that she had nothing to do with his death - or her new muffin-making career may crumble before it starts.

©2013 Donna Lea Simpson (P)2015 Tantor

Great story, great narrator - I loved it!

After a bit a slow start this book turned into a page turner (is such a thing is possible with an audiobook). Margaret Strom does a fabulous job narrating, playing the different characters and laying their actions out. She brings the location, people and whole story to life. The story is twisted like real life and the mystery unfolds piece by piece. This is really well written, one can picture the scene, the locales, the people and their actions. It is a true cozy mystery, I am so happy I came across those books. Hopefully the series will get more books added over time. This is a great one!

Great narration, easily followed

I really enjoyed the flow of this book. The narration keeps you interested.
Looking forward to the next one.

dry at first

wow look out for the plot to twist and turn and the bake goods to make you hungry.

love the story, hate the transitions between sections

I love the story and the performance. My complaint is parts of the performance is clipped each time it goes to a new section.

Mediocre At Best

I enjoy Victoria Hamilton's other series so I gave this one a try. It went on and on and on with focus in some parts. I had to skip ahead a bit to keep myself interested. On the other hand, the story has interesting characters and a nice town. I will get the next book in the series. Hopefully it will be better.