REVIEW: Game of Scones

Game of Scones
Author: Mary Lee Ashford

I have to admit it was the yummy photo of scones on the cover for this book that led me to read it. The photo looks so good! mmmm. I'm a sucker for culinary cozy mysteries anyway...so I didn't need too hard of a push to read Game of Scones.

Rosetta "Sugar'' Calloway recently left behind her career as a senior food editor for a magazine. When profits started declining she was downsized. So, she has relocated to the small town of St. Ignatius and started a cookbook business with her friend, Dixie Spicer. Sugar & Spice Publishing. Now this isn't a Martha Stewart or Paula Deen type cookbook publisher, but one that centers on community cookbooks.....ones with recipes gathered by local organizations, churches, schools, etc. Their first project is the St. Ignatius Founders Day Commemorative Cookbook. Unfortunately, drama has taken over the planning. Elsie Farmer is at war with the owner of the local B&B over which scone recipe will be included in the book, hers or Bertie's. Small town nonsense turns much more serious when Sugar discovers Elsie's dead body on the ground near her house. The dead woman is found clutching a scone. When Dixie's Aunt Bertie faces arrest for murder, Sugar knows she needs to ferret out the real killer!

I really enjoyed this first book in the Sugar & Spice Mystery series. I grew up in a small town....and live in one now....and the characters, gossip, and little oddities of St. Ignatius made me smile. So much like real life in any small town. From disputes over falling leaves to fights over family recipes.....small town life has its own set of peculiarities. Everyone knows everybody's business. And gossip passes through town at the speed of light. I like the setting for this new series, the characters and the background theme of a small community cookbook publishing business.

All in all, a quick entertaining read. The front cover is engaging....and yummy! There are recipes at the end of the book -- two scone recipes (so you can make a choice between Elsie and Bertie's recipes) and a broccoli dish as well. I will definitely be reading more books in this series!

The second book in this series, Risky Biscuits, will publish in July 2019.

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Kensington via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**