Customer Reviews

A Peach of a Murder: A Fresh-Baked Mystery

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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.

I really liked this book. I suspected early on who the ultimate culprit was but there were enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. My only complaint would be the character of Carolyn is so unlikeable I found it hard to care whether or not Phyllis was able to help clear her of murder charges. I am already looking forward to the next installment in this series.

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

It's summer, and Parker County, Texas, is gearing up for the annual Peach Festival. That includes retired teacher Phyllis and her friend and boarder Carolyn. Both women always enter the cooking contest. Carolyn usually wins, and Phyllis is determined to beat her this year.

While the two women are out picking peaches, the farm's owner dies. His death could be ruled an accident, but it might also be murder. Phyllis's son, an officer with the sheriff's department, investigates. Unfortunately, he can't find any conclusive evidence one way or the other.

The day of the peach festival brings another death. Head judge Donnie Boatwright keels over just after trying Phyllis's spicy peach cobbler. This is a clear case of murder, however. The man was poisoned. When Phyllis is quickly cleared of suspicion, the police turn their attention to Carolyn. Phyllis knows her friend couldn't have done it. But can she prove it?

The book showed promise at the beginning. The first death took place in the first chapter. But then it quickly went downhill. Once Donnie dies, the book focuses all the attention there. Still, very little seems to happen. The characters, Carolyn especially, aren't really that likeable. And the writing style is fairly poor, with dangling modifiers and awkward sentences throughout the book. Even the three recipes in the back of the book could have used a bit more detail.

The book sounded promising, so I'm very sorry I can't recommend it. I won't be visiting Phyllis again.

I bought this book as it sounded a warm story with a nice setting, Peach festivals and cooking contests, sounded perfect for me! Like other reviews have said the book started well, as I expected very light hearted. But I am afraid to say that is where it ended, once the first murder takes place I had an idea who had done it, I noticed one person been left out within in the story, it became very obvious who the killer was. The book concentrated on many possible suspects, as though trying to hide and complicate the very obvious fact. I read on anyway hoping to be wrong, I wasn't. I also want to mention this book left me with a sad feeling, I can not explain more as I would give the story away! I was very disappointed in this book I enjoy cosy mysteries and recipes so I had had really high hopes for this one. The font cover is so beautiful and the back cover sounded great.

If you are looking for a juicy light hearted read with twists,clues and good story line this not it..... Since writing this review I have read the Second book in the series and ejoyed it much more.
Priscilla x

This book was so dull and moved so slow, I gave up on reading it half-way through. I had bought the whole series because I was sure I'd like it...what a waste. There's rarely a book I don't enjoy, but I just couldn't get into a book with characters who were so old, slow-moving, and frankly, uninteresting.

Phyllis Newsom is a retired eighth-grade history teacher, a widow whose grown son Mike is a deputy sheriff. She's also a passionate cook who has tried for years to win first place in the baking contest at the annual Peach Festival--and lost it twice to Carolyn Wilbarger. What makes it hard to take is that Carolyn is also Phyllis's housemate: after her husband's death she opened up her house to boarders and accumulated four other former teachers. But Phyllis hasn't given up yet. She's picking peaches for her latest effort when the owner of the orchard is found crushed to death beneath the old car he was fixing. At first it looks like a tragic accident. But then, on Festival day, Donnie Boatwright, a local power and one of the judges, abruptly drops dead just after sampling Phyllis's new creation, a peach-and-ginger cobbler. Though an autopsy quickly clears her of any involvement, Phyllis finds herself drawn into the case when Carolyn becomes the primary suspect. Then a twentysomething teacher is run down in the high-school parking lot. Are all three of these deaths connected? How? And--worst of all--are more to come?

Set in the actual Texas town of Weatherford, Parker County--a small town whose "unique small-town atmosphere" is fading as it becomes more and more a suburb of the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area--this first in a new series is a fine example of the cozy genre, with plenty of interesting characters, a well-realized setting, and some delicious-sounding food (it's too bad the author didn't include a recipe for Phyllis's cobbler, although a Google search for "ginger peach cobbler" will net several possibilities). There's even the beginning of a possible romantic relationship for Phyllis, as she replaces one of her boarders (gone to live with her daughter and son-in-law) with her first male example of the species, one-time history teacher and basketball coach Sam Fletcher, and has to cope with Carolyn's opposition to a man in the house. And the resdolution of the case should surprise even the most experienced armchair detective. Washburn also plausibly explains Phyllis's qualifications for amateur-snoophood: "...she had taught history...she knew about cause and effect, and how one incident followed another and another and another...what was history if not the study of the past and how it affected the present?" (She is herself a hobby-cook and lives in "a small Texas town," so she's probably "writing what she knows," as my high-school creative-writing teacher always used to urge us to do.) I've already bought the next volume, Murder By the Slice: A Fresh-Baked Mystery, and look forward to finding out if it fulfills the promise of the first.

The Peach Festival in Parker County, Texas, will have a cooking contest. Phyllis, the main character, and her boarder, Carolyn, will both enter the contest. They would both love to win.

Phyllis is a retired widowed school teacher. She has boarders in her big house who are also retired school teachers.

I loved the beginning of this book where the festival is talked about; it sounded like a fun, charming festival that you want to just get up and go to.

Person(s) is(are) murdered. Phyllis is determined to find the killer(s). That charming, lovely festival that I mentioned in the previous paragraph turns out to be deadly . . .

Phyllis does a little detective work, much to her cop son's disapproval.

The book has a certain charm. The lovely warm summer, the peaches, the iced tea, the lemonade. And Phyllis is a lovely lady.

This book takes place in Texas, near Dallas, not too terribly far from where I grew up. It gave it more of a homey atmosphere that I could relate to, after having read so many mysteries that take place in Minnesota, Maine, Illinois, and places like that (where snow is common).

I love peaches. Just the thought of those juicy peaches, whether they are eaten raw and fresh, or whether a cobbler or other dish is made with them. Peaches taste delectable, and smell delectable. A summer is not a summer without peaches. The peaches added a lot to this book.

You would think a peach mystery could not go wrong. The book was pretty good, and I had a hard time deciding between 3 stars or 4 stars. But I felt there were parts that were slow or not cozy enough, and didn't quite deserve 4 stars. I really hated only giving it 3 stars.

The end had a nice twist - it was surprising.

This is a promising new mystery series with a really unique cast of characters and an old-fashioned appeal. It's the perfect mystery series to recommend to your mom or grandmother, as the main characters are mainly active, retired seniors. The town of Weatherford, Texas is very small, which lends itself to a more intimate story and colorful, local characters. The main character, Phyllis is a former teacher who now runs a boarding house. Her son Mike is a local police officer and that is her link to the police and inside information. In this particular story, Phyllis is preparing for the upcoming Peach Festival and baking contest; the town goes into a frenzy when a prominent local man drops dead at the festival. This is actually the second of two deaths in the town, so Phyllis becomes suspicious and starts to wonder whether the deaths were murder and, if they are linked. Phyllis is a very likeable woman and so were the cast of characters, including her new boarder, Sam. The plot was quite believable (with the exception of the ending, perhaps), and Phyllis wasn't 'forced' into her role as an investigator - it all seemed pretty natural. Sure, the book doesn't have the romance or 'hipness' that some other series seem to have but, it is a well written mystery nonetheless. The peach pies and cobblers made me plenty hungry too, and I definitely want to read the next few in the series to see if they are as entertaining.