Simone Stier's Cafe Cozy Mystery Series starts with A Shot of Scandal where we first meet Parker Hayes, former true-crime podcaster who has decided she wants to try small town life and is reinventing her life as a cafe owner. When a murder and theft occurs at a high society gala in Magnolia Grove (said small town), Parker's plans for a peaceful life start to dissipate as her investigative senses start to itch.
If you love cozy mysteries then this is a great series to look into, it includes all the classic cozy tropes of small town, found family & quirky cast. The setting is the southern town of Magnolia Grove and the books really do make it feel like a warm, tight-knit community.
The characters are great, Simone Stier has done a great job in making the town's residents feel real. Parker's friendships and conflicts with other locals are often a highlight in the books. Although each book can be read as a standalone, if you read them in order you see Parker's growth as she lets people in and develops friendships.
I love the name of her cafe - Catch You Latte which is a very subtle nod to her history as a very successful true-crime podcaster. We learn more about why she stepped away from her podcast as we work our way through the early books. There are often references to episodes of her podcast and it's her experience as a former private investigator and podcaster that give her a unique view point on these situations.
I will say that for a small town there's a high body count and somehow Parker seems to keep stumbling into these murder cases at community events, galas, even haunted mansions.
The tone of these books is very cozy, there's humor, warmth, friendship and plenty of coffee and pastries. One of the recurring characters is Hazel who is a student that loves baking so works for Parker in her cafe baking the amazing cakes for Parker to serve. She also dyes her hair a different shade for each book, the color to compliment the coffee special that is featured in the book. I love the sound of these coffee creations as much as I enjoy the story.
In later books Parker also hires Renee to bake and let's just say Renee and Hazel are like chalk and cheese,. I'm looking forward to see where their relationship arc is going to lead.
Another notable character in the books is Major - her part time dog, because every small town cafe owner needs a dog in my opinion. Then there's Parker's love interest Walt, the town historian. I won't dwell on the myriad of other characters in these books - they are all just waiting for you to discover them.
The mysteries are well constructed with red herrings, twists and clues. There's also a good balance between investigating crime and her day to day cafe challenges. In book 2 (A Drizzle of Danger) for example her grand opening turns into a major crisis when a body is found near her cafe.
Later books continue to raise stakes and weave more complex plots eg A Measure of Mayhem involves a Polar Plunge at a festival, property disputes and hidden grudges. Just as you're thinking surely there's no more secrets this small town can hold and is there anyone left to kill? We see Parker being asked to help investigate a 15 year old cold case in a neighboring small town of Willow Springs in A Dusting of Doubt.
These books are great for readers who prefer "cozy" over "dark" crime where the violence is implied rather than graphic. The book's tone stays light even when the stakes are high, making them relaxing reads. If you enjoyed Cleo Coyle's The Coffeehouse Mysteries you will love this series.
The series isn't over yet! There are 14 published books so far with one about to be released on December 1st and when you look at the author's page there are 9 other titles that have been listed as also coming! I am halfway through book 12 at the moment.
I love reading cozy mysteries to relax and unwind when my head is too full to concentrate on my more favorite genres of psychological thrillers or gritty whodunnits. Cozy mysteries tend to be more predictable and everything gets resolved happily which means you don't stay awake afterwards thinking about them and you also don't have to concentrate too hard to figure out what's happening.
I also love that a number of cozy mysteries are more character focused and this series is one where you really feel wrapped up in the community as you read the book - like friends on a page.
With all of that it probably comes as no surprise that I was introduced to this series earlier in the year when I was sick and promptly read the first five books in quick succession. I was introduced to a couple of other cozy mystery series at this time as well, but this is the only one where I have an alert to download the new books every time they are published which should tell you that I definitely give this series a big thumbs up.
If you want to enjoy this series and lots more amazing books then you might want to try out Kindle Unlimited - I love it and would rather give up Netflix than my Kindle Unlimited account!
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