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Scoop to Kill: A Mystery a La Mode

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Tallulah Jones, more commonly known as Tally, was usually seen scooping up ice cream at her shop, Remember the A-la-mode, with cousin Bree and Alice Marie Anders, Bree's seventeen-year-old baby girl. Dalliance was nothing more than a regular old Texas podunk town and Tally made no apologies for that or anything else for that matter. Everything Tally had no patience for was simply a "la-di-freakin'-da" event, which could be loosely translated as laissez-faire in Texanese. Scoop `n' snoop was the name of the game for the two cousins. Tally was trying to keep her nose clean after she meddled in the murder investigation of her ex-husband's "fancy pants girlfriend," Brittanie Brinkman. And that she did until things started to heat up in Dalliance and it wasn't barbecue brisket.

It was Honor's Day at Dickerson University, a prestigious school where Alice was a first year student. Sacrifices had to be made for relatives so Tally was going. Tally met Dr. Emily Clowder, whom she thought had a "brilliant mind, but she sure couldn't carry on a conversation" for beans and when her old flame Finn Harper gave Em a hug it was almost enough to make her barf. She'd much rather be at the Bar None on karayoke night watching Bree do her thing. Things soon went from bad to worse when Alice accidentally stumbled across Bryan Campbell's bloody corpse. The young twenty-six-year-old doctoral student "had been bludgeoned to death, apparently with an industrial-sized stapler." The population of Dalliance was now down one at their "high falutin university" . . . one less man no one would miss.

The "Dickerson Daily" and the "Dalliance News-Letter" were hopping and bopping with speculation right along with everyone else in town when Detective Cal McCormack's nephew was murdered. Was it true Dr. Clowper flunked him because he refused her advances? No one would ever know because the next time anyone saw Emily was when she was at the end a rope and Ms Tally just happened to be at the scene of the grime. "Vonda, this is Tally Jones. We need an ambulance . . . . " Tally had sworn to herself that she was going to keep her big Texan barbecue brisket loving nose clean, but this was just too much. Next thing you know, she was on the phone talking to an answering machine. "Hey, Cal. Tally here. Uh, I want to be straight with you, okay? This is my official notice. I'm fixin' to meddle." She was going to meddle Texas style and that meant BIG time!

Everyone from Cabot Cove, Maine to Dalliance, "podunk" Texas is going to love meddlesome Tally when she tries to solve a double murder. I enjoyed the ease with which this book crossed the Bar None crowd with the academia of Dickerson University. No one will look up or down at any of the characters in this book, but rather will find an utterly charming character named Tally who can snoop `n' scoop like no tomorrow. I loved her down to earth qualities and would roll my eyes and laugh like crazy when she said things like, "I may talk like I got a banjo up my ___ , but I can read, you know." Can you spell h-o-o-t? The mystery was a step above many of those in the cozy genre in that you'll have to really think about the little clues thrown out. If you want a fun, festive mystery with a tangy Texan flare, Tallulah "Tally" Jones is going to serve you up one à la mode!

Ever since I read my first Amanda Cross mystery I've been a huge fan of academic mysteries. Universities just seem to be such ripe institutions for murder, what with Publish or Perish, battles over tenure, sexual harassment, sports' mania, frat parties, budget battles, plagiarism, cheating, department politics...The list seems endless. Among my favorite authors who depict murder in academia are Joanne Dobson, Bill Crider, Jane Haddam, and now, Wendy Lyn Watson. Although technically, she is the author of the Mystery A La Mode series, revolving around an ice cream parlor, her latest mystery SCOOP TO KILL vividly depicts the seedy side of the academia..

So the shame here would be for fans of academic mysteries to pass by this engrossing series, which features Tallulah "Tally" Jones, owner of Dallas's Dalliance ice cream parlor. When Tally's niece (actually her first cousin once removed) Alice stumbles across the body of a rather unlikable male graduate student at Dickerson University, suspicion falls on Professor Emily Clowper, who in a nice twist was being accused of sexual harassment by the deceased. Professor Clowper also happens to have been the ex-girlfriend of Finn Harper, Tally's old high school boyfriend and current who-knows-what. Torn between Finn's request to help Emily, warnings from the victim's uncle (who happens to also be a detective) to stay uninvolved, and Alice's determination to defend her professor, Tally finds herself enrolled undercover at the University and enmeshed in department squabbles, egotistical academics, and scholarly
peccadilloes. The task of creating a Groom's Milkshake seems to be an easy task and welcome distraction in comparison to the undercurrents going on at Dickerson.

This is an exceedingly well-written mystery that more than any mystery I've read lately graphically sums up the pressures and challenges professors and instructors face in universities. They are tasked with the nearly impossible duties of educating students who evaluate based on easy grades, pleasing parents who expect the money they paid to be rewarded in degrees, and publishing in journals that are reviewed by their competitive peers. The experiences of living in a small town where everyone knows you and knew you when you were growing up is as well depicted, along with delightful, original characters. The motivation behind the crime may be spotted early on, and a plot twist that occurs halfway through the novel is revealed by the summary on the back cover, but this in no way inhibits the enjoyment a reader will find in this tasty, engrossing mystery.

A Mystery a la Mode
Obsidian Mystery
Release Date September 7, 2010
2nd book of Series


Wendy Lyn Watson sure knows how to make a cozy mystery sundae!! A big scoop of murder, a scoop of small town charm, a scoop of characters you will fall in love with, a sweet topping with just the right amount of romance, a little whipped up humor and the cherry on top, Tallulah Jones, proprietor of Dalliance, Texas's old-fashioned ice-cream parlor, Remember the A-la Mode.

In Scoop To Kill, Tally is serving up dessert for an Honor's Dinner at the local university, but before the party even gets started, Tally's niece discovers the body of a graduate student. A student that has accused a certain professor of sexual harassment, who failed him on his graduate work and was making his future melt right before his eyes. The professor becomes the prime suspect, but Tally's niece, Alice, doesn't believe it and begs Tally to help her scoop out the truth. As Tally starts to investigate, she enters the world of academia, where she finds extramarital affairs and cutthroat tactics are the norm, not the exception, so the number of suspects continues to grow. Tally is afraid Alice is getting too close to the killer and just may end up in the deep freeze, so she needs to churn out the killer before it's too late.

I LOVED IT!!!!!

Ice cream never tasted this good!!! This mystery is scrumptious, delicious, delectable, and oh so yummy. The setting was perfect. The characters both good and bad, and with the plot twists sometimes it is hard to distinguish between the two, are full of life and entertaining. The only thing that could make this story more luscious, would be to freeze it and put it on stick or in a bowl so you could actually taste the wonderful flavors of ice cream from Remember the A-la Mode! A real treat, a must taste, I mean read!!!!!



Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Obsidian, a division of Penguin Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

When Alice finds the body of a graduate student and then the prime suspect is later found dead, Tally's concern for her niece grows. Determined to stop anyone from targeting Alice, Tally heads back to college and gets a tantalizing look at the world of academia. With help from family and friends, Tally scoops out clues to find the killer before they become a part of the killer's menu. The quirky characters, the hometown setting, the tease of romance and the great dialogue makes this book delectably entertaining.

In Dalliance, Texas, Tally Jones owns the upscale ice cream parlor Remember the A-la-mode. Her sister Bree and Bree's daughter Alice work there; the three females also live together. At Dickerson College, the trio attends the annual Honor's Day festivities. Alice looks for grad student Bryan Campbell who is being honored at the program.

She finds him dead, murdered by blunt force trunk from an industrial strength stapler. The victim was charging Dr. Emily Cowper with failing him on his pre-dissertation test because he refused her sexual advances. Although nobody except his family liked Bryan, Emily starts to hang around Alice at the parlor; Tally and Brea begin to know her. When Emily calls them from her home, they rush over to see if she is okay. They find her dead with her a robe's belt tied around her neck. The police and the college quickly determine suicide due to guilt over Bryan, but the trio believes otherwise and set out to prove it.

Read this entertaining amateur sleuth on a full stomach because the ice cream descriptions and recipes lead to get a craving for the treat. As with I Scream, You Scream, the second A la mode mystery is a charming cozy filled with a likable lead trio, plenty of humor and of course mouth watering ice cream. With an inside look at the cut throat academic world as seen through the threesome with so many suspects surfacing, fans will enjoy this calorie inducing amateur sleuth.

Harriet Klausner

review
A delightful and very entertaining story.

When a graduate student is murdered at the university that Tallulah Jones's niece Alice is attending everyone is shocked. This time Tally doesn't want to play amateur sleuth but when a second person is killed she can't stay back any longer. She and her sister are worried about Alice so Tally decides that it's finally time to attend university herself. So Tally is looking out for her niece and she is also in a complicated situation because there are two men in her life that interest her. On the one hand adventurous reporter Finn and on the other hand steady cop Cal.
Will Tally manage to solve the crime and which man will she give a chance?

"Scoop to kill" contains everything I like in a cozy mystery. The characters are likable and interesting. The storyline is intelligent and not too dark. I enjoyed reading about how life has changed since "I scream, you scream". I was suprised to find Tally between two men but really enjoyed that nothing was rushed. I'm super excited to read which man she chose in the end, of course I know exactly which one would be perfect for her :)
I also enjoyed learning more about Alice and it was quiet funny to see Tally attending university. One thing I especially liked is that while reading "Scoop to kill" I could relax, smile and forget daily life. A book that manages this is definitely worth reading.

cover
Love it. The colours, the comic style and the cover overall looks just beutiful and stylish.

final appraisal
I enjoyed reading this very entertaining amateur sleuth story a lot and I'm already excited to read the next book in the series. The characters are likable and the mystery is fascinating. The story has a very relaxed feeling to it and "Scoop to kill" is a great choice when you are looking for a cozy mystery.

I enjoy this series a lot and this installment was no exception. I just found it a bit confusing because there seemed there were an awful lot of characters. And I hate the vague "cliffhanger" type of endings.

This is a fun cozy mystery that was enjoyable to read. I also loaned it to my daughter who enjoyed it.