Southern Sass and a Crispy Corpse (A Marygene Brown Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Publisher: Kensington (May 26, 2020)
Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages

Synopsis

On Georgia’s picturesque Peach Cove Island, a killer is serving up a two-for-one special . . .

After their mama’s passing, Marygene Brown returned to Peach Cove Island to help her sister Jena Lynn run the family diner, renowned for its homemade peach desserts. But Mama is never too far away—her sassy spirit haunts the island, and more specifically Marygene. Lately Mama has been warning her that the dead will seek her out to solve their murders, an idea Marygene is far from peachy keen on.

But that prophecy appears to be coming true when she goes skinny-dipping off the island and swims right into a woman’s charred corpse floating in the waves. And when Marygene and her brother Sam come upon a second burned body in a wine cellar at an event they’re catering, it appears they have a double homicide on their hands. It soon turns out the victims have more in common than their charred remains, and Marygene will need to double down to find a killer who has no aversion to playing with fire. Good thing Mama has her back . . .

Includes Seven Recipes from Marygene’s Kitchen!

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Review

This is the first book I have ready by this author and wow!  What a story she weaves with interesting characters and backstories and the mystery itself?  One I did not expect.

This is the 2nd in the series and if you have followed my reviews for any length of time, you know I prefer to read a series in order.  For some reason, I decided to go ahead and read this book and while there was a little bit about Marygene’s past I did not know about, the author did a good job of giving some detail so I didn’t feel totally in the dark.  I still think that it would be best to start with the first book in this series to have a better understanding of the characters, but the mystery is unique to this book.

Marygene has some baggage, and that might be an understatement.  She has a complicated past and she is leery of trusting anyone outside of her immediate family.  On top of that, she sees her mother’s ghost who prods her into investigating the crimes.  Her mother is limited as to what she can tell Marygene about the incidents but she does help save a few people indirectly.  There is a fleeting relationship with Alex, a deputy that works for her dad, but a potentially innocent incident has Marygene thinking that perhaps they don’t need to be together.  Enter newer deputy, Javier Reyes.  I believe he is in the first book, but he and Marygene seem to come to an understanding in this book.  Could he be a potential love interest?  Only time will tell.

The mystery of the “crispy corpses” was interesting because I don’t believe any other cozy I have read had this as the crime.  It left an interesting picture in my mind.  On top of that, Marygene discovers the first body while skinny dipping.  She is a brave soul to bare it all and then to end up finding the first body.  Yup, there is more than one to find.  And the ties to the past regarding these bodies added a nice twist.  When the full truth was revealed you could have knocked me over with a feather.  While I suspected one person involved with the crime, the full story was not one that even crossed my mind.  Many people were shocked by the revelations.

Overall we enjoyed this cozy and I plan to go back and read the first book to gain a better understanding of Marygene and her family.  We give this book 4 paws up.

About the Author

Kate Young writes Southern mystery novels. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Guppy Chapter. Kate lives in a small town in Georgia with her husband, three kids, and Shih Tzu. When she is not writing her own books, she’s reading or cooking.

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