Murder at Buttermilk Cafe

Murder at Buttermilk Cafe: Windmere Cove Cozy Mystery Book One

Harper Burton

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Former food critic Izzy Harper moves back to Windmere Cove to open up the Buttermilk Cafe after being humiliated by mentor and fellow food critic Spencer Reed. After building her clientele using her grandmother’s recipes, Reed comes to do a tasting. After criticizing most of Izzy’s food, he suddenly keels over and dies. Izzy is being looked at as a suspect, so she is determined to clear her name. Along with her friend/chef Max and her loyal golden retriever Noodle, Izzy starts to pin down possible suspects. Will they be able to identify the murderer before another victim has their last meal?

Burton does a great job of setting the scene, developing the characters and roping in the reader with her descriptive vocabulary and doses of humor sprinkled throughout the mystery. The plot does become a bit complex for my personal taste, but I did love the way she named her recipes after emotional situations (ex. Emotional Baggage Mac & Cheese). She also ended the book with a mini cliffhanger that I believe will lead into the next book of the series. If you like conspiracies and intricate mysteries, this book is for you.

*I received an ARC of this book. Any opinions expressed in this review are my own.