Such a fun read! I really didn't know what to expect, but as a huge fan of Bernie, I couldn't wait to read this, and it did not disappoint! Some really funny parts, and I couldn't put it down.

As a born and raised Vermonter, I was instantly drawn to this maple syrup mystery featuring Bernie Sanders! Shaffer captured Bernie’s lovable curmudgeon-ness perfectly, and Crash was a wonderful character to try and keep Bernie in check for the weekend. This was a wonderful, light-hearted mystery, perfect for fans of Vermont!

Thank you to Ten Speed Press for sending me a copy of this to review. This one is out now!

This is the book no one asked for but also this is the book we all needed. In a world filled with real life horror, this book gives you a moment of peace alongside a cozy mystery featuring the one and only BERNIE SANDERS. This book is over the top, lighthearted and a super fast read. Get yourself into this cozy mystery as soon as you can!

Absolutely adored this book! It was witty, funny, and absolutely charming. Some parts had me.laughimg out loud and I don't remember the last time I did that while reading.

Was this book a show stopping thriller? No. Was it a complete dud? Also no. This was cute, not sure if I'd pick it up again, but I didn't hate it!

When Crash, a new intern working for Bernie Sanders, accompanies her boss up to a small-town festival in Vermont, the last thing she expects is to discover a dead body – or that Bernie will insist on trying to solve the mystery.

A few years ago I read Hope Never Dies, a comic mystery where Obama and Biden team up in the post-2016 election season to uncover the truth behind an Amtrak conductor’s death. Now Shaffer has expanded his repertoire with the first of a cozy mystery series starring the US Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders. As he’s inspired a number of memes in past years, I suppose this is not really coming out of left field.

This was a fun, quirky mystery, chockfull of puns about maple syrup and nihilistic jokes about student debt. The narrator is Crash, Bernie’s new intern, and I enjoyed her ambitious, cynical tone and how often she is baffled by her boss, whose dialogue seems to often quote actual public statements he has made. While the town is full of the usual cozy mystery array of bizarre personalities, the author balanced it with a more realistic depiction of the economic considerations of a dying small town.

However, I did feel that the pacing of the story was odd at times, as there’s not much productive mystery solving for fairly long stretches of the book. While I thought the solution was funny and unexpected, I wished we’d gotten more hints of what was coming before we reached the end.

Thank you to Ten Speed Press and Andrew Shaffer for the book in exchange for an honest review!

If you want a quick read and love absolutely ridiculous premises this is the book for you.

Sometimes, silly can be fun, and if that’s what you’re looking for (fun and silly) then I think you’d enjoy this book.

I don’t think I’m going to read anymore of Andrew Shaffer’s books just because of personal taste, but I guarantee many people will enjoy how ridiculous this is, and I 100% mean that in a positive way!

I'm a fan of the "Obama Biden mystery" series by the same author, starring point-of-view character, fictionalized Joe Biden. There are many potential reasons why—generally knowing less about Vermont than Delaware and D.C., the point of view character being a very lightly characterized intern instead of getting inside the (humorously fictionalized) head of Bernie Sanders himself, less of any real stake on the part of either of the detectives in the crime—but this one just didn't hit in the same way, particularly the humor. I did learn a lot about maple syrup production and the recipes at the back all made me hungry.

I didn’t finish the book actually, the protagonist didn’t really grab me at all in spite of their blaring relatable millennial-ness. Bernie Sanders came across as just a bit boring and like they were afraid to commit to painting more of his character, perhaps because he’s a cool dude and the author didn’t want to offend?
I’m still giving decent stars because of no I’m an avid cozy fan that didn’t looove this, I can really see some folks digging it.

Maybe I’ll try to reread in a few months and update if my heart changes.

A big old “Thank You” to Netgalley, the Publisher and of course the author for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review. Your efforts are in good hands and I appreciate the trust.

This book was so much fun! I haven’t had this much fun reading in a while. For starters, Bernie Sanders gets dragged into a small town murder investigation?! I had to get my hands on this book and I’m so glad I did. This book follows Crash Robertson an intern tasked with keeping Sanders on track (and out of trouble). This book has everything that is quintessentially Vermont. This was the perfect cozy mystery!

"People read this stuff?" the main character Crash asks about a cozy mystery Bernie Sanders lends her. I felt the same way about this book, but had an enjoyable time reading about my own senator in my own state with a plot that was certain to have a satisfactory resolution. Crash is an intern in Sanders's office, and because of her knowledge of the fine points of maple syrup she is assigned to accompany him to her fictitious Vermont home town. A dead body and mega-developer foil her plans for things going smoothly, and Bernie is quite happy to join her in sleuthing. The scenes when Bernie's events had low or no attendance were completely unbelievable, however, because Vermonters love to show up to see Bernie any time in person, and would be very suspicious of a showy developer.

Feel the Bern, a witty, fun romp through Vermont. Bernie Sanders, sleuth extraordinaire and his side kick intern Chase, are up to their eyeballs in small town leaf peepers, Maple syrup escapades and murder. A truly amusing read that didn’t take itself too seriously and provide me with some laugh out loud moments!

**Thank you NetGalley for an electronic ARC and the opportunity to review this book.

This is a very interesting book, and I enjoyed the subject matter. I didn’t really feel political, but I enjoyed it.

First line: Every Vermonter has a Bernie Sanders story.

Summary: Crash Robertson has just started her dream internship in the office of Bernie Sanders. It isn’t as glamorous as she had hoped until one weekend she is asked to return to her hometown with Bernie, who is the grand marshal of the Champ Day parade in Eagle Creek. As soon as they arrive, Crash discovers the dead body of a local banker floating in Lake Champlain. And it appears to not be the accident that the city officials said it was, Bernie and Crash start their own investigation into “Big Maple” and its links to the town of Eagle Creek.

My Thoughts: As soon as I saw this cover I knew I wanted to read. I thought it could be absolutely terrible but the idea of the story just gave me a huge laugh. And surprisingly I found it to be just as ridiculous as I had expected but also lots of fun to read! I am not a big reader of cozy mysteries but the theme of this one sounded too perfect to pass up.

I loved following along as Crash and Bernie investigated the dangers of “Big Maple” taking over the maple syrup production in Vermont and solving the crime of who killed the banker. Since the story does have Bernie Sanders as one of the main characters it does touch on some of his political beliefs but rather than being annoying or preachy it melded into the story perfectly. I had fun imagining Bernie in all these scenarios especially swan diving into Lake Champlain on an autumn afternoon. It was a fun and quick read for a busy holiday season. It provided the distraction and laughs I needed.

The author of the Obama Biden Mysteries is back, this time with Bernie Sanders and maple syrup! Crash Robertson is stoked to get an internship with Senator Bernie Sanders, but it’s mostly desk work, until everyone takes vacation during the weekend the senator is visiting Crash’s hometown, Eagle Creek, Vermont for a local festival. When a body is found in Lake Champlain, apparently having drowned in maple syrup, Crash’s job of keeping the senator on schedule gets thrown out the window as the two team up to solve the mystery.

Personally, this a mystery for people who don’t enjoy mysteries. Whodunnits are about my least favorite genre behind straight-people/bodice-ripping romance, and I loved this book! I also had a great time with the Obama/Biden mysteries, so maybe I’m just an Andrew Shaffer fan.

For me, it’s less about the plot and more about the characters. I’m a big Bernie fan in real life, and I love the way Shaffer captured him in these pages. Plus, Crash was a fun character and all of the supporting characters contributed to a colorful yet struggling small town. I’d really enjoy spending more time with these characters, even if all they are doing is solving murders.

This one’s not out until March, but you can get both of the Obama/Biden mysteries in the meantime if you haven’t yet read them wherever you get your books.

Continuing in the vein of his Obama/Biden mystery series, author Andrew Shaffer takes democratic socialist and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders into the realm of the cozy mystery genre.

Sanders and political intern Crash Robertson arrive in Eagle Creek as Bernie is set to take part in several events surrounding one of the town’s annual festivals. Unfortunately for the pair, plans are altered when Crash stumbles upon the body of the community’s banker who, following an autopsy, is revealed to have drowned in maple syrup.

Can “Crash and Bern” uncover the mystery of the maple murder?

I am a big fan of Shaffer’s Obama/Biden mystery novels. Sure, they have a gimmick that obviously relies on parody, but they’re also solid whodunnits. When I heard Shaffer was targeting the mitten-wearing octogenarian politician as his next novel’s hero, I was all in.

While I did enjoy this for the most part, I did find that the maple syrup references and puns got a little tired after a while. There is only so much a man can take! That being said, there were still moments that made me laugh out loud like when Bernie stopped Crash from swatting a bee by offering a grim warning of the decreasing honeybee population as well as Crash believing her death was not imminent for the simple reason she still had unpaid student debt.

I will say that while I’m not well versed in the cozy mystery genre, this was more or less what I expected it to be. Shaffer has really carved himself out a niche in his politician-led amateur detective novels. Bring on the next one!

This was a charging addition to the series that brings Vermont, Bernie, and murder together in a cozy package!

Like the Obama Biden mysteries before it, this was a fun read, if somewhat improbable. I don't necessarily see Bernie getting up to some of the hijinks that ensued and definitely don't see the utter lack of communication and supervision between Bernie's staff, Crash, and Eagle Creek. Crash and the residents of her Eagle Creek were a lot of fun to read about and seemed like they would belong in any small town. This cozy mystery made me laugh and think. Highly recommend for a fun read.

Satire that is silly yet clever, and a pitch perfect parody of the cozy mystery-- starring our coziest curmudgeon to grace the Senate. A fun romp!

Crash Robertson was seven when she first met Bernie Sanders. He had spoken at her elementary school about climate change, and she was sold. She finished school, and then college, and then as a grad student in political science, she had applied for an internship in this office. Just like everyone else. But she was from Vermont, and her mother ran the general store in her small hometown of Eagle Creek, and she knew just where to score the good stuff.

Doc McGilliam’s Twice-Distilled Golden Reserve Batch of grade-A Vermont maple syrup.

That put Crash far above any of her competitors for the internship, some of whom had brought maple syrup from corporations. No self-respecting Vermonter would touch that. But Doc’s? It’s the real thing, and suddenly Crash was a real intern, working for a real Senator in Washington D.C.

After an outbreak of food poisoning at the office, Crash was one of the last people standing. So when Bernie’s chief of staff asked if she would keep an eye on him over Columbus Day weekend, she agreed. Of course. And then she found out that he was heading to Eagle Creek to grand marshal the parade for Champs Days. In other words, Crash was going home.

But almost immediately after arriving back in Eagle Creek, Crash finds herself face to face with a dead body. The local banker, Ferman Fletcher, certainly wasn’t her favorite person in town, but she doesn’t know why might have killed him. But it turns out that Bernie is a voracious reader, and his latest binge of cozy mysteries about a cannabis bakeshop set on the beach has him hungry for a crime to solve. And for Crash’s mother’s griddlecakes.

Crash wasn’t given much direction for the weekend. She had the Senator’s itinerary, a business card with the number of a fixer (which, if she has to use it, will end her internship immediately), and one rule for dealing Bernie. Never let him out of your sight. Armed with rule one of Bernie Club and a phone number for extreme emergencies, Crash follows Bernie into the investigation, because what choice does she have?

What they find are a tech billionaire who has been buying up as many of the local family-owned maple shops he can, a town that is struggling from a lack of jobs and a challenging economy, a curious autopsy report that appeared as if from nowhere, a poutine food truck, a mythical prehistoric sea serpent, a missing barrel of maple syrup, aged maple trees getting chopped down, and drones wanting a better retirement plan than a scrapyard.

It will take a couple of skillful investigators to figure out what’s really going on in Eagle Creek and to protect what’s most important. But they will need to survive the weekend in order to set things right. Senator Bernie Sanders will most definitely survive anything that comes his way. But can Crash find that same luck for herself?

Feel the Bern is a new cozy mystery set in Vermont with everyone’s favorite mitten model, Bernie Sanders, and his intern. The blend of real and fantasy works well if you like your murder mysteries with a few liberal political speeches thrown in for fun. Written by Andrew Shaffer, who wrote the Obama/Biden mysteries Hope Never Dies and Hope Rides Again, is back with new crimes and a a new political crimefighter.

When I saw the cover for Feel the Bern, and read the blurb of what it was about, I knew I had to read it. And I was not disappointed. I absolutely loved this book. The writing is smooth, so the pages almost turn by themselves, and the characters of Bernie and Crash are perfect. This book is so clever, both as a mystery and as a light political satire, that it’s just as delicious as the pancakes at Eagle Creek’s Beefcake Breakfast. There are even some recipes at the end, so you can experience for yourself some of the dishes mentioned throughout the story, like the Yankee Pot Roast, Poutine, Vermont Cheddar Mac and Cheese, Maple Pecan Cookies, and “Feel the Bern” Maple Sriracha Hot Sauce. If you do not read this book, you are making a huge mistake. Let me repeat: a HUGE mistake. So grab your favorite mittens, make yourself some of Bernie’s Famous Maple Baked Beans, and head to Vermont for a long weekend of syrup, secrets, and soapboxes.

Egalleys for Feel the Bern were provided by Ten Speed Press through NetGalley, with many thanks.