Heavenly Hazelnut Murder (Southern Belle Cozy Mysteries #2) by C.C. Dragon

* * * 1/2

Everyone has secrets…even a pastor.

Life had been back to normal in Sweet Grove, with smoothie sales up and murders down to zero. With Gran’s shop doing well, Belle helps her best friend by tending bar at the Honey Buckle whenever needed. Belle tries her best to like Pastor Luke, who she’s been dating for the last few weeks, but when she finds out he’s been less than genuine, things end badly. Their break-up is epic gossip all around the small town.

When the pastor turns up dead, people rush to suspect her. Apparently, their fight about her spending so much time in a bar was overheard. Belle knows she didn’t do it, but who would kill a pastor? Who else would have a motive? With the handsome but romantically complicated sheriff asking her a lot of questions, Belle decides she needs to get to the bottom of it ASAP.

This had better be the last murder in Sweet Grove, or Belle’s amateur sleuthing might become a habit…

Reader advisory: This book contains references to parental abandonment, off-page murder and brief references to domestic abuse and infidelity.

Source: ARC generously provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Oh yeah, am I a sucker for cutesy-titled mysteries which is why I've just read my first C.C. Dragon book.

A lot happens immediately and there are so many characters to keep up with right off the bat. Belle works at the pastry and smoothie shop with her grandmother with whom she's extremely close, and she also tends bar for one of her closest friends. The girl is busy it feels like 24/7. Somewhere in there, she squeezes time to date Pastor Luke. It's a fairly new relationship and only a couple of weeks old before they break up.  She has good reasons, too, and I was impressed. She doesn't think anymore of it but when he's found dead a few days later, all eyes go to her because of their recent very public breakup. It's a unique enough case as the murder weapon of choice was a snake. A python to be exact. EWW. The sheriff who is a former love interest believes in her innocence and they work in unison to uncover what happened. As with murder mysteries, the deeper they dig, the more secrets reveal themselves and it seems like the Pastor wasn't as holy as people thought he was. 

I'll be honest - all those snakes gave me the heebie jeebies. I kind of wanted to stop reading because I didn't want to have nightmares. My discomfort aside, I was keen to learn who was behind this reptilian horror. 

The mystery was a puzzler and by the time the culprit was caught I was stunned. Partly because I didn't see it coming and partly because it's sensitive. Admittedly, I was also thrown off by some other things. I was unaware until after I started that this was book 2, so as think there were some background details missing like descriptions of the town or the people. I'd mentioned before that there are many characters but I didn't pick up on any physical details to create mental images in my reader's mind. The conversations between characters are mostly continuous, flowing from one to the next which is the author's style and I realized that I’m not used to that. It made it challenging to follow and since the story is told in first person, Belle's thoughts felt inaccessible. It would’ve helped me if there were breaks between conversations where Belle shared her inner monologue as she ruminated over new information or provide better context to people in general or connections as she’s helping to solve the crime. There were a couple of occasions when she did that but not enough for me to feel privy to what's on her mind and as a result, she didn't come off as a multi-dimensional character to me, so I didn't feel I got to know her or develop a connection to the town or other characters. 

Now I say all this while recognizing that the background I’m seeking could all be in the first book and perhaps I shouldn't have read this as a standalone. The author's style is also different from what I've been used to reading. So considering all of this, my rating is based purely on my experience jumping into this series by reading book 2 first. I do plan on reading the first book, The Mint Julep Murder at some point so I can get a better feel for C.C. Dragon's writing and the series. In the meantime, I did like Heavenly Hazelnut Murder. Snakes aside (eww again), it was different and kept my attention, and I'm glad to have read a new author. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes small town cozy mysteries, and any mysteries set in the south.

~ Bel

South of Sunshine by Dana Elmendorf

* * * *


What is Kaycee willing to risk for the sake of love? 
And what will she risk for acceptance?

In Sunshine, Tennessee, the main event in town is Friday night football, the biggest party of the year is held in a field filled with pickup trucks, and church attendance is mandatory. For Kaycee Jean McCoy, life in Sunshine means dating guys she has no interest in, saying only “yes, ma’am” when the local bigots gossip at her mom’s cosmetics salon, and avoiding certain girls at all costs. Girls like Bren Dawson.

Unlike Kaycee, Bren doesn’t really conceal who she is. But as the cool, worldly new girl, nobody at school seems to give her any trouble. Maybe there’s no harm if Kaycee gets closer to her too, as long as she can keep that part of her life a secret, especially from her family and her best friend. But the more serious things get with Bren, the harder it is to hide from everyone else. Kaycee knows Sunshine has a darker side for people like her, and she’s risking everything for the chance to truly be herself.

South of Sunshine was one of those books I noticed on the library's display shelf because of its cover. But underneath the endearing title and picturesque cover is a troubling story about how denying your true self can be destructive.

Kaycee is in her senior year of high school and itching to get out of her small town so she can drop the pretence. She has dated guys but mostly to deflect attention away from the fact that she really likes girls. This is a community that hasn't met the 21st century yet. Their narrow minds about different ethnicities and homosexuality keep Kaycee in the closet. When Bren shows up at the high school she's like a shiny, exotic new toy. She's automatically different because she's part Hispanic and she also happens to be gay. Kaycee feels a strong pull towards her but tries her best to deny any of it. 

"Because once again, just like I did last night and like I've done for all these years of denial, 

I think if I ignore it, it doesn't exist. That's what I have to do to survive this town."

~ Kaycee, p. 174

Reading this book was both maddening and eye-opening. Thank goodness Kaycee is a charming and sweet kid, otherwise this read would have been harder. Sunshine is a judgmental town, superficial to the core. You know it's bad when the churches are segregated and then there's segregation within the church based on social status. Here, within this dysfunction, is where Kaycee has to come to terms with who she is. No wonder her head and her heart are a mess! Religious bigotry is one of my few triggers. I can't ever grasp how any institution that should stand for love and caring can be so cruel to those who are at their most vulnerable. The town's bigoted attitude about anything they're unfamiliar with had me in a foul mood so imagine my surprise when Kaycee's mom and her best friend take the story in a different direction by making important revelations! It taught me an invaluable lesson that I don't always know where someone's fears stem from. It's easy to assume that intolerance can be boiled down to ignorance but those two showed me that there's more to that theory. 

"I remind myself that God loves me ..."

 ~ Kaycee, p. 123

That passage from self-awareness to self-acceptance can be intimidating depending on the level of support that is available. Elmendorf wrote Kaycee's gradual coming out so beautifully. She also gives us a glimpse of what coming out means to a teen - the joy it can bring, the toll it can levy, the love it can let in but also the weight of disappointment and hurt when someone you love refuses to acknowledge your truth. I hate that anyone has to even go through this simply because they want to be true to who they are. And it's unfair to have that person carry the guilt for anyone's lack of acceptance or understanding. When it comes to LGBTQ novels, I find it's the coming of age ones like this that I respond to the most. Therefore, I'm so glad I picked up South of Sunshine.  

~ Bel