Ginger Bolton writes in a lively and dynamic way that makes Survival of the Fritters a very entertaining and easy to read story. I loved this book, the cover is very striking, the story very well developed, with attractive and intelligent characters (especially Dep!), an absorbing plot that includes an unsolved crime that happened 5 years before the events of the story, characters innocents acting suspiciously and enough suspicious characters, twists and turns that you don't want to bet on who the culprit is.
I thank the author, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this story, and declare that the opinion I have expressed above is based solely on what I think of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exhange for an honest review.
Survival of the Fritters by Ginger Bolton is the 1st book in the cozy Deputy Donut Mystery series. The main character Emily Westhill runs a donut shop with her father in law in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin and when one of their regular customers is found dead Emily finds herself in the middle of the case.
I thought it was a good start to the series and I would definitely try reading more books in this series.

Emily Westhill owns a donut shop called Deputy Donuts. When one of her regulars from a group called Knitpickers doesn't show up for the meeting, Emily goes to her house with another woman from the group. Georgia's body is found, and there are plenty of suspects.

So cute! I flew through the pages because I really enjoyed it. Emily is great, along with her cat Dep. Good mystery with red herrings to keep you guessing.

I loved Deputy Donuts, both the donut shop and the cat it was named after. I like the atmosphere there, that it's where all of the cops take their breaks, and how they have a new flavor of donut each day. Fallingbrook sounds like a quaint town and very walkable, as Emily is able to walk to work with Dep each day. I enjoyed Emily and the other characters and the mystery kept me guessing. I was surprised by the ending which is always good. I'm looking forward to reading other books in this series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Kensington through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is one of my favorite new series! We are introduced to a widow named Emily Westhill. Emily and her Father-In-Law, Tom Westhill own and operate a donut shop named Deputy Donut. The shop is named after Emily’s cat, Deputy.

The donut shop is a hit with police and knitters from the community. However, for one reason or another, one of the knitters is missing from the usual gathering and the group is very worried. Emily joins the group as they decide to find the missing member.. What they find is no at all what they expected.

The next thing Emily knows is that she is now involved in the middle of a murder investigation. Is her new next door neighbor really a sweet old lady or a cold blooded killer? Can Emily get past her hurt and anger and deal with her deceased husbands police partner?

I love this series and can’t wait to read the next one!

Survival of the Fritters, which begins a new series by Ginger Bolton, is as fun and entertaining as the cover promises. And with a cover like that, how could I resist?!

Relationships, friendships, and even the hint of a future romance are elements that I loved. The story is set in the picturesque town of Fallingbrook, Wisconsin and is also completely clean, which I very much appreciated.

Emily, still trying to find her way after the death of her police detective husband a few years earlier, is an appealing protagonist who cares about people. I wished for more character depth, a compliment because I liked her, but I suspect that will come with future stories. A strong supporting cast surrounds Emily, two of my favorites being her longtime friends, police officer Misty and 911 operator Savannah. This story is also different from most cozies in that, while Emily is a civilian, she has close relationships with people on the police force, which lends credibility to her detecting. I also really liked Brent, her late husband’s partner, and any romance that might develop between these two promises to be complex because of shared grief.

The story moves at a steady pace that kept me eagerly turning the pages, and while a few hints as to the murderer are scattered throughout, the solution was never obvious until the end. And of course I loved Emily’s precious cat, Dep, after which the Deputy Donut shop was named!

This promises to be a good series for traditional cozy mystery fans and I eagerly await the next story.

Recommended.

I was provided a copy of this book through Great Escapes Tours. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

“Survival of the Fritters” earns 5/5 Fluffy Fritters…Murderously Fun!

Ok, this is how it started…“Tom stopped coating hot apple fritters in that tantalizing mixture of cinnamon and sugar.” Tell me you wouldn't pick up this book and start reading! I was very eager to join in with Ginger Bolton’s “Survival of the Fritters,” first book in her new Deputy Donut Mystery series, and along with a mini cookbook of easy-to-follow recipes for fritters, donuts, and sugar-coated pecans, I was treated to an engaging mystery with several entertaining characters. Bolton introduces Emily Westhill, former 911 operator and co-owner of Deputy Donut with her retired police chief/detective father-in-law and mascot “torbie,” a tortoiseshell tabby. But, the business may be in jeopardy when she and six members of the Knitpickers knitting club find Georgia Treetor, a regular café customer and herself a Knitpicker, lying among a scattering of stale donuts...dead! Lois Unterlaw, the victim’s “oldest” friend, herself seems to be in jeopardy and acting suspiciously. She seems perfect to provide insights, but may also be more suspect than innocent bystander.

Cold case revisited? Secrets? Lies? Mysteries? Murder? And…Donuts? Ginger Bolton has fried up a clever mystery with engaging twists, turns, and lots to consider. She has created an intricate mystery that incorporates a cold case that she and friends have in common. One “oops” I found contradictory since the main character has a formal link to and background in law enforcement: her 911 experience, late husband and father-in-law’s detective status, other detective/EMT friends…would she have messed with a crime scene by moving evidence? It's a minor criticism, and although I suspend some disbelief with behaviors by my cozy’s amateur detectives, this seemed a faux pas needing to be addressed. The excellent descriptions of the cafe, the houses, the treats, the crime scene have brought everything to life. However, she didn't rely just on the narrative to unfold the details, clues, and findings of investigation. The clever dialogue illustrated the formal and informal interrogations along with the personalities and emotions of a plethora of rich, some quirky, characters. And for those who love the fur-friends…”Dep” is just the answer. Yes! It was very entertaining! You've got to join in!

This is a fun mystery that uses a familiar formula to entertain and surprise.
Emily has a donut shop in small town Wisconsin with her father-in-law Tom, who is the former police chief. As expected the police stop by for these fresh and innovative donuts and are joined by the rest of the town. One of the knit-pickers, a group of older ladies, is murdered. Emily finds Georgia dead when she and the knit-pickers goes to check on Georgia.
Emily used to be a 911 operator and she can't help investigating. The police arrest a suspect but Emily is not fully convinced they got the right man. The actual murderer was a bit unexpected.
I will be investigating the next Deputy Donut mystery.

This has been a nice read. Very evenly paced and a great series starter. Emily is an excellent heroine who you can related to no matter your age or stage in life. Wouldn't it be fun to have a Deputy Donut shop local! The plot was clever and I could not pick the perpetrator out of line up. Kept me guessing and hopeful all the way to the end. Looking forward to the next one hope it comes out soon!

Former 911 operator Emily Westhill has opened a successful donut shop with her father in law and former police chief Tom. Deputy Donuts caters to all of the locals, including many of the cops in this small Wisconsin town that the two used to work beside. Deputy Donut has a loyal customer base, and when one of the Knitpickers, Georgia goes missing, Emily helps the ladies look for her. When they discover her body, the small town is rocked by another murder. Five years earlier, Georgia' s son had been murdered. With the help of her new neighbor and new Knitpicker Lois, Emily hopes to uncover what happened. I think this series is off to a good start. There were a lot of suspects floated through the story. Some of the characters could still use some more rounding out, but hopefully by the next book, we will get a better feel for who will be the main set of recurring characters.

I enjoyed this first book in a new series. Emily owns a Donut Shop in small town Wisconsin with her Father In Law, the retired Police chief. Unlike many cozies there are a lot of police present in this book. Emily is a police widow whose husband was killed in the line of duty, the Donut Shop caters to Police and Emily has many friends still on the force. When a member of a local knitting group fails to join the group at the Donut shop she joins them to see if she is alright. Instead they stumble across her body. When her new neighbor is also attacked she sets out to try and solve the murder. The mystery was very good with lots of suspects and the solution was a surprise and it did make sense. I liked the small town setting and the characters were fun and interesting. The author includes Donut recipes in the back. Enjoy

Really enjoyed this book. Lovely start to a new series

Survival of the Fritters is the first book in the Deputy Donut Mystery Series. Emily is a widow whose police officer husband was killed on the job. She owns and operates a donut shop in Fallingbrook Wisconsin with her father-in-law, a retired police chief. The shop is named after her cat, Deputy Donut (Dep). Emily is a former 911 operator, who quit her job after her husband died. This small town has its own group of knitters, that meet up every weekday morning at the shop. When one of them fails to show up at Deputy Donuts one Monday, Emily and the members of the group become concerned. When they head over to her house and find her dead on the kitchen floor, Emily and her new neighbor, Lois, get involved in the case. As well, the woman's son was murdered 5 years earlier. Could their deaths be related?

I enjoyed the mystery and the small town atmosphere. I was a bit disappointed in the character development in the book. As this is the first in the series, I am hoping that the characters will become more developed and therefore, more relatable. Emily is a good protagonist. With her background as a 911 operator and the fact that she was married to a police detective, she has some good skills to investigate. We really did not get to know Tom, her father-in-law, at all. I hope we learn more about him and his relationship to Emily and his family. There are a lot of other characters that are interesting and as we get to know them, can make this small town come alive for the reader. There are some interesting recipes at the back of the book that look easy and rather delicious. The plot was interesting and at first thinking that these deaths could be related with five years between them seemed rather unbelievable, but the author did a great job pulling this off with an interesting twist. I did not figure out who the murderer was until just before the author revealed it, which always makes for a good ending. I recommend this book to cozy mystery lovers, especially those who enjoy culinary mysteries with recipes.

I enjoyed that I didn't guess the murderer, although I was a bit bemused that someone with a family background of law enforcement, etc. would mess up a crime scene. I know that she didn't do police work, but surely she absorbed some knowledge? Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book and look forward to the next book in the series!

I enjoyed this book very much and look forward to the next in the series!

I love food related cozy mysteries, so the idea of a donut shop related mystery intrigued me. Unfortunately the book was stale. Emily didn't come to life for me. She lacked the spark that I am used to seeing in my favorite cozy series. I couldn't get emotionally involved with the murders because the victims were already deceased at the start of the book. The secondary characters weren't fleshed out enough with scenes that made them memorable. I held no emotion tie to any of them. This series just wasn't for me.

I enjoyed this book. The characters are interesting. I enjoyed Emily, Brent, Lois, Tom and the rest. They're well-developed and well-written.

The plot line was good. There were enough red herrings to keep me guessing as to who the villain was. I didn't put it together before it was revealed. It was very well done.

I'm definitely looking forward to more in the series!

Cute cozy set in beautiful Wisconsin. Quickly fell in love with Dep, the kitty in the story :) Good start to a new cozy series

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book, which I voluntarily chose to review.

I loved this first installment in this new series. I was totally shocked by the killer reveal - I knew it couldn't be the person that seemed so obvious, but I did not expect the reveal and the why - it was so thrilling. Read this book and you will fall in love with Emily, Brent, Dep (the cat), and the rest of the characters; I can't wait to see what they're up to in book #2.

Ginger Bolton is off to a good start with her Deputy Donut series. It is full of engaging characters like the widowed Emily who runs the towns donut shop which is named after her cat, Deputy Donut. She goes to the home of a regular customer with the woman's friends who are worried about her and they find their friend's body. Emily's husband was a cop killed in the line of duty and she becomes involved with the investigation, especially since helping her neighbor Lois after she was attacked as she was the best friend of the victim. Her best friend is a cop and her husband's partner is still on the force too. Some future sparks maybe? The story is fast paced and has a twist that I didn't see coming. Another treat is the bonus donut recipes at the end of the book as well as a peek of the next story. I will definitely be waiting for the next book!

I received an ARC from NetGalley from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion