Book Review: The Pumpkin Muffin Murder

Title:  The Pumpkin Muffin Murder
Author:  Livia J. Washburn
Pages:  277
Publication Date:  2010
Version:  Paperback
Genre:  Adult Fiction/Mystery

Summary Via Goodreads.com:
"The fifth in a delectable series fans can't wait to sink their teeth into. Includes fifteen recipes! 

Phyllis loves to spend quality time with her grandson. She'll be taking him to a festival with hopes of winning the baking contest-now that her friendly competitor, Carolyn, is judging and not competing. But when a decorative scarecrow is actually a dead body in disguise, it's Phyllis's sleuthing skills that are needed.

The dead body is that of the festival's organizer- and his wife, Carolyn's friend, falls under suspicion. Carolyn turns to Phyllis for help, because who's better at dishing out some justice than a baker extraordinaire who can handle the heat... "

My Review:

Phillis may be an older, retired school teacher who lives with three other retired teachers, but she is just as sharp in the mind as she was many years ago...especially when it comes to solving a murder.  Phyllis is currently focused on her grandson,  Bobby, who is staying with her and on making just the right recipe for the fall harvest cooking contest.  She is very hopeful to win this year seeing her main rival/friend/roommate is a judge instead of competing against her this year.  Soon, though, her thoughts go to murder and who could or would really kill a prominent real estate man in town, Logan.  Police are convinced it was his wife's doing after many people saw them fighting over an accused affair in public.  Phyllis may not know the wife, Dana, very well, but she really finds it hard to believe she is a murderer.  Even though she vows to not get involved any further than helping Dana get a lawyer Phyllis is soon up to her eyeballs in mystery and clues.  Will she figure it out to save Dana from a life behind bars?  If Dana is innocent will the real killer allow Phyllis to prove it?  What if Dana really did murder her husband, is Phyllis really helping a murderer get away with it?

I have never read any of this series before, but seeing Thanksgiving is right around the corner I thought it perfect to read a murder mystery taking place around Thanksgiving too.  As soon as I started reading this book I was in love with the characters!  They are all so different in character, but so fascinating too!  My favorite characters were Sam and Phyllis though, but Carolyn was pretty amusing too.  Kind of like a Golden Girls special in book form and with murder.  I also loved the plot.  Things moved pretty quickly and easily in this book, which is what I like in a book.  I did, however, feel like some parts could have been moved through a bit faster, but maybe I was just anxious to see if my suspicions were correct in what really happened in the murder and at who's hands.  I must say every time I was 100% sure of my thinking something happened in the book to make me question myself all over again.  This book is full of wonder, mystery, drama, romance (in a way), friendships, and murder. 

Part of a series or not, this book was a great stand alone read.  This book may have referenced to past books in a round about way, but never in any way that made me confused or lost.  Just in a way that makes me wonder if I should go back and read the other books because I'm curious about how Phyllis has such a reputation for solving murders.

This was a good read for me and I would recommend any mystery lover take time to check it out.  It was a great "who done it" that was fun to try and solve along the way to the end and real conclusion. 

4/5 Stars