Sconed to Death

Sconed to Death is the fifth novel in A Cat Latimer Mystery series, but it can be read alone. The information a readers’ needs to know is incorporated into the story. Cat Latimer is a former English professor who inherited her ex-husband’s Victorian and turned it into a writer’s retreat. She offers retreats one week a month and spends the rest of the time writing her young adult series. Cat is fortunate to have Shauna and Seth working with her to make the retreats run smoothly for their literary guests. Cozy mystery writers from Chicago descend upon the Victorian for a week of writing, research, critiquing and workshops. When popular Denver chef, Greyson Finn turns up dead at the local bakery, Cat cannot help but look into the crime (despite being told by Uncle Pete and others to not investigate) especially when she learns Jessica Blair, an old friend, is a suspect. I liked that the writers in the retreat were cozy mystery writers. I enjoyed their plotting sessions, discussing reviewers and ratings (three stars is not bad rating), and their inventive book titles. The title session was particularly humorous. It is nice that there is a new batch of writer’s in each book with a variety of personalities and situations. The kittens were adorable and with the writers’ words, I could picture them scampering about getting into mischief. Shauna receives a large batch of apples and she comes up with some creative as well as delicious recipes for them. There were several viable suspects in Chef Finn’s death, red herring and good clues. Those of us who read a copious amount of cozy mysteries will not find this puzzle perplexing. I wish there had been some action in the book which would have helped the pacing. I also tired of Cat frequently being told to stay out of the investigation. My favorite phrase came from Miss Applebome who said to Cat, “Try not to get yourself killed. I’d hate to be the one to tell your uncle what you were doing.” Sconed to Death is a cozy readers delight with a dead chef, an inquisitive writer, appetizing apple creations, and impish tabbies.

I once again let a crazy cast of characters take over my life as I tried to solve the murder. I thought the 'cozy writers' at the retreat were the best group yet!