My rating: 3 of 5 stars to Sonia Parin‘s Sunny Side Up, the first issue in her “Deadline” Cozy Mystery series. I stumbled upon this free e-book last fall and thought it might be a fun read. As I was cleaning up my Kindle Reader on my iPad today, I re-found it and decided to give it a chance, since it was under 100 pages. Cute read, a bit simple, but has potential as a series.
Story
Eve Lloyd sold her NY restaurant and divorced her useless ex-husband, rented out her apartment on a six-month lease and took a trip to visit her aunt. But when she arrived, her aunt was gone and the townsfolk found Eve quite strange. She comes back from dinner with her aunt’s real estate agent and finds a dead body in her kitchen with a woman she’d only met the day before, claiming she just walked in on the dead body. As she tries to establish her own alibi, and prevent the townsfolk from thinking she’s guilty, Eve finds a few new friends and develops a crush on the detective. She’s captured by the perpetrator before the end and almost meets her own maker, but luckily the detective saves her. And Eve learns what her ex-husband did to try to save her.
Strengths
A cute, fun, simple read… nice intro to the cast of characters and the town. Easy for a light afternoon. Good beginning for a new series that shows promise.
Suggestions
It needs depth. Dialogue was a little combative in the beginning. Wish I knew more about her parents and why she’s so close to her aunt. Everything just sorta “comes together” as a setup for the series… just hoping it isn’t always like that as it would be too simple.
Final Thoughts
It’s a light-and-quick read in between complex plots or an emotional roller-coaster of a read. Give it a chance but look at it as just a couple of hours of fun.