Goodbye Cruller World is the second book in Ginger Bolton’s Deputy Donut Mystery series. The mystery is intriguing and the story moves along at a steady pace with a great cast of well-developed characters. Twists and turns, red herrings, and suspects abound in this well written whodunit. This entertaining book held my interest from the first page to the last. I’m looking forward to reading future books in this series.

Emily Westhill and her father-in-law, Tom Westhill, own and operate a donut shop, Deputy Donut, in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin. Before opening the donut shop, Emily was a 911 operator, and her deceased husband, Alec, was a police officer who was killed in the line of duty, she has a delightful fur baby named Deputy Donut (usually calling her Dep), and her best friends are Misty, a police officer, and Samantha, an EMT. Tom, who is now retired, was Fallingbrook’s Police Chief and he designed the office so Dep could comfortably spend her days at the shop. The day before the wedding, Jenn’s older half-sister and business partner, Suzanne, who has never liked Roger Banchen, Jenn’s fiancé, brought her to tears when she told her to cancel the wedding. Jenn Zeeland, the owner of Dressed to Kill, a clothing shop, asked Emily to cater the dessert portion of her wedding reception. Emily and Tom created a donut wall where the sweet treats were hung so guests could help themselves during the reception. The bride invited her ex-boyfriend to the wedding and reception and the groom, who was drinking heavily, tells him to leave. While dancing with Scott Ritsorf, the Fire Chief, his attention is drawn to the donut wall where the groom is half hidden under the table. When Roger dies, the toxicology reports indicate he was poisoned with white arsenic. Detective Brent Fyne, Alec’s previous partner, is involved in the investigation, but Detective Yvonne Passenmath of the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation, who holds a grudge against Emily and Tom, is called in as the lead detective. Emily can’t help herself and tries to solve the crime.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

The second book in this series is a delicious delight.
The premise of a "donut shop" cozy has certainly been done before, but this series gives it a fresh feel.
The characters are well written and entertaining.
The whodunit was engaging and kept me guessing until the end.
I recommend this book and look forward to reading the next one.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

Pleasant read with an unusual, fun, intricate plot. I really really wanted a donut! Enjoyed all the characters and their teamwork to catch a murderer

As the story begins, Emily and Tom, co-owners Of Deputy Donut Cafe, are preparing a donut wall for the wedding reception of the business owner next door, Jenn. After the “I Do’s”, Roger, the groom, stuffs himself with crullers and keels over dead. Tox reports point to poison. Tough and gruff outsider, Detective Passenmath, would enjoy pinning the murder on Emily and Tom and be done with it; however, they have friends with the local police department, and that’s not going to happen.

The story moves along at a steady clip with a great cast of characters. Plenty of suspects are provided for readers to sort out who had means, motive, and opportunity to snuff out the groom. This is a great cozy for an afternoon of reading. Delicious recipes follow the story.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Kensington Publishing. Thank you.

When Emily Westhill and her partner and father-in-law Tom are asked to do a 'donut wall' for a wedding couple, they agree. Emily decides to visit Jennifer, her next-door business neighbor and the prospective bride, to pick up some clothing she ordered and unfortunately comes across what appears to be an argument and passes an angry woman leaving the shop. She learns from a tearful Jenn that the woman is her sister Suzanne and is against the wedding and wants her to cancel.

While Emily and Tom are setting up the wall they view another argument - this time, she figures out, between the groom and Jenn and what she sees makes her realize that maybe Suzanne was right, since Roger seems to be a particularly nasty person. But it's not until later in the evening when Emily can join the party and leave her duties aside. When she returns to her wall she notices that someone has dipped a cruller in what appears to be powdered sugar, and she didn't sugar any of them. Then she sees Roger on the floor and calls her friend Scott, who is fire chief.

After calling Brent Fyne, homicide detective and partner of her late husband, she's told to get everyone out of the building, which she does. When it's discovered that Roger's been poisoned in a room full of people, the investigation begins - along with investigator Yvonne Passenmath who hates Emily for her own reasons. But finding a killer might be harder than it seems...

I will say that I liked this book better than the first; some of the characters have a little more depth to them, and that's always a good thing. But to be honest, there are still some things that I didn't like. One, is Brent going to be removed from leading investigations in every book because of his ties to Emily? So far, there have been two books and in both he's been shunted aside for Yvonne.

Which brings us to Yvonne: A completely unlikable character with no redeeming qualities, including the ability to put together a homicide case, which makes me wonder if she was 'sleeping with the boss' to get her shield. She couldn't make it under Tom's former administration, so there must be a reason...(let's face it, in two cases so far she got both wrong so shouldn't even be a detective)...

Also, Tom and Emily had no reason to want Roger dead - they didn't even know the man before the day of the wedding - so without a motive they should have been removed immediately, yet Yvonne hates Emily and keeps 'trying' to pin a murder on her. Another reason why she shouldn't be on the case. She can't keep her personal feelings out of it - which seem to be limited to anger since that's all the reader ever sees.


Below is a hidden spoiler that partially deals with the ending, so please, please do not read if you have not read the book! It is nothing derogatory, but mentions a couple of things that bothers me.

Yvonne's so stupid that she sees the killer is handcuffed and Jenn is not, yet tears toward her with an arrest warrant and screaming her name, leaving the other cops mystified. All she had to do was ask what was going on; as a matter of fact, a good detective would already know but she wants to arrest Jenn because she was the spouse, even if there isn't enough evidence to prove it. Two screw ups of trying to pin a murder on innocent people? I, for one, am so tired of the 'evil nemesis' showing up in books with the same premise - usually a cop or ex-girlfriend that hates the protagonist - and wish Yvonne would get demoted and leave the series.

Also, where did Lois go? It's mentioned that her house is vacant, but nothing is said as to why. She had no reason to leave, and when Emily helps the Knitpickers into the store, not one of them mentions Lois or her nephew Randy; I'm sure I'm not the only person that would like the answer, as in the previous book we also never found out why Georgia had a doll and donuts stuffed into her mouth. No reason was given, and that's so unfair to the reader. Details count! Anyone who knows me knows details are big with me and I notice them throughout the book.
(Show/Hide - The spoiler above is hidden and can only be seen by clicking on the link).

I do like the fact that Emily doesn't put herself into bad situations (at least willingly) nor question people by getting 'right up in their face.' At least she tries to sound subtle, and, if need be, leans on her friends Misty and Samantha for backup. That's a big plus. The romance angle has stalled a little - it's been a year, so I would have liked to have seen it progress a little further than it has, but it's no big deal because the mystery was first and foremost.

I also liked the fact we learned a little bit more about the characters - Tom's wife Cindy is a teacher; more about Emily's relationship to her own parents; and that Brent loves Dep (which makes him a great guy in my book). These are the kind of details I like to read about.

The mystery was done well, and there were plenty of red herrings red herrings strewn about, giving us a lot to sift through and eliminate suspects on our own; and the clues to the killer were right in front of us and even more so as we progressed throughout the book. Everything was tied up nicely (even if the killer was a psycho) and I liked that the ending gave us a bit of a clue toward the next in the series, which I will read. Very nice indeed. Recommended.

I enjoyed everything about this mystery,Emily ,family's and friends the great food from the Deputy Donut shop.
I haven't read the the first book and felt I didn't need to .
A new author for me too.
Looking forward for the next book .
Many thanks for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book .

I loved everything about this book! The characters are engaging and well drawn with real life problems. As a young widow myself I can identify with Emily's emotions and grieving process. I did enjoy her growth with the hint of promise for the future. The mystery was expert and I had plenty of suspects to keep me guessing right to the end. I look forward to more visits to Deputy Donuts in the future.

I hadn't read the first book in the series, but had no problem starting with book #2. Not many details about the first book were revealed, just a few quick words to reintroduce characters.

I'm only giving Cruller an OK rating because when I was done, I had no desire to seek the first book, nor yearn for book 3 to come ASAP. There's nothing in the Deputy Donut world that really snagged my attention. The story was ok and the secondary characters very basic given their limited page space and development. I thought the killer was evident despite some red herrings.

If the next book had a really intriguing blurb, I'd consider giving it a go.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Goodbye Cruller World by Ginger Bolton is the second installment of the cozy Deputy Donut Mystery series. In the first book of this series we met Emily Westhill who co-owns the Deputy Donut donut shop named after her tabby cat. Emily used to work as a 911 dispatcher until the day her husband who was a police officer was killed so now she and her retired police chief father-in-law sell donuts instead.

Business is going well at the donut shop and Emily has agreed to take on a catering job for the lady that runs the nearby clothing shop, Dressed to Kill. Emily has been asked to cater her wedding reception so Emily comes up with the concept of a donut wall where the sweet treats can be hung and guests can help themselves at the reception.

The night of the reception things seem to be going along as well as can be expected when the bride had invited an ex and the groom begins to drink rather heavily. With all the commotion Emily takes her eye off of the donuts for a bit only to come back and find the groom on the floor and suspicious power next to the sweet treats. When all signs point to yet another murder in town Emily can’t help but try to solve the crime.

Again I find myself feeling a bit let down by the second book of a cozy series. Now overall this series has some nice characters and I love the fact that there’s a heavy police involvement so it’s not so far fetched for Emily to be involved… However, the first book in this series had Emily teaming up with a quirky elderly neighbor and that character is now gone so color me disappointed as the others in here are quite normal, even the furry Deputy Donut just seems to do normal cat things without and extra chuckle to the antics. Since my number one is the quirky fun factor I had to lower my rating a tad but this is still a solid mystery overall.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

It was the donut wall that drew me to this book I confess. And I had not really heard of a cruller until then. I'm now going to try baking some with the recipe provided at the end of the book..

This book has a great ensemble of characters. From our donut hat wearing protagonist and her father-in-law, to a group of wider friends and potential love interests. Life is certainly going quite well for this widow.

Next door shop Dressed To Kill certainly lives up to it's reputation after owner Jenn's new husband is murdered by a poisoned donut at their wedding.

This of course wouldn't be a sleuthing story without the lead detective being somewhat incompetent. But I do like that in this story Emily doesn't actually begin really sleuthing until the DCI incompetently intervenes. Prior to that she is more just reporting intel she hears.

I look forward to talking about this on my show and to seeing what happens in the next book.

This is a quick paced, intracately plotted mystery that will keep you guessing until you've read the final chapters. It's filled with a warm-hearted lead character with a wonderful tight circle of friends and family and, of course, those delicious donuts. After the death of her police detective husband Alec, Emily Westhill and her father in law Tom, the former police chief, open Deputy Donuts which soon becomes a community hang out. Emily and Tom are hired by Jenn, who owns the neighboring clothing store, to craft a donut wall for her upcoming wedding. But the night of the wedding the groom, Roger, is poisoned with a donut that has been laced with arsenic. When the local police call in the state investigators it is Yvonne Passenmath, who holds a grudge against both Emily and Tom, who is assigned to the case. With Yvonne focused on blaming either Jenn, or if not her Emily, for the crime it is up to Emily and company to get to the truth. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The dialog feels authentic, the characters real and warm, and, of course, the delicious donuts. Don't read this book when you are hungry, the descriptions of the food will make you want to make a donut run!

In this second "Deputy Donut Mystery," Emily once again is balancing running her charming donut shop with solving crimes in small town Wisconsin. This time, a groom dies at a wedding reception after eating a cruller from the donut wall that Emily's shop has provided for a sweet treat.

Still rebuilding her life after her police officer husband was killed several years ago, Emily finds herself spending more & more time with her husband's former partner as they work to solve the "whodunit." The town is filled with a whole cast of characters that bring their own charms to donut shop and the case.

While second in a series, I didn't feel at a loss for not having read the first book before diving into this sweet and cozy mystery.

Free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honet review. Book is available August 28th.

The name Deputy Doughnut makes me smile every time I read it, the cover helps draw you into, only bad part is start craving them. This one was just as enjoyable as the first. Well developed story line that only adds to the characters and lets us get to know them an the mystery is a page turner until the end.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I have to admit that the cover of the book is what actually drew me in to this book. When I was younger my mother had a bakery so this just brought back memories. I like Emily who owns the bakery Deputy Donut which is named after her cat. The mystery was fun, entertaining and well written. The romance aspect was a little muted but I don't really ready mysteries for the romance so that is okay. The outcome was a little crazy since it was not who I thought it was going to be. But if you want to know who done it you are going to have to read it yourself.

In this second book of the series by Ginger Bolton I found the characters interesting but it seems like the romance part is somewhat stalled. But that was fine with me because the mystery aspect kept me turning the pages.
The culprit was somewhat of a surprise since all the clues pointed to someone else.
The only disappointment I had with the book was the ending seemed a little rushed but otherwise an overall good read that left me craving doughnuts!

I loved this book! Every word on the page was weaved with magic and I couldn't get enough. I love the internal conflict with the main character, she is still reeling from her husband's death, wanting to move on, but can't. The mystery was superbly executed, I was not able to predict the outcome until the author revealed it. I hope this series sticks around because I cannot get enough!

There's something not quite right with the upcoming wedding Emily has been asked to make a doughnut wall for. A loud and obnoxious groom, a bride constantly on edge and a murderous outcome.

I picked up this cozy mystery because of the cover and the setting. I recommend those who enjoy cozy mysteries, it was a quick but interesting read.