loribonesscaswell

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Divorced from her scam artist husband Gia moves to Florida to reboot her life by opening the All-Day Breakfast Café. She has been working on the project for weeks with her old college roommate and best friend Savannah and is excited about her grand opening. The opening wasn’t very smooth, first Gia didn’t have grits on her menu and her fry cook was way out of her depth when she has to cook more than one meal at the same time. Gia can get grits and she can fire the cook but finding the body of her ex-husband in the café’s dumpster is not something she can fix. In fact, most of the town thinks she committed the murder. When another body is found she starts thinking she may have been safer in New York. Before she can pack up her pots and pans Detective Hunter Quinn tells her he knows she is not guilty and will do everything to protect her. But Gia and Savannah decide to investigate on their own and the good detective may not be able to save them this time.

Ms. Gregory has created such wonderful characters for her All Day Breakfast Cafe Mysteries. Gia thought she left her troubles behind but they have followed right behind her. Her diner should be pretty successful after she handles a couple issues with her staff. She is not your typical cozy protagonist because she fears almost everything around her and Florida has many things to be scared of in addition to a murderer, you know, like snakes, spiders, and bears, oh my!

Savannah is a wonderful best friend. She tries to be supportive and find something positive about all the big and little bumps in the toad that rise up to meet Gia. I love the way she decided Gia needed a dog and Thor seems to be the perfect fit. Detective Hunter Quin “Hunt” and Gia have a little romantic spark, but after her past experience, Gia is a little gun shy about dating or having a man in her life.

My favorite supporting character though is Earl. Gia’s first customer who is shocked there are no grits on the menu. But he quickly becomes a regular customer and Gia is thrilled about that. Earl reminds me of an elderly gentleman that frequented my mother’s restaurant many years ago. It is that man’s image that pops into my head as I read about Earl.

This story ebbs and flows at a perfect pace. The author has a nice descriptive writing style that brings the characters and each scene to life. The mystery is complex with plenty of suspects. Filled with twists and some scary turns, this was not an easy mystery to solve and I didn’t figure out until the reveal.

I enjoyed the touches of humor and romance that are expected in a cozy mystery. There is so much for the author to build on as the series continues.

Kudos, Ms. Gregory, this series is off to a terrific start. Cozy lovers, you will love this story!