While I didn't enjoy this book, I think fans of the series will. I enjoy thrillers & mysteries set at Christmas, but this fell flat. I did think it was well written, but it just wasn't for me.

Candy Slain Murder by Maddie Day
Publisher: Kensington Books
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Release Date: September 29, 2020
❄️❄️❄️❄️
This was such a great cozy mystery. Set in small-town Indiana, it follows Robbie as she balances running a restaurant, relationships with family & friends, while helping to catch a killer.

I loved the character development, especially the focus on dialogue with great focus on accent and phrasing!

The storyline was great and I loved the mystery. There was so many twists and turns and possible suspects that the story kept you engaged trying to identify who did it!

This was a great winter story with a hint of Christmas.
I'm so grateful to Maddie Day, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

In this eighth installment in Maddie Day's Country Store Mysteries, Robbie Jordan becomes embroiled in two mysteries during the holiday season. The first mystery occurs when a house fire at the home of a local doctor reveals the skeletal remains of his wife. He claims that she left him over a decade ago and that he has no idea how her body ended up in the attic, is he telling the truth? Robbie is determined to find out. Meanwhile, a young man shows up in town and introduces himself as the long lost brother of Robbie's employee, Danna Beedle. Apparently, Danna's mother, Mayor Corrine Beedle, gave up a child for adoption before she married and had Danna. It should be a heartwarming family reunion but Robbie has her doubts about the man's story, and when rumors of his bad temper start circulating around town, she decides to do some digging. Will she be able to solve these mysteries before Christmas?

This is one of my favorite cozy mystery series and I always look forward to spending time with Robbie at her restaurant in South Lick, Indiana. I love that this installment is set during the holiday season - it really adds an extra layer of coziness to the story and will make you want to curl up on your sofa with a blanket and a cup of hot cocoa. As always, I enjoy the restaurant atmosphere and Robbie's relationship with her staff and the locals who come to eat at Pans 'N Pancakes. Robbie is a likable and relatable protagonist. I like that she always puts her business first and doesn't just drop everything to go hunting for clues. There are some exciting changes happening in Robbie's life and I can't wait to see what this new chapter has in store for her.
The mystery was solid and kept me on my toes. The culprit was one of the main suspects, so the reveal didn't come as a huge surprise. All in all, this is a wonderful series, with well-developed characters, mouthwatering descriptions of food, a cozy small-town setting, and well-crafted mysteries.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Candy Slain Murder is the eighth book in the Country Store Mysteries series by Maddie Day.

After a short vacation to California, Robbie Jordan is happy to be back at her restaurant/country store, Pan ‘n Pancakes. She is looking forward to spending Christmas with her boyfriend Abe and his son Sean.

One morning when Danna arrives for her work shift, she asks Robbie if she had heard about the fire at Dr. Geller’s house the previous evening, and a body found in the attic. Danna wonders if the skeleton found could be Geller’s wife, Tina. Geller’s wife disappeared about ten years ago, and when questioned at the time, Geller claimed she had left him. Toni, Tina’s twin sister, who still lives in South Lick, wasn’t so sure that Tina had left.

While Robbie is waiting on her customers, she finds that most of them are talking about the skeleton found in Dr. Geller’s home. Doing what she does best, Robbie makes mental notes of the conversations and, on occasion, will ask questions of her own. She hopes that she will learn something useful to relay to Buck, South Lick policeman, and Olivia, the detective assigned to investigate the remains found in the house fire. When another murder occurs, Robbie steps up her sleuthing before the killer strikes again.

A young man enters Pot ‘N Pancakes shortly after opening one morning in a subplot to the story. He asks Robbie if Danna Beedle is working there, Robbie is wary of this person, as he appears nervous. After being introduced to Danna, he tells her that he is her half-brother. This news takes Danna by complete surprise. Robbie wants to learn more information on this young man, as she doesn’t wish Danna hurt if it turns out he isn’t, in fact, her half-brother.

I love this series. As I know, I will get a well-written and plotted book reading about the exciting residents of South Lick. I especially like that Robbie isn’t like many business owners in cozies who are always leaving their business’ to their employees while they are out sleuthing. I also like that Ms. Day uses the local dialect of the area. Being a Hoosier myself, I have heard many of the words. Some readers think the characters are ignorant because of the way they talk. Many areas of this country have their speaking manner, and I don’t think any less than them.

The book also includes delicious-sounding recipes.

I’m looking forward to the next book in this great series.

Great characters and a top notch whodunit.
This book has all the ingredients of a satisfying cozy mystery.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

It's Christmas in South Lick, Indiana and Robbie Jordan is looking forward to the holidays, especially with her special guy Abe and his son Sean. But within a blink of an eye, Robbie finds herself involved in two "mysteries." First a young man shows up Pans 'N Pancakes claiming to be her employee Danna Beedle's brother, then a skeleton is found in the attic of an unpopular anesthesiologist. Before she knows it, she is involved in a 10-year-old disappearance case that might not be a disappearance after all. All Robbie wanted to do this Christmas was decorate the tree she and Abe cut down, but now it looks like she is going to be involved in two mysteries.

One note, I am not sure where the title came from - Candy Slain Murder? Still enjoyed the book.

Country Store Mysteries 8

It's Christmas in South Lick just in time for Robbie to solve another murder or two. A local doctors house is burned and skeletal remains are found. The doctor has a questionable past. Also a young man walks in asking for Danna claiming he is her half brother. Of course Robbie feels the need to get involved.

With a new murder and a cold case Robbie had a lot on her plate with Christmas coming up. Trying to figure out if the guy who is claiming to be Danna's brother is telling the truth and trying to figure out clues to give to the police and spending time with Abe and Sean. When Robbie is going in to her store alone she is attacked and finally the killer is revealed. Not a big surprise for me. But I loved the whole story and how it all came together in the end. And it turned out to be a memorable Christmas.

I liked how we got to see Robbie at work and all the regulars come in, and how Buck orders the entire menu every time he comes in.
And Adele and Sam stop by to say hi and Phil drops by with his desserts. You get to visit with everyone in each book it's like catching up with old friends every time you read one of her books!!

I can't wait for the next book in this series!

Candy Slain Murder is the eighth installment in the A Country Store Mysteries series set in South Lick, Indiana and featuring Robbie Jordan, cook and owner of Pans 'n Pancakes. It's Christmas time in South Lick and Robbie is looking forward to spending the holidays with her boyfriend Abe and his son, Sean.

A devastating house fire at the home of anesthesiologist, Dr. William Geller reveals the shocking discovery of skeletal remains in his attic. Geller's wife Kristina had left him over a decade ago, or so he claimed, but within days the bones are identified as hers. Just days after the grisly discovery, Tina's twin Toni is also murdered and Robbie is determined to find out if the two deaths are connected.

A young stranger finds his way into the shop and identifies himself as Danna Beedle's long lost brother. It seems that Danna's mother, Mayor Corrine Beedle gave up a child for adoption in her early years. Robbie's not sure that the man's claim is on the up and up so she wants to do a little digging into his background before somebody gets hurt.

A quick moving plot with the return of series regulars, it was nice to have Robbie back in South Lick from her trip to California in the previous installment. Robbie's relationship with police officers Buck and Octavia continues to grow alongside her evolving relationship with Abe and Sean. A dark undercurrent of racism and spousal abuse are prevalent throughout the book, both sensitive topics in today's society.

I received an advanced copy of Candy Slain Murder from NetGalley via Kensington Publishing. While not required to write a review I am happy to offer my honest opinion.

Eighth in the Country Store mysteries featuring Robbie Jordan

Lots of twists and turns - house fire reveals a female skeleton, a few days later the sister of the deceased woman is murdered and a half brother to one of Robbie's employees is introduced.

This was a very interesting book. We are back in South Lick with this book and it is great to see all my favorite characters again. It starts with a storm a fire and a skeleton. I was sure I knew who the murder was from the very beginning but with twists and turns and a lot of misdirection I thought maybe I am wrong. I won't spoil it but there is a very surprising ending. I highly recommend this book.



I received this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Candy slain Murder is an entertaining and well written cozy mystery. Great plot, characters and setting. Mystery fans will love this book. I received an advance ebook from the publisher and this is my unbiased review.

I did not enjoy this book. I dnf''ed around the 60% mark. I found the flow choppy and dialogue felt almost too basic and procedural - a lot of talk and very little action. I was also put off by the one character being described as a white supremacist by the characters of color and that label being ignored by the MC - it felt a bit "both sides"ish in the treatment and no thank you to that.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this but I will not be reviewing this on any of my social media sites.

I was very happy to get this book at Netgalley (in exchange for my honest review), but as you can tell from my OK rating that this one fell a little flat for me. Perhaps because the story (which isn't bad) didn't really grab my attention, I noticed the weird way the author was having the characters speak as if they were uneducated or hicks. (Why do Danna and Corinne speak differently when they are mother and daughter??) Now this is either something new and/or increased or the previous 7 books engaged me more because I didn't remember this style. It irritated me.

It didn't matter to me, but if you're looking for a really Christmas themed mystery this isn't it either. Gift shopping and a mention of lights in the store and gingerbread cookies is about the only nod to the holidays. I also thought the ending was unexpected and a bit rushed.

So, despite being one of my favorite cozy series this was a mild miss for me.

An enjoyable holiday mystery with all the characters you know and a few new ones that you will enjoy meeting. A long lost brother, the discovery of a skeleton and death by poison are just a few of the things you can look forward to.

Although I enjoy all of the surrounding cast of characters I find that I don't actually like Robbie very much. Once again I felt like I was being lectured about easy (KKK) villains and Muslim discrimination, while the main character makes snide comments about the bible and Christianity. I also am not interested in everything that Robbie drinks.
The mystery was too easy, but I loved the relationship development. These last two books in this series have been so 'woke' that I think I might be done.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

I love this time of year when all of the holiday titles are being released. This is a fun, Christmas cozy mystery. The characters are wonderful and funny and leave you with the sense of friendship. If you're ready to get into the holiday season, pick up this cute cozy!

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great Christmassy murder mystery. I really liked the characters and the mystery! A fire and a skeleton? Exciting! The character interactions were fantastic and I had a blast with this book!

Every single book in this series just gets better and better. From the very first page, until the end, this story was impossible to put down. The holiday season and a good mystery just seem to go hand in hand to make the perfect recipe for this story!

Excellent book. I love Robbie, Abe, Adele, and all the residents of South Lick, Indiana. The mystery was interesting and kept me guessing with all the red herrings.
I especially loved the surprise at the end. I definitely recommend this book and the whole series.

Thank you to the publisher, Kensington, and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor.

I received a free copy of this book through the publisher on Netgalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

Candy Slain Murder is the 8th book in this series. This is one of my favorite cozy mystery series and I am always happy to be back in South Lick for another mystery. Even more so this time as the previous book took place in another setting and it felt great to be back in the familiar setting again. This was again a great read and I really enjoyed it.

One of the things I like about this series is seeing main character Robbie going through her normal every day life of managing her store and restaurant as well as solving the mystery. Most of her sleuthing is done by talking to people in her restaurant when she can or going for short trips after the store closes. I like how her job comes first and how the author still managed to strike a great balance between her normal every day life and solving the mystery. There's something comforting about picking up another book in this series and spending some time with Robbie in her restaurant.

The mystery in this book had a very interesting set-up. Not only is a cold case opened again when the bones of person are found after a storm hits a house, but a new case quickly follows when a women is found death in her house. I thought the combination of a cold case and a new case that might or might not be related was quite interesting. The way the mystery developed was a bit of on the slow side with only rarely new clues surfacing, but there still was some progression and I liked how Robbie discovers some important clues and how she makes sure to pass those along to the detectives. There are a few potential suspects and the reveal of who the murderer is wasn't too surprising, but it was a good mystery all around.

This book had besides the mystery some interesting plot lines involving the characters as well. A young man arrives claimed he's the half-brother of Robbie's assistant, Dana. They never knew she had a half brother and there's a bit of uncertainty about whether he is who he claims he and how the characters deal with this new revelation. There also were a few more Abe scenes and we saw a bit more of his son Sean as well. I don't think we've seen much of him before this book, so it was nice to see more of him here.

Then there is the usual, by now large cast, of side characters that all play a role in the story, from the detective Buck, to another detective Octavia that's back in town to solve these mysteries. Then there is Robbie's aunt Adele and her partner Samuel. We see quite a bit of Dana's mother Corinne too. And then there are the persons of interest in the mystery as well. This book also has a mild Christmas/ holidays theme, which was subtly done, but still added some holiday cheer to the book.

To summarize: Another great read in this series. This is one of my favorite cozy mystery series and it always feels so comforting to return to South Lick and Robbie's store in another book. The author has a great balance between Robbie's daily life and side character related plot lines as well as a solid mystery. I liked reading about Robbie's restaurant and store and have a great mystery as well. This mystery had an unique set-up with both a new murder and a cold case, which might be connected or not. The mystery progressed a bit slowly, but it was interesting to follow along and I liked Robbie's role in finding some important clues. The reveals of who the murderer was wasn't really a surprise, but I didn't really mind too much. It was a solid mystery. I also like seeing more of the side characters and some plot lines related to those. Another great read and I hope there will be more books in this series!