The National Maple Syrup Festival is in South Lick, Indiana this year and Robbie wants the diner/store to do well while all the visitors are in town. This is book 4 in the Country Store series and while you can read it as a stand alone you might have a better understanding of how the diner opened and the work Robbie has put into it. Several good maple recipes are included.

If there is ever a year that we don’t get a new mystery from this author, I will refuse to read that year. Robbie is one of the sleuths that always tops my list, she is smart and can work hard to stay out of trouble. Robbie has made such a life for herself that it is a calming point of the books to read, she has a flare for her shop and making dreams come true.

So come flip a page in this book, and find out for yourself how amazing it is!

The National Maple Syrup Festival is a sweet escape from late-winter in South Lick, Indiana. Visitors arrive to enjoy the annual event. But Professor Connolly, an academic from Boston, clashes with the townfolk about his climate change denier views and research. The next morning, Connolly is found stabbed dead outside a sugar shack owned by the family of Robbie's young assistant Turner Rao. Robbie Jordan's friend Christina becomes a suspect since her chef knife was used as the murder weapon. And then Turner's biologist father disappears so Robbie is determined to help the police crack the case by snooping around and asking questions.

This is another enjoyable entry in the Country Store Mystery series.

I received an eARC via Netgalley and Kensington with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and provided this review.

This is a great book with a wonderful story and well developed characters. The story flowed very well and was very enjoyable. This book will keep you reading long into the night and you will not want to put this book down until you finish. This was such a great read and full of surprises. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader’s copy of this book. The free book held no determination on my personal review.

It’s the month of March and time for the Brown County Maple Syrup Festival in South Lick, Indiana. Robbie Jordan, owner and chef of Pans ‘N Pancakes, has just finished hanging a “Join Maple Madness” banner on the front porch of her quaint little diner. Along with festival there was a conference being held on the maple tree science. Attending the conference were a local Professor Sonia Genest, Dr. Sajit Rao (who is the father of Robbie’s sous chef, Turner Rao), Professor Warren Connolly from Boston, as well as others. There was no love lost among Dr. Rao and Professor Sonia Genest with Professor Connolly. Turner Rao’s father and his family owned a tree farm and would be hosting a demonstration where a process called sugaring off was being held. When Robbie’s Aunt Adele walks into the diner the next day, she seemed shaken and Robbie is worried something had happened to her aunt’s boyfriend. But her aunt shared she had found the dead body of someone who had already had a close call the day before, Professor Warren Connolly. He was stabbed with a knife owned by Chef Christina James. Now it was Robbie’s time to find out who killed Connolly and was attempting to frame her friend Christina as well as Turner’s father.
The characters are all well developed, and the pace of the book is constant. This is the fourth in the Country Store Mystery series and although I hadn’t read any of the previous books, I found this story could be read as a stand-a-lone. The various descriptions of the maple syrup process was interesting and helped tie in the festival well.

This series just keeps getting better and better! I have been reading this series from the very first book and every time I get the chance to venture back to the Pans N' Pancakes country store with Robbie I get very excited to see exactly what kind of mishap and mayhem she will find herself in again. This book was no different, Robbie finds herself sleuthing out the truth to help keep a friend from taking the rap of murder. And a murder mystery it was! I found this mystery especially interesting because I didn't see the ending coming at all! It definitely had an interesting twist! And I have to say, I love the direction that we see the relationship heading for Robbie and Abe! I just love them! If you loved this book and this series as much as I do, you don't want to wait for the next to be released. Well, good news...Book 5, Death Over Easy is set to be released on July 31, 2018! Pre-Order your copy now!!

Princess Fuzzypants here:
MMMM. Maple syrup!
My humans tell me that it is quite delicious so I admit to doing a little drooling while reading this book. Robbie is again in the middle of the stickiness of the syrup and a murder during the Maple Festival. The deceased is an unpleasant and conniving pseudo scientist so there is no shortage of suspects. The prime suspects are in the family of Robbie’s newest employee whose father is not impressed with him working in Pans and Pancakes, The fact that the murder weapon belongs to her best friend only increases Robbie’s desire to find the culprit.
Robbie is the ultimate puzzle solver but she still stumbles into hairy situations until she discovers the truth, almost too late. I do have some difficulty when my smart heroines do dumb things but Robbie manages to skate on the safe side. She is plucky. I cannot help liking her, maybe because she reminds me of a cat.
I give this book four purrs and two paws up.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

We arrive in South Lick just in time for the 5th Annual National Maple Syrup Festival. The cook-off will be held at Pans ‘N Pancakes and Robbie is excited about her maple flavored entry, Maple Curry Biscuits. There is also a conference on maple tree science with many professors taking part. Some of them will also be judging the cook-off. Professor Warren Connolly from Boston is one of the judges. Robbie finds he not well liked by his fellow academics. When the man is found dead at another festival event, stabbed with a chef’s knife that happens to belong to Robbie’s friend and her employee’s father, a research biochemist disappears Robbie finds herself trying to find a missing person and a murderer. Could they both be the same person?

Robbie is running her butt off quite literally in this story. One worker is searching for his dad and her assistant Danna injured herself at a volleyball tournament so she is unable to work. Visitors are pouring into town and into Pans ‘N Pancakes and most of the time Robbie is doing the cooking, the waitressing, and bussing the tables. Her plate is overflowing and she doesn’t have much time to investigate anything, but she does and gets herself into some mighty stick situations too.

I have enjoyed this series from the start. Ms. Day has created wonderful characters. The dialect of the area and the dialogue including some authentic expressions make these stories so much fun to read.

The pacing is swift and so much happens within these pages that is very difficult to put the book down. There was a little shakeup in the police department. The new/old investigating detective is very unique. Buck is back with his overly hearty appetite to keep Robbie in the loop of the investigation as much as he can. The suspect pool isn’t too deep but they all have a motive in one way or another so it wasn’t an easy mystery to solve.

I have to mention the setting at Pans ‘N Pancakes. I have a clear picture of it in my head, not sure how truly accurate it is, but a place that serves food like Robbie does, decked out with all kinds of old kitchen gadgets sounds like my kind of place. She is also adding rooms to the place and her first guest should be arriving in the next book. It is definitely a place I would love to visit.

I feel like a broken record. Once again Maddie Day has written a very nice, well-rounded, cozy mystery. Biscuits and Slashed Browns finds Robbie Jordan and her country store and restaurant Pans 'N Pancakes hosting a breakfast-themed cook-off, featuring maple, to tie in with the annual Brown County Maple Festival. On the day of the event, out of town Professor Warren Connolly clashes with two local professors, Sonia Genest and Sajit Rao. Sajit happens to be the father of Robbie’s newest hire, Turner. In less than twenty minutes, Professor Connolly seems to get on everyone he encounters bad side, including Robbie. Later in the day, Connolly returns to the restaurant for the judging event. When he chokes on one of Robbie’s biscuits, she immediately starts to wonder if someone is trying to kill the man. Robbie is proved right when Connolly’s body is later discovered at the Rao farm and Sajit goes missing. Once again, Robbie takes it upon herself to find a killer.

There is no shortage in the number of people who had an issue with Warren Connolly. While it’s true he didn’t believe in climate change and may or may not have falsified information to steal grant money, is that really a reason to kill him? As Robbie starts to investigate, she learns more than she bargained for. It seems Professor Connolly was worse than she ever imagined.

With twists and turns and various forks in the road, Biscuits and Slashed Browns takes readers on a wild journey. In the process of looking for a killer, Robbie comes the closest she’s ever been to losing her life. With courage and determination, Robbie will single handedly peel away the layers of the mystery to make sure justice is served.

Biscuits and Slashed Browns by Maddie Day is the fourth book in the Country Store Mystery series. Robbie is extra busy at Pans 'N Pancakes thanks to all of the tourists in town for the maple syrup festival. One of the visitors is a professor who makes enemies every where he goes. He is found murdered, and the suspect list is large. Robbie has to balance running the restaurant on her own while trying to solve the mystery. I have read the previous books in this series, but this one easily stands on its own. The characters are down-to-earth and fit well together. The mystery was strong and kept me guessing until the end. This is a strong series, and I am eagerly awaiting the next book.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars, I really liked it.

Book 4 in the series.

I love this series. Robbie and her friends are always fun to visit with. This time around there's a deserving victim. Professor Connolly is a jerk who makes enemies wherever he goes, so it wasn't surprising that he ended up dead. What was surprising is that he was killed with a knife belonging to Robbie's best pal. Suspects abound, many of whom are connected to Robbie, so she sets out to find out who did the Professor in.

This was a fun, fast read. I pretty much refused to put it down until I finished it. I am very much looking forward to the next book in the series!

Synopsis:

For country-store owner Robbie Jordan, the National Maple Syrup Festival is a sweet escape from late-winter in South Lick, Indiana--until murder saps the life out of the celebration . . .

As Robbie arranges a breakfast-themed cook-off at Pans 'N Pancakes, visitors pour into Brown County for the annual maple extravaganza. Unfortunately, that includes Professor Connolly, a know-it-all academic from Boston who makes enemies everywhere he goes--and this time, bad manners prove deadly. Soon after clashing with several scientists at a maple tree panel, the professor is found dead outside a sugar shack, stabbed to death by a local restaurateur's knife. When an innocent woman gets dragged into the investigation and a biologist mysteriously disappears, Robbie drops her winning maple biscuits to search for answers. But can she help police crack the case before another victim is caught in a sticky situation with a killer? (Goodreads)



Review:

The characters are well wounded and well developed. I enjoyed getting to spend time with Robbie, her aunt Adele and her friends. Robbie works hard to keep her cafe/store successful and her friends are always ready to help her in any way they can. I found the sayings and southern ways endearing and they really made me feel like I was in a quaint southern town. The nosiness of the citizens and the helpfulness of them also added to this feeling.

The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and through much of the book I felt like I was right there, visiting Pans ‘N Pancakes, and it made my hungry. The mystery was well paced and had enough suspects to consider and clues to sift through that it was not an easy one to solve. I had the culprit narrowed down to two and I was right with one of them.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. This is a relaxing read with lots of southern charm and a series definitely worth reading.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. I would like to thank Netgalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

March brings a maple syrup festival to Brown County, Indiana, and Robbie Jordan is hoping to snag some of the tourists into her shop, Pans ‘N Pancakes. However, the festival has also brought Dr. Warren Connolly to town, a professor hated for many reasons. He is found murdered one morning before the day’s events can get started, and the police begin to look at one of Robbie’s friends as the killer. Then a local maple syrup farmer goes missing. What is going on?

I thought we might be in for some lectures as Dr. Connolly is first introduced to us as a climate change denier, however, this was dropped after the second chapter as we begin to find real motives for his murder. In fact, we get several strong motives and suspects that kept me turning pages and guessing until the end. While I missed one of the regular characters, the rest were present and accounted for and were as charming as ever. The setting is fantastic, too. I’d love to visit Robbie’s store.

I’ve loved this series from the very first page of book one, FLIPPED FOR MURDER. The characters, the location, and of course author Maddie Day’s writing, continue to bring me back again and again.

BISCUITS AND SLASHED BROWNS was a fast paced tale, with a well plotted mystery that left me hanging onto my seat through all of the twists and turns. When the action packed reveal came, I was really taken by surprise.

Another delightful installment of the Country Store Mysteries, BISCUITS AND SLASHED BROWNS is one mystery fans will want to add to their ever growing TBRs.

As always, you’ll find some amazing, tasty recipes at the back of the book.

I found this book to be an engaging read, with all the cozy elements in good balance. My long-time blog followers will know that I don't like too much obsession over romance issues, and Robbie kept that under control. I liked that even when she couldn't help worrying, she has enough sense and confidence in her sweetheart not to go off the deep end and create unnecessary problem.

Because the book is #4 in the series, I did on a few occasions feel like I was missing some connections between characters, but for the most part I was impressed that it worked well even though I've not read any of the others. Characters are generally well-developed where they need to be, and the setting is pretty clear, though I had a little trouble picturing Robbie's store/restaurant, which does kind of matter.

Finally, the mystery: a satisfactory victim (don't we all love to see the hateful character get the bump!), followed by an abundance of possible perps and red herrings. In the end, I maybe did come down to the right person too soon, just because we seemed to be short of people we'd want to see be guilty (not every cozy mystery spares us the trauma of convicting someone we like, but most do, and I tend to look for someone there's a reason to dislike or distrust). Clues were present but not in your face, and Robbie worked pretty well with the police, though her determination to hunt out the killer for herself is a bit hard to justify at times (at others, like when she's sure the police are wrong, it makes more sense).

The writing is strong, and the story engaging, if sometimes a bit too focused on menus. I was a little slow to get into it, more for reasons having to do with me than with the story, because when I did pick it up I was enjoying it. An extra pleasure is the contemplation of some of the homey Indiana expressions some of the characters use, which are a source of mystification or delight to Robbie, who's from California.

My Recommendation:
Cozy fans of all sorts should enjoy this. I even thought some of the recipes included looked reasonable, which is not usually the case in books like this.

I received an ARC of this book from netgalley and Kensington Publishing.

In this latest installment of the Country Store Mysteries series we find Robbie Jordan thrust into murder and mayhem, as the town is getting ready for the Maple Mayhem Festival. Robbie is hosting and entering her biscuits in a contest for best breakfast item using maple syrup as one of the ingredients. Also going on during the festival is an academic conference about maple tree sciences. During the festival Robbie's aunt Adele discovers the body of Warren Connolly with his throat cut, on the maple farm that belongs to Dr. Roa whose son works for Robbie. When her friend Christina becomes a suspect in the murder when one of her knives goes missing, Robbie knows she has to help clear her name and find the killer before someone else is murdered.

Maddie Day provides the reader with an exciting and well plotted story, and.characters that are enjoyable and start to feel like old friends that you love to visit with.

Incredible new addition to this series. Robbie has gotten comfortable running her country store by this point but things heat up as the Maple Festival moves into town with a murder and more. I was loving the descriptions going on throughout the book. Maddie does an excellent job of conveying the Hoosier spirit and culture. Since I love in Indiana it made me feel like this could be taking place in a town nearby as it reminded me of find memories of visiting a maple farm on school field trips growing up. The murder clues mixed in was a nice twist that have another layer to the story that was highly enjoyable. If you enjoy cozy mysteries with a culinary spin to them you really have to give this series a try. I absolutely loved it so I give it 5/5 stars.

“Biscuits and Slashed Browns” earns 5/5 Maple-Infused Murder…Delicious!

I am new to the Country Store Mystery series penned by Maddie Day, aka Edith Maxwell, and was so entertained by “Biscuits and Slashed Browns” that I now consider myself a big fan! In Maddie Day’s fourth book, she immediately grabbed my interest with the professional conflict between Professors Sonia Genest, a lifelong resident, and Warren Connolly, visitor from Boston College. They vied for the same grant money that Connolly was ultimately awarded, but also butt heads on Connolly’s scientific opinions possibly tied to accepting money for his research from those who set to deny climate change, an engaging contemporary issue. Even Dr. Sajit Roa, owner of a local maple farm, forcefully questions Connolly’s ethics. Prof. Connolly has come to South Lick, Indiana, for an academic conference on maple tree science which happens to coincide with Brown County’s fifth annual Maple Festival. Residents of South Lick are extremely excited, hoping tourists will flock to a variety of activities including cook-offs and sugaring demos. Robbie Jordan, owner/chef of Pans ‘n Pancakes, joins in the festivities by arranging and participating in a breakfast-themed cook off…maple syrup inspired treats will be highlighted. So, Maddie Day has brought us a deliciously engaging mystery serving up a warm plate of “Karma” for us to enjoy. Connolly is found dead, but is it professionally or personally motivated? Dr. Roa is missing, and the murder weapon belongs to one of Robbie’s close friend who may have been physically assaulted by Connolly. It is delightfully not a cut and dry investigation which successfully challenged my inner “Sherlock.” Page turning excitement! Deliciously clever! A favorite for 2018!

Realistic is definitely a good adjective for Maddie Day’s book. Along with Robbie managing the store/restaurant, for which the author provides some mouthwatering descriptions, she uses a realistic investigating style of informally interviewing key players and logically piecing together the clues she uncovers. She works cooperatively with, not circumvent, law enforcement which adds to the realism, and the conclusion, although there is some nail-biting peril, was reasonable and very entertaining. But the most engaging part of the book is the characters (diverse in background and ethnicity) with their interactions (excellent dialogue and Hoosier perspectives). Weaving through the story we have the evolving relationship between Robbie and Abe O’Neill, ins and outs of owning a small business, living in a small community, and maple…trees, processes, and treats. Yes, inspired by Pans ‘n Pancakes menu and Robbie’s yummy delicacies we have her contest entry Maple Curry Biscuits, her aunt Adele’s Cracked Wheat Bread, Robbie’s Roasted Garlic Hummus, Chocolate Biscotti, and a favorite for Robbie to serve for dinner is Eggplant Bake. I highly recommend this book, a standalone in my opinion, but newbies be prepared to want extra helpings by visiting South Lick from the beginning.

When a restaurant owner must solve a mystery during a town festival with no help in the restaurant, she has to use her love of puzzle solving to find the clues. This mystery had a great midwestern feeling with a heaping helping of funny sayings (also known as Buckisms in the book). I found this mystery funny, romantic and suspenseful!

Biscuits and Slashed Browns by Maddie Day is the fourth book in A Country Store Mystery series. Robbie Jordan owns Pans ‘N Pancakes in South Lick, Tennessee. It is March and time for the Fifth Annual Brown County Maple Festival. Robbie has arranged for a breakfast cook off to be held at her restaurant and Robbie will be making her maple biscuits. Professor Warren Connolly is one of the judges for the contest, but several people are not happy with him. Robbie witnesses him having a disagreement with Professor Sonia Genest and Dr. Sajit Rao. The next morning Warren is found dead by the sugar shack on the Rao’s maple farm. The murder weapon turns out to be one of Christina James’ Tojiro knives. Christina is Robbie’s best friend and she has an excellent motive for wishing harm to come to Warren. Robbie knows that her friend did not kill Warren and sets out to find the culprit. The suspect list is quite long since Warren seemed to make enemies wherever he ventured. Then Robbie’s prime suspect, Sajit goes missing. While searching for Sajit, Robbie stumbles upon an illegal venture. Will Robbie find the killer, or will she end up the next victim?

Biscuits and Slashed Browns is well-written and entertaining. The book was easy to read and had a good pace. The characters are well-developed, colorful and relatable (they will remind you of your family and friends). I appreciate that the author includes characters of various ages and nationalities. I enjoy the great small-town locale. While Biscuits and Slashed Browns is the fourth book in the series, it can be read alone. The author provides readers with Robbie’s history and touches on past storylines. There is a dash of romance which plays out softly in the background. I like that Abe supports Robbie in her sleuthing (though he does worry about her). The mystery was nicely woven into the story, there are several suspects and the author provided good clues to aid readers. I love the vintage implements featured in the story. The cozy elements include family, friends, the making of maple syrup, cooking, Southern colloquialisms, humor, romance and a smidgen of jealousy. There are recipes included at the end of the book. Biscuits and Slashed Browns is my favorite book in A Country Store Mystery series.