Town in a Blueberry Jam: A Candy Holliday Murder Mystery

I read 4-5 books a week when I can manage it. (Stressful job I need escape.) Usually the cozy mystery books are like brain candy- no think fun. I found it really difficult to get into this book for some reason.

Another super great cosy mystery. Loved the characters. Candy is great Maggie is a charge.

This book was good.I enjoyed the fact that Candy's father was actively involved. I have not read a cozy that involved the heroine's father so that was different for me. Candy was spunky and fun. Her friend Maggie was hilarious and outspoken. I did not guess the killer at all. I was not aware of whom it was until it showed up in the book. Great first book in a seemingly promising series.

I picked up this cozy mystery novel because I'm a blueberry lover, and I always find mystery novels based in Maine (i.e. Karen MacInerny's Gray Whale Inn Series and the Sarah Deane series by J.S. Borthwick) to be fascinating. This first installment in the Candy Holliday series did not disappoint! After going through a tough time in Boston, Candy, a former marketing executive, starts over on the coast of Maine and joins her father, a retired university professor, in running a blueberry farm. Things may seem quiet and cozy in this little town, but murder soon shatters the idyllic setting, when two high-profile residents are killed, and a good friend of Candy and her father is accused of one of the murders. Candy can't stand by and let an innocent man be punished for this crime, and begins picking up clues as to who the real culprit might be. B.B. Haywood's description of the town and its residents makes the reader feel as if they are a part of the novel, it's Cabot Cove-esque personality will draw in fans of Murder She Wrote as well.

After her husband lost his job, emptied their savings, and dumped her for another woman; Candy Holliday returns to her hometown, the seaside village of Cape Willington, Maine; where she and her dad "Doc" manage Blueberry Acres. Local hero Olympic Gold medal winning swimmer Jock Larson falls off a cliff with his life flashing by including how he died. The townsfolk are unsure of whether it was an accident, suicide, or homicide. Candy is sad over his death, but happy that the Blueberry Festival will still occur with people coming from across the country to attend. To the locals, the highlight of the gala is the Blueberry Queen Pageant. Five of the contestants are high school students while the other contender is gossip columnist thirty-seven years old Sapphire Vine, a flaky diva (obvious oxymoron). Everyone expects Haley Pruitt to win because of her poise; performance and responses to questions which are by far superior to that of her rivals. Thus when Sapphire wins, everybody is shocked. Soon after her stunning victory, Sapphire is found dead. The town's handyman Ray is arrested for the murder. Candy knows Ray is innocent and intends to find the real culprit with the help of her BFF Maggie. Their investigation uncovers scandals amongst the pageant judges and other residents, but as they get closer to identifying the perpetrator, the killer watches them in case two more corpses are needed. This is a charming and amusing Pine Tree State cozy in which Cape Willington is vividly described so that the reader feels they are attending the Blueberry festival. The cast is solid as the residents bring out the ambience of the seaside village. Although the amateur sleuthing is similar in tone to many sub-genre entries, the irony of readers knowing a lot more than the cops or the BFF detectives and the Twitter sight provide a fresh spin to B.B. Haywood's first Candy Holliday whodunit. Harriet Klausner