Rating:
After living in New York for ten years, Fiona Fleming is looking for a fresh start. When her grandmother passes away leaving her a bed and breakfast, she jumps at the opportunity and moves back to her home town – Reading, Vermont. Then, a business man shows up saying the place was actually signed to him. However, before she could verify his claims, he is found dead in her backyard and she becomes a prime suspect in a murder investigation. Wanting to clear her name, the main character begins investigating some things herself and uncovers many secrets in a seemingly ordinary neighborhood.
The book opens with the main character cleaning the toilet which is not only a bit weird, but goes on for a bit too long. I guess it shows us just how unprepared Fiona is for her new job, but it is completely unnecessary. Combined with the continuous mentioning of the dog’s flatulance, this genuinely reduced my enjoyment of the story.
The writing style is weird as well, almost like it wasn’t polished. Here is an example:
I scrambled my way out of a small town blah and into the bright and shiny life of college and real life.
This is likely a deliberate choice as we are in the main character’s head, seeing everything from her perspective. She is kind of superficial and initially hates the small town. I appreciate what the author tried to do here, but it took me a shile to get used to it.
Also, this might be common for the genre, but too many lines were dedicated to the dog, though I surprisingly did come to like it by the end.
The mystery took a lot of time to be introduced and, unfortunately, wasn’t very interesting. Although I did want to find out the truth, what primarily drew me in was the portrayal of a small town and descriptions of everyday thoughts and situations we can all relate to.
The ending itself came out of nowhere. Yes, there was foreshadowing, but no build up, things suddenly just happened.
On the more positive note, this book had short chapters. It was lighthearted and, at times, funny. The more I kept reading the more I found the small town and its residents charming. They were colorful and full of life, if sometimes a bit cartoonish.
Rating this book was difficult. I was never bored reading it and not once did I consider dropping it, so two and a half stars felt a little low, but I wasn’t terribly invested in the story and I wondered for a while where it was going.
Sure, it had many flaws, but somehow I still had fun with this book. It was kind of like a holiday movie – something entertaining and relaxing despite the fact you won’t think about it again. In that context, if the premise sounds interesting do give this cozy a chance, just don’t expact too much form it.