Title: Peach Clobbered ( A Georgia B&B Mystery #1)
Author: Anna Gerard
Published on: 9th July 2019
Genre: Cozy Mystery
After a divorce, Nina Fleet moves to a historic Queen Anne House in the quiet Cymbeline, GA. She’s barely settled in when a penguin shows up on her porch. No, not a real one! The man under the penguin suit is Harry Wescott. He claims to be the real owner of the house – his great-aunt had promised him the house after her death. But that didn’t happen and here he is, trying to claim his right on a house that is now officially Nina’s.
The Sisters of Perpetual Poverty have lost their lease on the convent and a real-estate developer, Gregory Bainbridge, wants to convert the land into a golfing community. Nina wanted to convert her house to a B&B but the mayor had refused. But now Nina finds herself to be an overnight B&B owner and the six nuns are her first guests.
The nuns are off to protest against Gregory when Nina sees the penguin again. This time, with a knife, stabbed into its chest. The man under the costume is Gregory. With most of the townspeople having a grudge against Gregory, who would have wanted to kill him?
Peach Clobbered is the first book in A Georgia B&B Mystery by Anne Gerard. Nina Fleet (pronounced as Nine-ah) has been through a lot and now wants to live a life in seclusion. Settling into a quiet town was on her mind since the divorce from her golfer husband. But the settling down doesn’t seem to be peaceful as a man starts to claim the house she’s currently living in as his. Of course, she’d gone the legal way to buy the house but her chances are now 50-50!
Pronouncing Nee-nah as Nine-ah was something that I found a tad confusing at times. When one of the characters address her as nee-nah, Nina corrects them. I was being a tad conscious so that when I read “Nina”, I would pronounce it as nine-ah and not Nee-nah (in my mind, that is).
Nina is one such character that you would like and dislike in this story. She’s kiddish, speaks before thinking and believes people at their face value. At the same time, she cares for people, even those who might end up hurting her – Harry Wescott in this case. When she hears that the nuns have nowhere to go, she readily agrees to take them in as guests. She makes sure that they are comfortable and well-settled in her house.
Nina (nine-ah) has a love-hate relationship with Harry. When he appears at her doorstep, she’s furious. But when he faints due to exhaustion, she brings him in and gives him a glass of lemonade. And when she finds a man in the penguin suit stabbed, she fears that the dead man might be Harry. She’s also curious to know more about him – googles him as he’s told her that he’s an actor. Harry and Nina are like twin flames, they like each other and then they don’t.
As an amateur detective, Nina makes a lot of mistakes. Until cleared of suspicion, everybody is guilty seems to be her motto. One of the nuns also makes it to her suspects’ list!
The story was good – the mystery and the suspense was good enough. However, I wish the ending was a tad different. It ends fine, no issues there, but given the climax, a little bit of action would have been better. I don’t like stories that ooze romance, especially in a cozy mystery. I hoped to see some sparks flying between Nina and Harry but alas! I hope to see the nuns and Harry make an appearance in the next book in this series.
I appreciate the author for having tried something different. I really do. Nina is not a character you would like at the first instance. It takes time to get to know her and tolerate her antics but as the story proceeds, you will like her. I really enjoyed reading Peach Clobbered. It felt a tad out of my comfort zone but that is what made this an enjoyable read
Peach Clobbered is a quirky, interesting and enjoyable read.
There’s a giveaway for this tour. If you like to win a signed copy of Peach Clobbered, click here. (US only)
Many thanks to Lori Caswell from Escape with Dollycas for giving me an opportunity to be a part of this blog tour.
The Book Decoder 
Rekha, thanks for a thoughtful review, and for hosting me on your blog. Best, Anna a/k/a Diane
You’re most welcome, Diane. 🙂 I enjoyed reading peach clobbered.
Thank you for your review on “Peach Clobbered” by Anne Gerard and for being part of the book tour.
Sounds like a great book and one that I would enjoy having the opportunity to read. Love the cover
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