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A review by mintlovesbooks
Candy Slain Murder by Maddie Day
4.0
Candy Slain Murder is sometimes cute and sometimes serious cozy mystery that would make for a great winter read.
The book is set around Christmas, and definitely has a Christmas vibe to it. However, the Christmas theming is not over the top, which I really enjoyed!
Though there is a large cast list, many of the characters were fairly well-developed. There's also a lot going on with this mystery - the skeleton found in the local anesthesiologist's attic, the emergence of a possible half-brother for one of her employees, the bustle of Robbie's business - yet I didn't feel that any of the stories were half-baked.
If anything, the book could have been condensed in some places to prevent too much drag. For example, there are a lot of scenes of Robbie cooking in her restaurant and it can be repetitive at times.
It was interesting that the author wrote out the drawl of her Midwestern characters as it added character to the story, but I didn't always understand some of the metaphors or local vocabulary used. I can't speak to how accurate it was though as I'm not from that part of the world.
All in all, this was an enjoyable read, and I'd be excited to read more books in this series and from this author in the future.
___
CW: There are several instances where characters experience religious discrimination - specifically, Islamophobia. There is also another character in the book who is a known white supremacist and KKK member. Other characters in the book make their opinions known on both issues and stand up for their friends.
I don't think that this made the book 'woke' or 'preachy' or 'PC', as some other reviewers have commented. Rather, I would say the treatment of these social issues wasn't as deeply executed or nuanced as they could have been.
However, I would advise people who do not like cozies with social issues to avoid this book because these issues do come up multiple times.
For more of my reviews, please visit:
The book is set around Christmas, and definitely has a Christmas vibe to it. However, the Christmas theming is not over the top, which I really enjoyed!
Though there is a large cast list, many of the characters were fairly well-developed. There's also a lot going on with this mystery - the skeleton found in the local anesthesiologist's attic, the emergence of a possible half-brother for one of her employees, the bustle of Robbie's business - yet I didn't feel that any of the stories were half-baked.
If anything, the book could have been condensed in some places to prevent too much drag. For example, there are a lot of scenes of Robbie cooking in her restaurant and it can be repetitive at times.
It was interesting that the author wrote out the drawl of her Midwestern characters as it added character to the story, but I didn't always understand some of the metaphors or local vocabulary used. I can't speak to how accurate it was though as I'm not from that part of the world.
All in all, this was an enjoyable read, and I'd be excited to read more books in this series and from this author in the future.
___
CW: There are several instances where characters experience religious discrimination - specifically, Islamophobia. There is also another character in the book who is a known white supremacist and KKK member. Other characters in the book make their opinions known on both issues and stand up for their friends.
I don't think that this made the book 'woke' or 'preachy' or 'PC', as some other reviewers have commented. Rather, I would say the treatment of these social issues wasn't as deeply executed or nuanced as they could have been.
However, I would advise people who do not like cozies with social issues to avoid this book because these issues do come up multiple times.
For more of my reviews, please visit: