Sconed To Death – Lake Michigan Cozy Mystery With A Side Of Crocheting!

There are some fantastic advantages to being an avid reader and having a website where I get to write all about them.

The upside is that I frequently get ARCs (advanced reading copies) ahead of their publication date, which means I can tell you, dear reader, whether or not they are worth your hard-earned cash.

I’d like to think that I have a relatively good nose for sniffing out a cracker of a cozy mystery, but sometimes, just occasionally, I am left a little meh at the end of a book.

I’m sad to say that Sconed to Death was one such time when I was lured in by a fun cover and a blurb that said all the right things, sadly, none of which actually translated to the page.

Now, upfront, I’m going to say that it isn’t a terrible book, and it does have some redeeming features. I’m even beginning to think that it might just be a ‘me problem’ – as opposed to more specific issues with the plot, etc…

But, before I get into why it didn’t work for me, I’m going to give you the lowdown on the plot.

Annie Hart And Her Tearoom

First off, this is book two in the Crochet and Crumpets Mystery series from Betty Hechtman and I hadn’t read the first entry so I had to piece together the who’s who of it all.

Bear with me here…

Annie Sara is from LA, where she works with her father, a talent agent, whose biggest client is an overbearing A-Lister, Camille.

Camille’s daughter is called Gray, and she is being smothered (metaphorically) by her mother’s impossibly high standards – you know the kind – must maintain a size zero, always look perfect, blah blah blah.

Annie Sara has been tasked with helping Gray with her kids’ boutique, which is all fine until she inherits an old converted schoolhouse in the town of Franklin, Indiana, on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Feeling bad for Gray, she brings her along, and the two ladies head across the country to give the schoolhouse a bit of a makeover in the hopes they will get a quick sale.

However, the more work Annie Sara did on the building, the more she wanted to do, and so now she has converted one of the rooms into a tearoom. The hope is that by creating a sustainable and ready-made business, the building will sell much faster.

Also, she paints it peach and is very proud of it. Genuinely, I nearly closed the book at that point. Peach!! Ugh, it was all the rage in the 80s (yes, I’m that old) and lord knows, it doesn’t need to make a comeback!

Anyway, I digress. Along with her peach tearoom, she also sells sandwiches and sweet treats on three-tiered stands. She’s talking about ‘Afternoon Tea,’ which isn’t exactly a radical concept, given that it’s been around for nearly 200 years.

But, such is the popularity of the tearoom, that she even has a local lad, Toby, supply her with his homemade scones every day – this is important for various reasons!

With everything going well, only two things stand in Annie Sara’s way of selling up – making sure Toby becomes a famous scone maker (don’t ask me why!) and a murder…

Death on Lake Michigan

We’ve got the background, so here’s what happens. A particularly unlikeable trio of friends come to the tearoom every day. They’re rich, uppity tourists, in Franklin for the Summer, and between them, they have seven kids and two nannies.

Simultaneously, Annie Sara gets wind of a baking reality show, and she thinks that if Toby can get cast and showcase his scones, his future will be secured, and whoever takes over the tearoom will keep buying from him.

Incidentally, Toby has Down Syndrome, hence the reason Annie Sara cares so much.

While trying to piece together a video to submit his application, with the help of her well-connected father, Annie Sara, and Gray stumble upon a body on the beach.

Everybody is understandably shocked, well, everybody except the three amigos, who are far more concerned with a missing bracelet and who will look after their unruly children.

When it looks like the victim had tea and scones from the tearoom, Annie Sara soon finds herself not just trying to clear her name but also solving the whodunnit, juggling her business, the reality show, and her burgeoning romance with the local newspaper editor.

Phew…that’s a lot! And yet somehow, left me wanting…

Narrative Not For Me

As I said at the beginning, I didn’t gel with this book, and here’s why. The narration is horrendously robotic, with wooden sentences comprised of bland facts, and don’t get me started on the repetition.

I joked above about the tearoom being peach and the three-tiered cake stands and Toby’s scones, but don’t worry if you forget – Annie Sara will remind you every single chance she gets.

Even if you can get beyond that, I found the entire story utterly implausible and weirdly focused on both getting Toby a job and finding out who stole the missing jewelry.

All the while, a poor young woman has been murdered, and nobody seems to care even one iota. In fact, if anything, her death is a bit of an inconvenience and absolutely not the focus of this book. It’s all very strange.

If I had to sum up Sconed to Death, I would say it is a joyless cozy mystery with next to no personality.

That’s just me, and I am a firm believer that not every book is for every person, so if you think you might like it more, then feel free to give it a go!