Yvonne
This is a meme for all you ‘First Page Browsers‘
PROVE IT: MURDER IN THE MIX (Likable Daisy #1)
BOOK BEGINNINGS / FIRST LINES
CHAPTER ONE
“Skillful hands moved quickly and powerfully through yeasted dough – rolling, punching, folding, proving – until each mound achieved just the right bounce when prodded.
Different spices speckled the workspace in turns before being cleared away, first cinnamon, then nutmeg, all spice, cloves, and a hint of cardamom. In the heat of the oven, the rolls ascended in glory before a necessary rest, their heady aroma rising to the apartments above.
The familiar smells first woke Steph in apartment number two, being directly above the bakery, and bleary eyes blinked open for what seemed at least the fifth, and final, time.
‘Mmm, cinnamon buns,’ she gauged. She never tired from this type of awakening, but she would have appreciated it more an hour or two later. She had no way of knowing she wouldn’t taste another for weeks to come, or that tomorrow a different team would gather in the bakery, taking stock of fluids, fibers, and fingerprints. And the only thing leaving in a to-go bag was a corpse.”
So, you have taken a sneak peek, would you read the book?
Let me know what you think in the comments section below.
Just to give you an extra helping hand, here is the book’s premise …
PROVE IT: MURDER IN THE MIX (Likable Daisy #1)
When a tragic mixer mishap results in the closing of a beloved bakery, new mom and upstairs neighbor Stephanie Wu is sure of two things:
One, she misses their cappuccinos.
And two, it was no accident.
But time is running out for the sleep-deprived sleuth. Can she solve the murder and figure out pumping before her maternity leave is up?
With a baby at her breast and a killer at her back, life and living above ‘The Likable Daisy’ will never be the same again.
You might also like to visit the meme host, Gilion, over at ‘Rose City Reader‘, where you can share links to the book beginnings from her own reading schedule and that of many of our fellow bloggers.
There are always plenty of new authors and titles to be discovered and you never know where that next ‘must read’ is going to come from!
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Hmm…. “and the only thing leaving in a to-go bag was a corpse.” that’s a shocking way to start a story, but it is appropriate for a murder mystery. It makes me want to read a bit more, that’s for sure.
Hi Anca,
It does let you know what’s happening right from the start, doesn’t it?
I have actually finished reading this one, ready for my scheduled review date, although this one came my way through direct contact with the author, so is not part of an organised Blog Tour.
For a debut novel by a brand new author, it worked really well for me and there is a bit of wriggle room for Hannah to tweak her writing style in the future. The narrative and dialogue does tend towards being a little over descriptive at times, although I would rather have it that way then the other, where you have to guess about the look and feel of things too much!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you have a good weekend!
Stay safe 🙂
Wow, great excerpt! We feel all of our senses perking up, blissfully even, and then we are stunned by what happens. I would not be able to stop reading.
Thanks for sharing, and here’s mine: “THE WIFE UPSTAIRS”
Hi Lorraine,
I don’t think I would struggle to live above a bakery / coffee shop 🙂 However my hips and waistline probably would 🙂
In fact I don’t understand why Stephanie and her husband Henry aren’t the size of houses, with the amount of cakes and pastries they seem to devour, and the temporary interruption to feeding their sweet tooth habit, rather than making them change their habits, only tempts them to look elsewhere for their fix!
This was an excellent debut novel and a great scene- setter for a potential new series!
Thanks for taking the time to comment and I hope that all is well with you. Stay Safe 🙂
Good beginning and a good cover! Is it more cozy or hard-boiled?
Hi Kelly,
Definitely a cozy all the way! With some larger than life characters and plenty of coffee and snacks in the storyline!
I thought that opening paragraph really set the scene well and the cover is certainly eye-catching and “does what it says on the tin”.
I do hope that author Hannah Kurz, is encouraged enough by the support she is receiving for this, her debut novel, to consider giving amateur sleuth, Stephanie Wu, more cases to solve in the future.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you are enjoying your more leisurely pace of blogging life 🙂
The premise almost sounds silly. Is it meant to be satire? My Friday post
Hi Anne,
This is definitely a cozy mystery and yes! there are one or two moments where I had to stop myself laughing out loud, but that’s because our amateur sleuth, Stephanie Wu, meets a very eclectic mix of strange characters during her investigations into the murder.
Having checked out several of the current swathe of cozy mystery series, this book definitely has enough ‘legs’, to form a good basis for another series to join them!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope that all is well with you 🙂
That is quite an attention grabbing opening. It starts out so innocently. Even I want a cinnamon bun, and then bam! I enjoy mysteries quite a bit and this sounds like one I would enjoy. Thank you for bringing it to my attention, Yvonne. I hope you have a great weekend. Happy Reading!
Hi Wendy
There are quite a few ‘foodie’ references throughout this book, as you might expect from the title and if I have any small criticism, it might be that there are almost too many, as for a cozy mystery this is quite a lengthy read! – Notwithstanding the fact that I spent most of my time drooling over my Kindle at the thought of all those cakes and pastries!
Now that she has had a taste of the action, Stephanie Wu is definitely lining herself up as a great new amateur sleuth, all ready for her next assignment! 🙂
Thanks for visiting this week and I hope that all is well with you!
Stay Safe 🙂