I'm giving this two stars only because it's nice and I'd feel guilty if I slammed it with one star.

I read this because I found it on the book swap table at work and I'm currently obsessed with all things pumpkin. It seemed appropriate to read this little mystery.

What a waste of time! It was like watching an episode of "Murder,She Wrote" that took days instead of an hour. I know, I know, I should have expected that.

It was just so overly polite and persnickety from start to finish. I was completely annoyed by Phyllis and all her friends and especially by her grandson and his 'fection (aka ear infection) who served ABSOLUTELY NO PURPOSE.

The mystery itself was not too exciting and the sudden solution out of left field. Not nearly enough clues for my liking. I also didn't understand the serious dislike of the police detective....maybe that's a holdover from a previous book? I'll never forget because I won't be touching this series ever again.

Not recommended even for a time-killer beach read or for a plane ride. SNOOOOZER from start to finish.

(I will be keeping the pumpkin cheesecake muffin recipe though!) ( )

Phyllis Newsom—a sixty-something retired schoolteacher, boardinghouse proprietor, and all-around busybody—discovers the dead body of Logan Powell, local real estate mogul and philandering husband, at the annual Harvest Festival. The strange thing is Logan’s corpse is found dressed up as a scarecrow and sitting on a bale of hay among the Festival decorations. Logan’s long-suffering wife Dana is immediately suspected and quickly arrested for his murder. But, Phyllis believes Dana is innocent and sets out to find the real culprit before Dana is sent up the river for a crime she didn’t commit.

This book isn’t awful, but it’s not very good either.

Phyllis and her friends are not very likeable or even well-developed characters. Some of them are downright irritating. Phyllis and Carolyn are both incredibly pompous and bossy to the point of obnoxiousness. The absolute worst is Phyllis’ cornpone boyfriend & boarder, Sam. Sam finds it impossible to pronounce any words ending in “-ing” and all of his ‘I reckons’ and ‘darn tootins’ get darn obnoxious right quick. Almost all of the characters are public schoolteachers and the fact that they are all idiots and can’t manage basic English grammar is irksome…sadly realistic, but irksome.

I found it particularly funny that Phyllis is supposedly babysitting her four-year-old grandson Bobby, but she manages to constantly foist the snot-nosed little tot off on her paying guests.

Sadly, there really is little mystery in this ‘cozy mystery’. The murderer (& the motive) are glaringly obvious from the moment the character is introduced. And Phyllis does very little in the way of putting clues together; she just sort of has an epiphany moment in the kitchen, and—Bob’s your uncle!—Dana is exonerated and the real murderer is not-so-dramatically apprehended. Meh.

I’d probably be willing to read other installments of this series if they come my way, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to track them down and I certainly wouldn’t go out and buy them. ( )

this was okay. i could take it or leave it. but i'll let the girl read it in a year or so.
( )

It is November in Weatherford, Texas. Fall is in the air, and the first annual Harvest Festival is soon to be held. Phyllis Newsom, a retired schoolteacher, is watching her grandson, Bobby, while her son and daughter-in-law are out of town and looks forward to taking him to the festival. Of course, no festival would be complete without a cooking contest, and Phyllis plans to enter her pumpkin cheesecake muffins with pecan crumble in the cooking contest. For once, the friendly cooking rivalry between Phyllis and her fellow housemate, Carolyn Wilbarger, will be put to a rest as Carolyn has agreed to be a judge in the cooking competition.

Phyllis helps Carolyn and some fellow teachers prepare for the festival by arranging scarecrows on hale bales. The morning of the festival, Carolyn and Phyllis notice a scarecrow is out of place and go to move it, only to discover underneath the scarecrow costume lies the dead body of Logan Powell, a festival organizer and real estate developer. Worse yet, there is a substance in Logan's mouth that appears to be a bit of Phyllis's pumpkin cheesecake muffin. Suspicion immediately falls on Dana Powell, Logan's wife and a current schoolteacher who is a friend of Carolyn's. Neither Phyllis nor Carolyn believe Dana could have committed the murder and both feel the police are doing little to look for another suspect.

Phyllis begins to ask questions and learns of a lucrative real estate deal in the works as well as whispers of extramarital affairs. Can Phyllis solve the murder before Dana is convicted of the deed?

I have read the previous books in this series. This book was much better than the last one, in which Phyllis came off old-fashioned and judgemental although I do think it was a poor choice to have Phyllis in charge of her grandson as she seemed to foist him off on whichever of her roommates was available while she could investigate a murder and clear the name of a woman she barely knew. Overall, though, this book made for a quick, cozy read. ( )

I was very, very surprised when this book got instant 5/5 status as soon as the climax was threatening to be revealed. I was confident that it would be a solid work of literature. But though the premise of a festival was again used, it didn't feel forced or repetitive. I liked how the author alerts us that something important has just transacted, but in the final reveal that moment was not mentioned again. However the book did enough to elevate itself above its usual fare, and now I have better hopes for the successors in this quite delightful series. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a well paced and thrilling book. ( )