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Audiobook Reviews: The Uninvited Corpse
Author: Debra Sennefelder
Narrator: Callie Beaulieu
Audio Listening Speed: 1.5x
Series: Food Blogger Mysteries #1
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: Tantor Audio
I enjoyed this first book in the Food Blogger Mystery series. Hope was a fascinating character and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
This cozy mystery reminds me of several different shows. It’s like Ms. Sennefelder took a piece of Hope Floats, Murder She Wrote, Julie and Julia, and mixed it with a fresh, beautiful New England town and modernized it. But though it pays homage to these other stories, it is truly its own series.
I really loved Hope. We start with her months into rebuilding her life and herself. Hope is complicated but thoughtful. She has returned home to start a new life as a lifestyle entrepreneur. Working on an old house, volunteering in the community and reconnection with her sister and her friends, Hope is starting to settle in, when a garden tour goes deathly wrong.
This cozy murder mystery is very well crafted. I felt like I was going in circles without being able to really concentrate on a culprit. The murderer was clever and though I could tell who wasn’t guilty, the reveal took me by surprise. As an amateur sleuth, Hope’s clumsy attempts at non-obvious investigative tactics were a bit comical and sad. Her inner conflict over possibly hurting friends and proving her sister’s innocence was palpable. I also enjoyed the side plot of Hope’s love life. It seems she harbors feelings for her long-time friend, the chief of police. The way they dance around their obviously intensifying affections for each other is adorable. Though Hope is a little dense (and a lot afraid) of risking not just her heart but a treasured friendship. When the novel concludes it seems there might be a love triangle brewing (but I am keeping my fingers crossed it won’t be).
I absolutely adored Ms. Beaulieu’s narration. She captured the personality of Hope perfectly; her inner turmoil over getting involved in the investigation, worrying over those she had inadvertently wronged, and her love life – not to mention her still healing heart from her failures. Hope’s tenacity and vulnerability is compelling and beautifully conveyed by the narration.
The Uninvited Corpse is a great start to this Food Blogger Mystery series. I enjoyed Hope’s amateur sleuthing along with her personal conflicts and challenges. The narration perfectly captures and enhances Hope’s bumbling adventures and I eagerly look forward to more.
My Ratings:
Story: A-
Narrator: A
Overall: A
Review copy provided by Tantor Audio.
About the Book:
Leaving behind a failed career as a magazine editor and an embarrassing stint on a reality baking show, newly divorced lifestyle entrepreneur Hope Early thought things were finally on the upswing—until she comes face-to-face with a murderer . . .
Hope’s schedule is already jam packed with recipe testing and shameless plugs for her food blog as she rushes off to attend a spring garden tour in the charming town of Jefferson, Connecticut. Unfortunately, it isn’t the perfectly arranged potted plants that grab her attention—it’s the bloody body of reviled real estate agent Peaches McCoy . . .
One of the tour guests committed murder, and all eyes are on Hope’s older sister, Claire Dixon—who, at best, saw Peaches as a professional rival. And suspicions really heat up when another murder occurs the following night. Now, with two messy murders shaking Jefferson and all evidence pointing to Claire, Hope must set aside her burgeoning brand to prove her sister’s innocence. But the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she gets to a killer intent on making sure her life goes permanently out of style . . .
Includes Recipes from Hope’s Kitchen!