Pancakes and Corpses by Agatha Frost

Soon to be divorced Julia South never expected to be caught up in solving a murder, until she discovered the body of her cafe’s most awkward customer. With a new smug Detective Inspector in town who underestimates her every move, Julia makes it her mission to discover the real murderer, before her village friends are dragged into the frame, and more bodies are discovered.

Pancakes and Corpses is the first book in Agatha Frost’s Peridale Café Cozy Mystery series.

A cute cozy mystery involving a lot of baking and a dollop of suspense. The story revolves around a closely-knit town Peridale, where gossip is everybody’s hobby! Julia South returned to Peridale a year ago after Jerrad, her husband, told her that he’s planning to move in with his secretary and showed Julia the door. Julia decided to go back to the town where she spent most of her childhood – Peridale. Julia now owns a café in town and her cakes and cookies are to die for!

The sleepy town is now buzzing with a murder and an absconding suspect! Gertrude Smith is found murdered and the main suspect Roxy, Julia’s friend is absconding.

Julia decides to solve this murder mystery, after all, she isn’t convinced that her friend is a murderer. Some very dark secrets are out of Pandora’s box, thanks to Gertrude! Along with the secrets, the suspect list is long – Gertrude was a blackmailer and everybody had a motive to kill her.

Julia’s curiosity to dig deeper into this muck is appreciable. She even manages to hide information from Barker Brown and when she’s caught red-handed, she woos him with her famous chocolate fudge cake!

Meanwhile, someone’s been stealing cakes and cookies from Julia’s café. Julia manages to catch the cake-thief red-handed only to see that the thief is a homeless girl of 16, known as Jessie. Julia’s caregiving side is well portrayed here.

The detailed background on each of the suspects is impressive. The story is entertaining and engaging. A good blend of delicious cakes, some very good detective skills, mystery and a tad bit of romance makes Pancakes and Corpses a delightful read.

The author’s writing style is good. The characters were exceptional and the story was interesting. Overall, I liked the story and I am going to read all the other books in this series.

Things to look out for in the next book: Jessie’s role in the story and the romance between Barker Brown and Julia South.

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