Chris Cavender

In the wee hours of the morning, donut shop owner Suzanne Hart is surprised to see a body dumped on the road in front of her shop just as she is arriving to start making the donuts. The murdered man, banker Patrick Blaine, is a regular customer. Although Suzanne didn't see enough to identify the murderer, the killer may not know that. When it seems the police aren't acting quickly enough, Suzanne launches her own investigation with the help of retired cop George and her best friend, Grace. show more One possibility is that Blaine was murdered by a dirty cop, so state policeman Jake Bishop is there to both assist with the investigation and to keep an eye on the local police. It's soon clear that his interest in Suzanne is more than professional. Suzanne's ex-husband, Max, is hanging around too much for Suzanne's comfort. Is he just jealous, or could he have been involved in Blaine's murder?

I enjoyed the characters and the setting in small town North Carolina. The mystery plot had several holes. It's surprising how many people Suzanne doesn't know and vice versa in a small town where she's lived all 30-something years of her life. Some of the awkwardness may be because this is the first book in a series and the characters haven't quite gelled. I liked it well enough to try the next couple of books in the series to see if it starts to click. show less

Suzanne Hart owns Donut Hearts in small town April Springs, North Carolina. She's not getting rich, but she's managing to make a decent living doing what she loves. While listening to the radio one night while she's in bed, she hears radio jockey Lester Moorefield -- a thorn in her side -- tell everyone to stay away from her business because she's feeding everyone poison with her donuts. Angry, she dresses and goes to the station to confront him. They have words, and Suzanne leaves, show more determined to make him regret targeting her.

Later on the next morning, police chief Martin comes to the shop and asks her to come with him to the radio station, where he tells her that Lester is dead, and one of her éclairs was found stuffed in his mouth. While he doesn't believe she committed the murder, he wants to know where she was at the time of the murder, and then if she knows anything. Of course she doesn't, but when her business starts to suffer because of Lester's final broadcast, Suzanne can't just sit back and wait for the police.

With the help of her friends Grace and George, she's determined to investigate. But then her boyfriend, state investigator Jake Bishop, is assigned to the case, and there's an accident that puts her in the forefront of knowing it shouldn't have happened, and Suzanne is bound and determined to get the murderer...that is, if the murderer doesn't get her first...

This is the fourth book in the series, and I must say that it's been improving along the way. I do like Suzanne as a person; she doesn't rush headlong into accusing everyone she meets of murder; she asks questions and then eliminates that suspect, which is much nicer and more believable.

She loves her donut shop and the people around her, and it's apparent that they love her, too. I do like the fact that she has a mother who's not hounding her about grandkids and is a good part of Suzanne's life. I'm beginning to enjoy Dorothy's presence in these books; and I do like the fact that Suzanne's relationship with Jake is beginning to take shape and grow.

As far as the murder goes, it was done very nicely, with just enough suspects who may or may not have had solid alibis, and sifting through them with Suzanne was tons of fun. While the murderer wasn't totally unexpected, my dislike of another character really wanted that person to be guilty. Oh, well. In the end, it came together seamlessly, and I spent a good evening with Suzanne and her friends, and look forward to seeing them again in the next book. Recommended. show less

Suzanne Hart owns Donut Hearts in the village of April Springs, North Carolina. A demonstration tour is underway in the town when its organizer suddenly turns up dead, holding a donut from Suzanne's shop. The donut has been laced with poison. Who wanted to see Peg Masterson dead? Suzanne doesn't have a lot of faith in the ability of the local police chief, and her boyfriend, state detective Jake Bishop, has a family medical emergency that keeps him back in Raleigh part of the time. She show more decides that she must investigate if they will get to the bottom of the case. The recurring characters are likeable. I think Suzanne's mom's character could be more fully developed though. I'm not certain that Jake would have been assigned the case with his personal involvement to one of the suspects. It's a fun read in a series that is rapidly becoming one of my favorites. I would encourage potential readers to start with the first in the series because this installment definitely builds off the first one as far as character development is concerned. show less

Evil Éclairs by Jessica Back was an easy reading cozy for me. Right type I love to read when I am not feeling good. I love doughnuts but have diabetes so I haven’t eaten one in years. I think if I can’t eat them at least I can still read about them. The main character, Suzanne Hart has a donut shop so there are doughnut recipes sprinkled throughout the book.

This is the first of the cozies that I have ever read that I figured out the killer at the beginning of the book! One clue really show more stood out and then there was another one at about the end. So the mystery wasn’t the chief thing with this book. It was the characters that I loved. Suzanne is a role model for all workaholics, her mother is very sweet and sensible and her boyfriend was adorable. That was the same for the previous books. So this book is like going home and seeing your mom and your best friends and that is good enough for me. I was glad to read about old George Morris, a retired law enforcer.

I love the drawing of April Springs, North Carolina in the front of the book. It made it so easy to visualize the small town in the tale. So when I feel down, I will pick up another Jessica Beck cozy for a comfort read. show less