A Deadly Inside Scoop by Abby Collette

Welcome Back, Booklovers!

This month I was in the mood for something fun and light after a string of  blah books. And A Deadly Inside Scoop certainly peaked my interest. Old school ice cream shop complete with a soda fountain owned and operated by a black woman?  I'm not even the biggest ice cream fan but I couldn't wait to salivate over her concoctions! Caramel popcorn, ghoulish blueberry, pumpkin roll, decadent chocolate... Yum!

The story follows Browyn Crewse a late 20 something who moved from NY back to her hometown in Ohio and has taken over the family ice cream shop. She's spent months doing renovations and has had a few set backs while trying to bring the business back to it's former glory. It may be outside of peak ice cream season but Win is determined to make the place a success.  She's added vintage touches and churns all the ice cream by hand. None of that buy in bulk from Hershey's or Turkey Hill stuff.  Family and friends are determined to help her but the first day of business is super slow as snow keeps the customers away. To make matters worse Win gets the shock of her life when she comes across a dead body while trudging through the snow.

At first Browyn doesn't believe it's murder but her best friend and new coworker Maisey couldn't disagree more. These girls were real amateurs and I found that endearing. Often in these stories these women are instantly smarter detectives than the local police and it's just not believable. Maisey watches some amateur sleuth shows on TV and thinks she has the crime solved. She just knows the killer is her boss Ari who she can't stand. And while he is very shady is he actually a killer? And maybe it isn't the smartest thing to let a suspected killer know your on to him. I like how they made their own murder board like in the crime shows by using sticky notes and different colored felt tip pens. Having read another book by the author under her other name Abby L Vandivier (https://amzn.to/2RB9686) I saw some similarities between Maisey in this story and Auntie Zanne in that one. But Maisie wasn't as overbearing as Auntie Zanne could be. 

"We're not on television," I said. "There's no guarantee that we'd come back the next week's show."

Some thing I thought stood out is that the author does not shy away from mentioning that this family is one of the few black families in town. It also touched on how black folks often aren't given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to crime after the police come knocking down her door. There was also some good  commentary about circumstantial evidence and providing a crime was committed beyond a reasonable doubt.

One of the only things that annoyed me was the obligatory cute animal in the cozy, in this case a cat, was always given free range to walk around the shop. All I could think about was cat hair in the air or getting into folks ice cream whenever it was mentioned.

This was a well written, diverse mystery with a likable cast of characters worth checking out. The mystery does take it's time to start but the story keeps you entertained throughout.

*I recieved an arc from Berkeley in exchange for an honest review.