Well Read, Then Dead -- Terrie Farley Moran

Upfront statement:  It's true that Terrie Farley Moran has occasionally reviewed one of my books and said good things.  It's also true that in Well Read, Then Dead, one of those books is mentioned by name, and my work is mentioned in a favorable way.  So should I be reviewing this book?  Sure.  Why not?  For the most part, I review only books I like.  If I don't like 'em, I don't comment.  You might be surprised at how many don't make it to the blog.  But when I like one, I feel like I should go ahead and say something.  So I will.

The setting is Estero Island off the southwest coast of Florida, where two young women from Brooklyn, Sassy (short for Sassafras; her mother was a flower child) and Bridgy (short for, well, you know) have fled to open up their dream business, a combination cafe and bookstore.  It's called the Read 'em and Eat.  Things are going well.  The cafe is filled with customers, and the bookstore is doing fine, too.  The cover to the left shows one of the nice little reading nooks, where book clubs meet.

Things start to go wrong quickly, though.  Manuel, the cook, falls in the kitchen and breaks his leg.  A crisis, but one that can be averted by calling in Bridgy's aunt to cook.  Then one of the regular customers and book club members is murdered.  That's something you can't repair by calling an aunt.  Sassy decides to look into the murder, with a little help from Bridgy and from Cady Stanton, a reporter for the local paper with whom Sassy is somewhat involved.  Though not too involved to be mindful of the good looks of the new deputy assigned to the case.

Lots of Southern cooking, lots references to books and writers, and a whole community of readers and restaurant patrons.  Excellent small-town southern setting, too.  I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of murders there, and that's good news (for readers, not the victims).  If you like a cozy now and then, this is a dandy.