A Peach of a Murder: A Fresh-Baked Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Fresh out of the oven: the first in a new series of baking mysteries.

Includes recipes!

All year round, retired schoolteacher Phyllis Newsom is as sweet as peach pie-except during the Peach Festival, whose blue ribbon has slipped through Phyllis's fingers more than once...

Everyone's a little shook up when the corpse of a no-good local turns up underneath a car in a local garage. But even as Phyllis engages in some amateur sleuthing, she won't let it distract her from out-baking her rivals and winning the upcoming Peach Festival contest.

She and all the other contestants guard their secret, original recipes with their lives-and talk a whole lot of trash. With her unusual Spicy Peach Cobbler, Phyllis hopes to knock 'em dead. But that's just an expression-never in her wildest dreams did she think her cobbler would actually kill a judge. Now, she's suspected of murder-and she's got to bake this case wide open.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Signet (October 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451219740
• ISBN-13: 978-0451219749
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #15,571 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 1 in The Fresh-Baked Mystery Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Looking forward to another helping, April 1, 2007

By	Mary H. Lesser "doc lesser" (New Rochelle, New York USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a fan of the "Ladies of Covington" and "Elm Creek Quilt" series (which are not mysteries but good stories all the same) I enjoyed the dynamic of the group of active retired women sharing a home which is the basis of this story. The book also presented a good puzzle: was the first event a murder or an accident? Is the second event (which is clearly a murder) related to the first, and if so, how? And what about the third event (I don't think we actually find out if the victim survives or not). I didn't catch the connection until the end of the story and found the solution plausible and satisfying in the way of classic mystery stories where the criminal justice system doesn't typically play a role! Overall a good read and I'm looking forward to the next book by this author.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars entertaining who done it , October 4, 2006

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The townsfolk of Weatherford, Texas is getting ready for the annual festival and housemates Phyllis, Mattie and Carolyn are plucking peaches in Newt Bishop's Orchard. Phyllis happens to notice that Newt is arguing with another man who turns out to be his own son. When she hears a scream coming from the barn, they see that Newt's car fell on top of him. They later learn that it might have been murder instead of an accident.

At the cooking competition, Donnie, an affluent businessman and one of the judges, suddenly keels over; it is later discovered that his water jar was laced with arsenic gotten from the laetrile from the peach pits. Suspicion falls on Carolyn because her daughter who worked for Donnie was arrested because he charged her with embezzlement; she claim he wanted revenge as she spurned his advances. A high school student commits suicide and one of the teachers is run over in a hit and run. Nobody realizes all these events are linked and when Phyllis discovers who the link is she doesn't want to believe it nor do any of the townsfolk.

Instead of pining away when her beloved husband died, the heroine opened her home to boarders and now three retired teachers and a widower who recently lost his wife are active in the community and are there for one another. Although Phyllis and Carolyn were competing in the cooking contest, Phyllis starts her own investigation because she is sure her friend is innocent. There are many surprises in this entertaining who done it but when the killer is revealed, nobody can believe that person is the killer. Livia J. Washburn has a refreshing way with words and knows how to tell an exciting story.

Harriet Klausner

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a new cozy series you can sink your teeth into, May 5, 2008

By	Bird Watching Cat "cat-in-a-skirt" (Grand Forks, ND) - See all my reviews

So far so good as far as the first in a new series goes. The characters need more fleshing out, but that will come as the series develops. I look forward to reading the next title in the series.