Smugglers & Scones (Moorehaven Mysteries Book 1) by Morgan C. Talbot

Smugglers & Scones by Morgan C. Talbot
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Pippa Worthy has what she thinks of as her dream job running Moorehaven, a bed-and-breakfast that was once the home of world-famous mystery writer A. Raymond Moore. Located on the Oregon Coast Moorehaven is a slightly quirky B&B in the fact that the guests that come here are all mystery writers looking for an away place to write their own novels.

One night Pippa hears what sounds like a crash outside and rushes off to help finding that a boat had indeed crashed. Not knowing if there are survivors Pippa calls out and hears the voice of a man so she immediately throws him a lifeline. Unfortunately the next morning Pippa finds that the man she saved is suspected of murder when his boss was found among the crash remains.

Smugglers & Scones is a book in the cozy mystery genre that at some points in the story I absolutely loved the characters, setting and story but at other times found myself struggling to remain interested. I guess I just never really connected with this one the way I would like to with a mystery which seemed to have this one going along at a slower pace than I normally would enjoy.

The book had a unique setting with Moorehaven although I did question just how realistic it was to run a business with only a certain select clientele but the history behind the location gave some life to the story that was needed at times to hold my interest. I enjoyed Pippa and some other characters well enough but never really fell in love with any of them either.

In the end I’d say if you are a fan of a cozy mystery give this one a shot as it might have just been an off day for me when picking this one up. The book seems to have all the right ingredients for a good cozy but a bit slow paced for my taste.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.