Blame the Beignets (Deputy Donut Mystery #9) by Ginger Bolton #bookreview #mystery

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Title: Blame the Beignets

Author:  Ginger Bolton

Publisher: Kensington Cozies

Publication Date: Nov 26, 2024

Page Count:  306

My rating: 4 stars

About the book:

As the weather cools down, business heats up at Deputy Donut Café for owner Emily Westhill. But is a stubborn tabby cat, a mysterious new employee, and a murder case with a baker’s dozen worth of suspects too much to manage?

With mouthwatering treats selling fast in October, Emily is delighted to welcome her assistant’s younger sister, Hannah, to help at the donut shop while taking a semester off from college. But Hannah’s talent for dishing powdered pastries without dropping a crumb attracts some unusual customers, as two admirers with opposite personalities begin to show up during her shifts—much to her older sister’s disappointment . . . 

Real trouble comes afterhours in the dark forest surrounding Emily’s lakeside house. Emily follows a trail of her freshly-made beignets—just like those purchased by the two admirers—to a dead body. And while the victim may have burned a few bridges, there’s no way to sugarcoat the discovery of Hannah’s hairclip at the crime scene. Now, as suspicions fall on her own employee and unsavory rumors swirl around town, it will take far more than a sprinkle of good luck for Emily to learn the truth and expose a killer with a very deadly craving . . .

Blame the Beignets by Ginger Bolton is the ninth book in the cozy Deputy Donut Mystery series. As with most cozy mystery series each book of this series can be enjoyed as a standalone or in any order with the mystery being completely solved within each book. Of course there is some character building that carries over from book to book for those that follow the series from the beginning.

In the first book of this series we met Emily Westhill who co-owns the Deputy Donut donut shop named after her tabby cat in small-town Fallingbrook, Wisconsin. Emily used to work as a 911 dispatcher until the day her husband who was a police officer was killed so now she and her retired police chief father-in-law sell donuts at their shop instead. Although Emily thought opening a donut shop would be safe she keeps finding herself mixed up in solving murders.

This time around business has picked up for Emily in the donut shop so she has agreed to hire her assistant’s younger sister, Hannah, to help out in the shop while she is taking a semester off college. Much to her sister’s dismay Hannah ends up with a couple of admirers in the shop regularly purchasing the freshly-made beignets so when Emily finds a trail of Beignets leading to a dead body she immediately suspects the new customers but unfortunately there’s also evidence of Hannah at the scene so Emily knows she must track down the real murderer.

The Deputy Donut Mystery series is another cozy series that I have followed from the beginning and always enjoy returning back to with each new book. There’s those quirky characters, a fun mystery and small town charm I enjoy in the series but I really like the main character being so close to the police herself giving her more knowledge of investigations to go with her sleuthing. Definitely a series I will continue to return to with each new installment.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Ginger Bolton is the pseudonym of an Agatha-nominated cozy mystery author. She is the author of the Deputy Donut Mystery series and is very fond of donuts, coffee, and coffee shops that encourage patrons to linger and chat. Ginger lives in a rural area surrounded by cozy villages. When she isn’t reading, writing, or daydreaming while gazing out windows, she walks her dogs, plays an electric piano (she uses earphones so as not to frighten the wildlife), creates minor disasters in her kitchen, and occasionally takes part in local amateur theater productions, which, intended or not, become comedies. Visit her online at GingerBolton.com.