Book Review: Bedeviled Eggs by Laura Childs

Bedeviled Eggs by Laura Childs
Publisher: Berkley
Release: December 7, 2010 (Today!)

Paperback, 336 pages
A Cackleberry Club Mystery #3
Cozy mystery/thriller

My Review:
Why I read this:  The author contacted me to see if I was interested in reading her book.  I have heard of the author and this series sounds fascinating so I agreed.


How is the novel driven:  Tough call, it's obviously a mystery/thriller so plot is important, but the characters are just as important in this one as well, so I would say it's a great mixture of the two.


My thoughts:  Bedeviled Eggs was a pleasure to read.  From the first page I was sucked into the world of The Cackleberry Club with Petra, Suzanne and Toni.  As I have mentioned before, I love books and series centered around small-town life and this one delivers on that.

I thought the mystery was well-done and I did not figure out who the bad guy was before it was revealed to me so that was a plus.  The story was finished well and the mystery/suspense plot kept me going through the book.  I'm not sure why I don't read more cozy mystery/thrillers, but after reading this one I will be sure to pick up the first two in the series.

Bedeviled Eggs has a serious mystery to it, but I like the fact that it's light and easy to read, the characters really make it and I didn't have to think too hard while reading it.  I just sat back in my chair and enjoyed where the story took me.  I really enjoyed getting to know the three main characters, Suzanne, Petra and Toni.  They are an interesting bunch, each one different but they work so well together.  I also enjoyed reading about The Cackleberry Club and the various functions they put on, it sounded like a wonderful restaurant and knitting and book store combination.

This is the third book in the series, but the first one I have read and while I think I would have known more about the characters had I read the first two, but I never felt lost at all while reading this one, so if you want to jump right in, I recommend it.  Bedeviled Eggs makes a great stand-alone, but I bet like me, you will want to read the first two when you finish this one.

Great characters, wonderful suspense/mystery, and a lot of small-town fun make Bedeviled Eggs a wonderful book to spend a lazy afternoon reading.  I started it and could not put it down and I enjoyed spending the afternoon immersed in the world of Kindred and it's inhabitants.


Ms. Childs also has two other series besides The Cackleberry Club, she also has the Tea Shop Mysteries and Scrapbooking Mysteries.  I plan on checking those out as well.


My Rating:  4.75/5.0

About the Book:

The ladies at the Cackleberry Club café are busy preparing for Halloween. But someone's jumped the gun on the tricks. As mayoral candidate Chuck Peebler leaves the café, he gets struck with a crossbow arrow and is killed instantly. And when another murder occurs on the historical society's Quilt Trail, the Cackleberry Club needs to sniff out the bad egg-before he strikes again.

About the Author:
Laura Childs is a pseudonym for Gerry Schmitt and she is the best-selling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries, the Scrapbook Mysteries and the Cackleberry Club Mysteries.
 
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FTC Information: I received this book from the author for an honest review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.