Friday, May 4, 2012

Murder on the Rocks by Karen MacInerney


23. Murder on the Rocks - Book 1 in the Gray Whale Inn Mysteries
by Karen MacInerney
mystery, 2006
fourth book for the Foodies Read 2 Challenge 2012
Kindle book 13
finished 4/21/12


My favorite sweet foods are not chocolate cake or ice cream, but fruit concoctions, coffeecake-like breakfast foods, cookies, and brownies. Karen MacInerney must share my love of these foods since Murder on the Rocks is full of such dishes. Natalie Barnes owns a bed & breakfast inn on Cranberry Island off the coast of Maine. She spends a portion of each day baking up something wonderful for her guests' breakfasts, and the reader gets to stand alongside her in the kitchen while she mixes together the butter and sugar, and adds various fruits. And at the end of the book, the author kindly shares all these recipes. Over time I shall try them, and of course write about them in my letters. A few from this and other books in the series may be found here.

Natalie does a lot of her best thinking while she is whipping up something delicious, and she does a lot of it in this first in the series. She is worried about rumors that a giant resort may be built on the little island. Her finances are already fragile, and this could mean the death knell to her business. Not only would it probably ruin the inn she has put all her money into, but there is great concern that the nesting area of the black-chinned terns (not a real bird) will be destroyed. While walking on a footpath Natalie slips and falls down onto the rocks, and discovers the body of the developer himself, Mr. Katz. Later there are subtle, and not-so-subtle attempts on Natalie's own life, while she still has to keep things together at her inn, try to save the birds, and monitor the behavior of her niece who is working at the inn for the summer. She is, as you see, a busy woman. But she has a can-do attitude and cheerfully goes about her daily life in the midst of all her troubles. She has a bit of a crush on the local deputy (the island is too small for a real police force) though local gossip says that he has a girlfriend on the mainland.

There. All the elements of a cozy mystery. Locale, yummy sounding food, a potential love interest, and a great amateur sleuth. For the most part she doesn't commit the sin of getting herself into potentially dangerous situations, though there were a couple of occasions I wanted to call out and say, no. You don't want to do this.

I so enjoyed Murder on the Rocks and plan to read the next ones. And do some baking.

The Gray Whale Inn Mysteries page is here.





Murder on the Rocks is a perfect book choice for the Foodies Read 2 Challenge 2012.

20 comments:

  1. I've read the first three of these mysteries and enjoyed them all. I've got the fourth on my shelf. I was afraid the author was done with this series, but I see from her website that #5 has just been turned in. :-)

    Karen MacInerney lives here in my neck of the woods and I hope to see her sometime at an author event.

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  2. I wonder if she'll ever move to Maine!

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  3. This sounds pretty good - might well see if \i can find it this side of the Pond.

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    1. I looked it up, and it is available for the Kindle.

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  4. I'm so thrilled that you enjoyed this one so much because I snagged it for my Kindle when it was free!!

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  5. I haven't read any of these - I'll look out for them.
    Ann

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  6. Definitely sounds like something to add to my list :-)

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    1. It has a good sense of place, which I think you'd like.

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  7. Well, it's $9.19 now on Amazon for the Kindle, but it still sounds good enough that I might buy it. It's amazing how long my Kindle Wish List is growing based on all your good book reviews!

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    1. I got it for free one day. I'm trying to think if I should recommend you pay that much. I do think you'd enjoy it, and if you love to bake, the recipes alone would be worth the cost, I think.

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  8. I got Murder on the Rocks on the Kindle free offer too and am looking forward to reading it.

    Hugs from Holland ~
    Heidi

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    1. The recipes are so appealing! It is a good beginning to a series I'm looking forward to reading.

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  9. I will definitely get this book from the library. My favorite baked sweets also include fruits. Tarts! Muffins, too.

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  10. Another great tip - I am now on book three and enjoying every minute. Love cozies.

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    1. I got the next two from the library and had to bring them back unread since I was in the middle of another book. I do want to read them, though.

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  11. Thanks so much for the terrific review! Love your blog; I've bookmarked it for summer reading ideas, and that flower photo is gorgeous. FYI, I've got another book coming out called Mother's Day Out; it's the first in a new series. if you're interested in an eARC, let me know, and I'd be happy to send one on. Thanks again for the lovely review! (And I hope to move to Maine one day. Have to sell a few more books, first.) :)

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    1. And I thank you for stopping in and leaving a note!!
      I'll be in touch.

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