"A deadly grand opening. . ."
Reviewed by Alison Ellis
Posted May 14, 2020
Mystery Culinary | Mystery Cozy
Bronwyn “Win” Crewse is following in her late Grandma Kay’s footsteps and honoring her memory by taking over the family’s ice cream shop, Crewse Creamery. With renovations taking longer than expected but now almost complete, Win, her family, and her best friends are ready for their grand opening, albeit a little late in the season. But grand it turned out not to be. A snowstorm blew through their small town of Chagrin Falls, Ohio and exactly zero customers came to the store. Feeling let down, Win decides to make her Grandma’s famous snow ice cream. Not any snow will do, it must be just the perfect snow and Win knows where to find it. But instead of gathering her snow, she finds a body. As facts begin to unfold, it turns out the deceased has a rocky history with Win’s family. As Detective Liam Beverly starts piecing together the clues, some of them start to point directly at Win’s father. Determined to clear her father’s name, Win and best friends, Maisie and Riya, help her start an investigation of their own.
A DEADLY INSIDE SCOOP is a refreshingly, delightful addition to the cozy mystery genre. It is a bit longer than a typical cozy mystery, but given that this is book one in the series readers won’t mind because we get fully immersed in Win’s life and we are introduced to all of the quirky and not-so-quirky characters in her life. I absolutely loved Win’s relationship with her family-her mom, dad, grandfather, and brothers. There are tight-knit families and then there is Win’s family. They remain each other’s main priority, through good and bad. Maisie and Riya, Win’s best friends, are a hilarious addition to round out this group. There were many times I was laughing out loud at some of their shenanigans. The storyline flowed easily, and the plotline will keep readers guessing until the very end. There is a wide range of suspects which brings out a lot of history that many people want to keep hidden but that gives us even more depth to what this family and town have endured.
Overall, A DEADLY INSIDE SCOOP is a solid start to what we can all hope is a long-lasting series. My only advice to readers before beginning this book is to jump to the recipes section and grab what ingredients you may need to make some ice cream.
SUMMARY
This book kicks off a charming cozy mystery series set in an ice cream shop—with a fabulous cast of quirky characters.
Recent MBA grad Bronwyn Crewse has just taken over her family's ice cream shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and she's going back to basics. Win is renovating Crewse Creamery to restore its former glory, and filling the menu with delicious, homemade ice cream flavors—many from her grandmother’s original recipes. But unexpected construction delays mean she misses the summer season, and the shop has a literal cold opening: the day she opens her doors an early first snow descends on the village and keeps the customers away.
To make matters worse, that evening, Win finds a body in the snow, and it turns out the dead man was a grifter with an old feud with the Crewse family. Soon, Win’s father is implicated in his death. It's not easy to juggle a new-to-her business while solving a crime, but Win is determined to do it. With the help of her quirky best friends and her tight-knit family, she'll catch the ice cold killer before she has a meltdown...
Excerpt“Was there anyone else out tonight?” he asked. “Anyone that may have seen you or the gentleman you found?”
My mind and my eyes wandered back to Ms. Devereaux and her store. He got what he deserved . . . She had to know who he was, otherwise how would she know that he’d merited his fate?
The store was set directly in front of Bell Street.
Maybe she had seen something. But when I brought my eyes back to meet with the detective’s, I saw that scarf.
The multi-colored one.
It was wrapped around the neck of a young boy. Probably the young boy I’d spotted under the streetlight as he’d scrambled back up the hill coming up from the falls. A woman stood behind him, her hands on his shoulders.
“He may know something,” I said, and led him in the direction of the boy with my eyes.
Detective Beverly looked over his shoulder, following my gaze, then turned back to me. “Who?” he asked.
“That little boy,” I said. “I saw him down by the falls.”
“You saw him?”
“I think I did,” I said, and focused my gaze on him. “I saw his scarf.”
“Hold on.” He turned to the officer and asked him to go and get the boy.
I heard the detective say something to me, but my attention was on the boy and the woman. Through the sea of faces and movement, it seemed that briefly her eyes had locked with mine. It was as if she knew, somehow, that I had spoken about her—or the child—and she started to edge away.
The officer must have radioed his intent because before he got to her, another officer came up behind her. He leaned in and spoke to her. I saw her acknowledge the officer as he headed over.
“Bronwyn.” Snap! Snap! Fingers were in front of my face making the noise. “Bronwyn!”
“Yes,” I said, diverting my thoughts and refocusing my eyes on the detective.
“You got lost there for a minute,” he said. “You alright?”
“Yeah. I am,” I said. “Just cold and tired.”
“Do you need another blanket?” He tugged on the one I still had wrapped around me.
“Mm-mm.” I shook my head. “This one is fine.”
“Detective Beverly.” It was the officer speaking. He had escorted the woman and boy over. She didn’t seem too happy about it. “Here’s the woman you wanted to speak with.”
Her red lipstick was faded and dull. The mascara laid thick on her eyelashes had begun to run due to the dampness in the air. The curls in her blond hair—dyed, as evidenced by her dark brown roots—had flopped. She held her head up, her grip on the boy tight.
“What do you want?” she said. Her voice was gravelly, like she’d been smoking ten packs of cigarettes a day for the past forty years. She didn’t look that old, though. “I have to get my son home. Out of the cold.”
“Ms. Crewse here”—the detective pointed to me—“said she saw you down by the falls.”
“Not her,” I corrected. “Her son.” I flapped an arm in his direction.
“He wasn’t there,” she said, not even taking the time to consider my claim.
The detective looked at me.
“I saw that scarf around someone’s neck. A child’s neck,” I said. “That’s how I found the body. Chasing after it. Him. Then I saw the scarf again lying on the ground when I came back up to get help.”
“She must’ve seen another scarf,” the woman said dryly.
“Exactly like that one?” I asked, sarcasm threaded through my words.
She shrugged. “It wasn’t my son’s. He wasn’t anywhere near the falls tonight. Or anytime today.”
“Then why are you over here?” I asked, and before she gave an answer, I suggested one for her. “You come looking for that scarf?”
She blew out a snort. “No. I came to see what was going on, just like everyone else.” She looked at the detective.
“Where were you coming from?” I asked. “Did you go to the movies tonight?” I remembered the voices I’d heard earlier. I had heard a woman calling out something . . .
The woman raised an eyebrow. “Is she working for you?” She directed her question to the detective.
“No.” He chortled at the woman’s words, his green eyes lighting up. “But do you have any more questions, Bronwyn?”
I wasn’t amused. “It was his scarf,” I said. “And it was him.”
“Is this why you asked me to come over here?” she said, slowly taking her eyes from mine and looking at the detective. “So she could accuse me—or my son—of something? I don’t know what this is about, but I can’t help you. And neither can he.”
“What’s your name?” the detective asked the boy, but the woman spoke up.
“Why?” she asked indignantly.
“Because I’m an officer of the law and you have to tell me if I ask,” Detective Beverly said, his voice calm but steady.
“I don’t think that’s true,” she said.
“We can take you in. Talk about whether it’s true or not down at the station,” he said. “That way your boy can stay warm.”
She didn’t like that remark. “His name is—”
“Jasper,” I said, suddenly remembering the earlier incident while sitting sulking on the bench. I remembered how she had called out the name as he ran from her.
“Jasper,” she said at the same time I did.
“Do you know him?” Detective Beverly asked me.
“No,” I said. “I don’t know him. I heard her call him that.”
“When?” the detective asked.
“Not long before I found the body.
“And, Mom, what’s your name?”
“Glynis Vale,” she said. “And my son, Jasper. Vale. Who is only ten years old.” She put her hand on top of his head. “He wouldn’t be out wandering off by himself.”
“He was tonight,” I said.
“He didn’t see anything,” she countered, seemingly daring me to contradict her again.
“Is that true?” the detective asked the boy. “You didn’t see anything?”
Jasper strained his neck to look up at his mother standing over him.
“Of course it’s true,” Glynis said.
“I’m asking him,” the detective said.
Glynis Vale smacked her lips. “Answer him,” she told the boy.
“I didn’t see anybody.”
“Any body?” the detective asked, separating the word. “You didn’t see anyone or you didn’t see a body?”
Jasper looked up at his mother again. She nodded. “Both,” he said. “I didn’t see no one, and I didn’t see no body.”
“See,” she said, looking at me as she spoke. “There wouldn’t be anything to talk about if you took me in.”
“How about this?” the detective said. “You give your information to this officer. Address. Phone number. How to contact you—if we need to—and you can be on your way.”
“Can my daughter be on her way, too?” my mother asked.
Detective Beverly looked at her and then at me. “You have anything else to tell me?”
“Nope,” I said. “Not here. Not even at your station.”
I saw a grin curl up one side of his lips. “Okay. Then, yes. You can be on your way, too.” He pointed to our store. “I can find you there?”
“Every day. Eleven to eleven.”
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