Bonjour, lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Ana
T. Drew and her new book, “The Murderous Macaron”! For other stops on her Goddess Fish
Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in
this post.
Be sure to make it to the
end of this post to enter to win a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Ana
and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous
giveaway!
The Murderous Macaron
by Ana T. Drew
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GENRE: Cozy Mystery
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BLURB:
Julie has her freedom, a dream job as a pastry chef, and a
corpse growing cold on her floor...
Welcome
to Beldoc, a small town in the heart of Provence, imbued with lavender and
fresh baked bread! You can idle around, or you can puzzle out a murder mystery.
When
a man dies on her watch in her pâtisserie, newly divorced chef
Julie Cavallo is dismayed. It isn’t
that she’s a suspect. The local gendarmerie captain signs off the death as a
natural event. A heart attack. But for a reason she won’t discuss, Julie
suspects Maurice Sauve was poisoned. What’s a girl to do? She’ll ignore the
risk and seek justice for Maurice on her own!
Well,
not quite on her own. Julie’s eccentric grandmother, her snarky sister and her
geeky sous chef are keen to help. The team’s amateurism is a challenge. But
there’s also the pesky matter of no evidence, no clues, and soon, no body. The
murder—if it was a murder—was planned and executed flawlessly.
Can a small-town baker solve the perfect crime?
"The Murderous Macaron" is a twisty whodunnit mystery
perfect for fans of Janet Evanovich, Alexander McCall Smith, Jana DeLeon and
Lilian Jackson Braun.
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EXCERPT ONE:
My
grandmother’s doga class—the only doga class in Beldoc and the surrounding
area—is as inspiring as it is wacky. Probably more wacky than inspiring, at
least to an uninitiated onlooker.
A
group of people in yoga outfits are scattered over the deck, facing Rose.
Dressed
in comfy yet formfitting yoga pants and a soft cotton top, my nimble grandma
leads her troops across their mats to nirvana.
Boy,
I hope I look like her when I’m seventy-four!
Pooches
of various shapes, colors, and sizes roam from person to person and drool on
the mats. Some take part in their parent’s poses. A tiny Yorkshire tries to
perform a suspicious sequence involving his lower abdomen, a human shin, and
some vigorous rubbing. A couple of lovebirds in the corner sniff each other’s
posteriors while wagging their tails. An overweight French bulldog launches
into an elaborate snore.
Most
of the humans are gray-haired women, well-groomed and refined, but definitely
second division compared to Rose. There are a few men in the group. One of them
is Rose’s notary, Maître Serge Guichard. A widower in his late sixties with a
neat little beard, he handled the purchase of the pâtisserie for me at a
reduced rate. Judging by the glances he steals at Rose, I think I know why.
The
group also includes a young couple in their late twenties. I had a chat with
them last time I showed up before the class was over. Both adore dogs but their
place is too small to adopt one. Thanks to Rose’s class, they can spend time
with other people’s dogs twice a week.
Under
my grandma’s guidance, the yogis and yoginis do the sun salutation while the
dogis and doginis do whatever they please.
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BOOK REVIEW:
This book is filled with wickedly wonderful characters, intriguing
plot twists, and enjoyable, suspenseful, mystery scenes!!
I love cozy mysteries and this book did not disappoint!!
This book is the perfect
easy-going, leisure, effortless read that can be soaked up in just a few, short
hours!!
I
enjoyed the story line and felt engaged in the story structure and plot
points. The writing style was steady and
easily flowed. This book falls on the
average to longer side at 268 eBook pages.
But like I said, I thoroughly adored this book and every scene felt necessary
for its success.
I really enjoyed the charming and delightful characters!! It’s clear the author made them a focal part
of the story, and for good reason – they entertained!! Whether it was the silly bantering, witty comebacks,
or the just the accents – these lovable characters certainly brought their
A-game!!
I really
liked Julie, the main character, and found an easy, relatable, connection with
her. She was likable, realistic, and
genuine. Also, of course, I loved Julie’s
Grandma, Rose, (she’s hilarious!!), Julie’s Sous Chef, Eric, Julie’s Sister,
Flo, Julie’s Twin-Sister, Cat, Capitaine Gabriel Adinian, Pascale, and all
the rest of the folks of Beldoc!!
I loved the beautiful European setting!! There were lots of vivid details that made it very easy to picture many of the scenes.
I was
hoping for a bit more of a French theme and overtone. Perhaps, this will develop over the course of
the book series. Or was limited to not
scare anyone away looking for a relaxing, easy read. Having personally taken French all through high
school and college, I was looking forward to dusting off the old cobwebs, but
then again, that was a few more years ago then I’d like to admit, so maybe I should
be glad I didn’t have to worry about stumbling over a language I was once proficient
in lol.
I really enjoyed the baking
story line!! I love baking – errr, well, trying to lol!! Anywho, I still appreciated
the delicious gluten-free delights Julie and Eric made. I think it would have been a nice extra if
the author included a couple recipes at the back of the book of some of Julie’s
favorite gluten-free delights that would sure to be baked in her adorable shop!!
This
book also reminded me a bit of the “Murder She Baked,” Book Series by
Joanne Fluke, which also went on to become Hallmark TV Movie successes!!
There are some predictable scenes. However, there are still a few very
unexpected twists and turns that you won’t see coming!
This book is Book
One of The Julie Cavallo Investigates Book Series. It can be read as a standalone. It seems the author has already written a
total of three books in this series, with the last to be released at the end of
this October. Like book one, book two
seems well received with readers, as I am sure book three will be as well! I look forward to checking out the other books
in this series!
All in all, I really
enjoyed reading this book and would absolutely recommend it! I think all cozy mystery fans will like this
book too – and this book series! So, add
it to your TBR List and get to reading – you won’t be disappointed!
Did you find this review helpful?
If so, please, please, please mark it as helpful
on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R2ECLIAZV2VKW6
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AUTHOR BIO:
Ana T. Drew is
the evil mastermind behind the recent series of murders in the fictional French
town of Beldoc. When she is not writing cozy mysteries or doing mom-and-wife
things, she can be found watching “The Rookie” to help her get over “Castle”.
She lives in Paris but her heart is in Provence.
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CONNECT WITH ANA:
Website:
Facebook:
Pinterest:
BookBub Author Page:
BookBub Book Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
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AMAZON BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Paperback:
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Ana will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a
randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this
blog. This does not cost you anything,
it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Ana ~ Good morning! Welcome to FAB! It is so great to have you here! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! I really enjoyed reading and reviewing your book, thanks for providing the copy! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThank you Ally! What a thorough, insightful review, wow! Thank you! I'm thrilled you found this cozy mystery fun and entertaining. By the way, there's a bit more French in Book 2, but not too much, for the reasons you suspected. ;-) And I'll be adding a recipe or two in the backmatter -- that was a great suggestion, thank you!
ReplyDeleteI like the excerpt and cover.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate hearing about your book, thanks and for the giveaway also. Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteGood evening! My question for you today is, what are some of your favorite genres to read and who are some of your favorite authors?
ReplyDelete