Review: Egg Drop Dead by Laura Childs

Title:Egg Drop Dead

Author:Laura Childs

Series:Cackleberry Club, #7

Published:December 2016, Berkley

Format:ARC Paperback, 288 pages

Source:Author

In Laura Childs’s New York Times bestselling
mystery series, Suzanne, Petra, and Toni—co-owners of the Cackleberry
Club Café—are back to track down another bad egg…

Maintaining good personal relationships with their suppliers is one of
the secrets of the Cackleberry Club Café’s success, so Suzanne doesn’t
mind going out to Mike Mullen’s dairy farm to pick up some wheels of
cheese. She’s looking forward to a nice visit with the mild-mannered
farmer before heading back to their hectic kitchen.

But when
she arrives, Mike’s nowhere to be found. The moaning of his cows leads
her to look in the barn, where she discovers a bloodcurdling sight—the
farmer’s dead body. Apparently not everyone was as fond of Mike Mullen
as the Cackleberry Club.

Churning with grief and outrage,
Suzanne, Petra, and Toni vow to find the farmer’s murderer—but as they
get closer to the truth, the desperate killer gets whipped into a frenzy
and plans to put the squeeze on them…

My thoughts:This is the latest book in Laura Childs’ Cackleberry Club series and, even though it’s book seven in the series, I would say this book could really be read as a stand-alone. In fact, most of the books could, though you do miss some of the character development that happens along the way – but that’s not crucial to the overall enjoyment of the individual book.

I found myself drawn right into this book and had a hard time putting it down. While these are usually quick reads, this one in particular I flew through! It was the perfect combination of interesting plot, good mystery, just the right amount of twists and turns and red herrings thrown in, and the pace kept moving. I was completely thrown for a loop when the guilty person was revealed – well played, Laura Childs, well played! Sometimes I am able to figure it out and sometimes not…this was not one of those times.

Reading this series is like coming home to visit old friends – I love catching up with Suzanne, Petra and Toni and finding out what’s new not only with their super cool place, The Cackleberry Club – a breakfast/lunch place, book shop & yarn store all–in-one place, but also seeing what’s going on in their personal lives. And of course, there are the other series regulars that we’ve come to love as well – Sheriff Doogie and Junior being at the top of the list!

I used to read a ton of cozy mystery series and now, Laura Childs is the one author I religiously read. She just has good series – 3 that I still read – that I know I will enjoy, with characters I have come to love, and that’s enough for me. Do you have an old stand-by that you just can’t give up, even though your reading tastes have changed?