Agatha Frost

I think I'm going off cozies! Some of the details in this one were particularly bad. We all know that there is some strong motivation to nudge the sleuth into action. In this book it is that her (Julia) grandmother is arrested for shooting a colleague. OK. On the surface that is fine. But, the problem is that it was obviously accidental (she and the victim were both in the process of acting in a play and she shot what was supposed to be a stage prop) so why was she immediately taken away in show more handcuffs and locked up? And the prison was so much like a hotel it was more a holiday for her! The protagonist is dating a DI but she is the one who does all the detecting and even the big reveal is conducted by Julia while he just calls in the cavalry at her nod! And, Julia is in the process of adopting a teeneager and Barker wants to adopt her too, but they are not even engaged. Then why is she so surprised when he proposes to her at the end? How do you expect to adopt together otherwise? And that social worker was so silly and a weird caricature I was revolted.
I think I'll stop complaining now! show less

This is the 10th installment of Agatha Frost’s Peridale Cafe Cozy Mystery series! I have fallen in love with the ladies in Peridale. They make me laugh. They make me cry. They make me crave ALL of the sweets! HA! My waist line sure does not appreciate them as much. But that is besides the point.

I am here to spread the delightfulness I felt while reading Gingerbread and Ghosts. This book/e-book came out on December 12th. And is available at this link! If you have Kindle Unlimited it is FREE show more and if not you can get it at a STEAL of 0.99 cents! I mean, how amazing is that?

As I stated before this is the 10th book in the Peridale Cafe Mystery series. We follow Julia through the tough process of adopting Jess, wondering where her relationship is at with Barker, and of course trying to keep up with her wonderfully eclectic grandmother Dot. Of course this is all happening during the Christmas season!

Dot has decided that she is going to perform in the Christmas play that is being put on with the local drama club. She is a natural. Julia can’t believe how much of a natural she is. What else doesn’t she know about her grandmother?

While sitting in the audience watching Dot put on her best performance yet, Barker, Jess, Julia, and most of Peridale witness Dot pick up a gun, shoot, and murder her leading man. Julia has made it her responsibility to find out who switch the prop gun with a real one and get Dot home in time for Christmas!

Will she make it? Or will this be the first time that the killer gets away?!

This was such a fun and quick book to read! I loved that it was Christmas themed as well! It was perfect for this time of the year. I curled up in a little burrrrito and drank Peppermint Hot Cocoa while reading it and it was amazing! I gave Gingerbread and Ghosts 5 STARS on Goodreads! show less

This book was a hit and miss for me. I loved getting to know the relationship between Jess and Julia! Seeing them grow in their relationship together. But Barker striaght up annoyed the heck out of me during this book. Which is rare. I have read all of the other books in the Peridale Cafe Mystery series, and I have always loved Barker for his love of Jess and Julia, and the fact that he has his head on straight.

However, during this book he was a big baby. He was more concerned about his show more stupid book and the chapters getting ruined then anything else. He needed to work on his temper and he needed to act more like an adult. It annoyed me how childish he was acting. And at the end he decided along with Julia to offically adopt Jess? After he acted like a child and made her run off? I don't know. I can see why Julia was getting annoyed with him towards the end of the book.

I loved the 7th book, and I thought that the relationships were building well and that things were going the way that they needed to. But Barker just annoyed the crap out of me during this book.

However, the murder mystery was really interesting! I loved how intertwined it was with everyone else in the town. How it brought back the past and mingled in with the present. I really liked that aspect of the book. That is what brought the story around for me. I would have rated this book a 2 had the plot to find the murderer not been so interesting. That brought my rating up to a 3. I am excited to see what Agatha Frost comes up with next in the 9th Peridale Cafe Mystery! show less

I haven't been pushed to read a book for a challenge for a while - only because they typically end with me not liking them, but this one was a surprise. It was cute and light. I liked the MC. I found the romance a bit. . .silly, but it was okay, the plot was interesting enough to push that plot to the side. I liked the interesting details, although I did find it silly she used her one phone call to get a chocolate cake to the station for the inspector. But it was all light and silly enough show more with a serious plot that I ended up liking this cute read. show less