Monday, September 11, 2023

Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant

Title: Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant
Author: Darci Hannah
Published: July 25, 2023 by Kensington Cozies
Format: Kindle, 300 pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Beacon Bakeshop #4

First Sentence: Time to make the donuts!

Blurb: Lindsey prefers to keep her bakeshop’s Halloween decor light and autumnal, rather than gruesome and ghoulish. But everyone knows her lighthouse home is haunted. Some intrepid teens have even tried to break in to witness the resident ghost themselves. Dreading Halloween night, Lindsey reluctantly allows her influencer and podcaster best friend, Kennedy, to host a live ghost hunting investigation in the lighthouse, conducted by a professional team. Protective of her ghost, Lyndsey is understandably nervous about what they might uncover.

The segment is uneventful—until things take a terrifying turn. The team freaks out. As Kennedy joins the mad dash outside, she bumps into what looks like the prankster teens’ creepy clown costume hanging from a tree. But when Lindsey’s dog, Wellington, begins to whine, they make a grim the clown is no dummy. It’s a corpse.

Now Lindsey and company will need to keep their cool if they want a ghost of a chance to solve the murder—and see another Halloween. (GoodReads)

My Opinion: This is one of those series that caught me off guard. I thought it would be the usual run-of-the-mill cozy mysteries that were easy to guess the culprits and left me with the feeling that there should have been more. Not so with this series.

I enjoy all the characters that Darci Hannah introduced. The atmosphere and the dialog fit without being overdrawn or talking down to the reader, and the newest creations out of the Beacon Bakeshop make you wonder where you can pop out to find a pumpkin scone.

My only issue was the title. Is a pumpkin pageant the same as a pumpkin carving contest? Is a parade a pageant? With that little matter aside, The Beacon Bakeshop series is still one that I keep on my radar.

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