A Game of Cones by Abby Collette

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! It's been a few months since I've read a cozy mystery and there's just something so comforting about them. I remember jumping into reading them heavily when I was getting back into reading. If you're a long time follower you may recall me reviewing the first book in this series A Deadly Inside Scoop. Why does that feel like forever ago even though it wasn't even a full year? 

So we revisit the small town of Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Which I found out is actually a real place that has cute little shops just like in this book. Feel free to Google for visuals. I found a picture of a popular shop there. Business has picked up for Browyn "Win" Crewse and she's experimenting with some really cool new flavors. But while she's found her stride some of the other shop owners around town are finding their livelihood threatened by plans to build a new mall. Is it revitalization of the area or is it gentrification? And is Browyn and her fancy ice cream shoppe with it's non traditional flavors part of the problem? 

After a town hall meeting with various shop owners a man working for the development company turns up dead. Her friend Maisie has been itching for another case to solve since the last and after Detective Beverly visits them she's convinced he was asking them to solve it. 

I enjoyed the first book in this series so I was looking forward to this one. This one was a little all over the place for me by the halfway mark. While there needs to be multiple characters as suspects I felt like this story had too many characters. And they would be introduced and then disappear. Plus there was a side plot with Aunt Jack returning to town and trying to stake her claim in the show but that plot kept stopping and starting so you couldn't feel the full impact of her threat. 

Win's friend Rory is also in town and her old coworker is trying to convince her to move back to NYC. And Rory is acting strange and stumbling over lies from the time we meet her. No surprise that she becomes a suspect in the murder case.

Maisie was way too hyper to the point where it just got annoying. She needed to be dialed back as she was too rash with accusing anyone and everyone of committing the murder and often derailing the investigation. For someone who watches a lot of crime mysteries she should know visiting someone and then openly accusing them of murder right away gets no results.

I enjoyed the ice cream making scenes and how Win mixes different unique flavors together. And I liked that during the gentrification talk she pondered if she was part of the problem too. Even though her shop is a long time owned family business it can be seen as more trendy with the recent revamps. Especially since business is booming so much she's expanding to a food truck.

But by the time the book ended and we found out who the murder was I just didn't care. Especially since I had guessed the person early on despite the red herring being thrown in at the end. 

I still think this a good series Abby Collette just needs to tone Maisie all the way down in future installments. And don't overload with so many elements to the point where it gets confusing and uninteresting.