Cozy Mysteries #3: Joanne Fluke's Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder

[cimorene]

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

This is first in a series of mysteries solved by the owner of a cookie catering business and seems to be strongly emblematic of the cozy mystery genre. It’s a quick read, fluffy and narrated in a conversational manner - chatty, not in the least literary, rather workmanlike prose.

The background information at the beginning and the scene-setting seemed to go on about three times as long as in the Babysitters’ Club books that they reminded me of. The author’s enthusiasm for her rural Minnesota setting and her cast of characters seem to have taken over a bit; there were a lot of passages to skim or linger on in bemusement. The feeling that murder is secondary to coziness in at least part of the genre is definitely creeping up on me.

That said, there were some tense, thrilling passages that reminded me less of BSC and more of Nancy Drew, right down to putting the book down and seriously considering tweeting my exasperation in the middle of the night. Nancy Drew was always going into the basement or the ruined tower or back to the fairground or into the tiger enclosure alone or at night or without a flashlight, and that always drove me crazy (“She’s practically ASKING to get eaten! Take someone with you!”) This pet peeve of mine was really trampled on, even though at the beginning of the book, the protagonist seemed refreshingly, realistically sensible. Despite liking several of the characters (especially the cat) and feeling a mild curiosity about the love triangle cliffhanger, I probably won’t be reading the sequel.

Comments

[flamebyrd]

Hah! This is one of the books I was thinking of when I said I'd had bad luck with modern cozies.

In addition everything you've said here, I was also deeply resentful that at the start of the book she was happily single, and by the end of the book she had two love interests. But that's more a personal preference than a real flaw in the book.

[cimorene]

Well, characterization-wise it was silly and politically that pissed me off, but as characters I was still mildly curious how it would turn out I guess. Not enough to pick up the sequel though.