Hope Early is a very busy person. Creating and cooking new recipes for her food blog, teaching a blogging class at the local library, and getting involved in yet another murder, she doesn’t have much time for herself.

Hope’s high school friend, Devon, is back in town, with her true-crime podcast, to investigate the disappearance of her mother twenty years prior. She plans to turn the town upside down and shake it until she gets her answers. When she turns up dead, it is up to Hope to find those answers. Someone in town has been keeping decades-old secrets and they don’t want them to come out.

This is another great mystery from this author. The clues add up bit by bit and lead in an interesting direction. She also does a fantastic job of letting the reader in on the nitty-gritty of blogging and social media presence. Those touches, along with mouth-watering descriptions of the various recipes and dishes Hope tries out on her friends and family make this a must read.

This is book four so there is a bit of history in the story and between the characters. I do think it reads well as a standalone, but it would be worth it to start at the beginning just to get the flair and of course the recipes, several of which are included at the end of the story.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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The Corpse Who Knew Too Much by Debra Sennefelder is the second book that I’ve read in the Food Blogger Mysteries and it was wonderful catching up with Hope, Jane, Drew, Claire, and the rest of the gang. This is book number four in the series and if you haven’t read any of the other books, Sennefelder gives you enough background and references to previous cases that you won’t be lost. Although with any series, starting from the first book is always a great idea so you can watch the characters grow and be privy to insider information. The Uninvited Corpse is book one in the series in case this is a new series to you.

Hope is going non-stop all of the time and is dealing with a lot; creating new recipes for her blog and all the things that come along with maintaining a blog, running a class at the local library, learning to do podcasts, remodeling/decorating her older farmhouse, working on her relationship with the town sheriff and his daughters, and solving not one, but three murders! It’s no wonder she’s finally hired an assistant to help with the administrative parts of her blogging business and someone to help around the house and with her chickens. And besides solving three murders she also figures out who’s been stealing small objects around her house. I’m tired just thinking of having to handle all of that.

But with giving Hope so many responsibilities, Sennefelder uses it to write a great cozy since there is always something happening. And while everything is going on, Sennefelder is continuing to have her main characters grow and make sure the new ones are well developed. And I feel like Sennefelder has really stepped up her game when it comes to including Hope making new recipes fitting seamlessly into the story, as well as all the yummy recipes at the end of the book. There’s a couple of cookie recipes that I know I will be trying out soon.

As far as the mystery went I was guessing for quite a bit of the book. Towards the end, one of the characters makes a comment that stuck out so I knew they were involved, but I wasn’t exactly sure as to the why. And I really enjoyed how Sennefelder incorporated a true crime podcast into the book since they are so popular and it seemed to give the cozy a bit of a darker feel. Not that it isn’t a true cozy, it just has a bit more menacing creepiness behind it.

Another excellent addition to the Food Blogger Mysteries and the cozy genre! ( )

cozy-mystery, culinary, family-dynamics, friendship, small-town, small-business, law-enforcement, amateur-sleuth, murder

Hope left NYC and is renovating her farmhouse in a small town in Connecticut. She is a food blogger, teaching a class on blogging, and an amateur sleuth (despite the protests of her boyfriend, the local police chief). Twenty years ago the mother of two of Hope's friends disappeared and now one of those girls has returned and is determined to find out what happened to her mom. What she finds out gets her killed and Hope takes up the cause while snow storms keep causing havoc in the area. Great characters and lots of twists and red herrings as well as plenty of family and friendship. An excellent cozy!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )