While I was AWOL, something wonderful happened: lots of my friends published books.
(Lots of other things happened too, some great, some not so much, but we can come to those later.)
I’m planning to read them and review them, but not on this blog.
Hey, they’re my friends. If I say negative things feelings will get hurt, and if I gush and spout unicorn sparkles about how great they are (the books, not the friends) you won’t believe me.
So I came up with a different plan. I’m going to help you decide if you want to read them. (Again the books, not the friends.)
Today’s victim, I mean, book, is Baking Bad by the lovely Kim M. Watt.
My take on the plot
In the quaint English village of Toot Hansell, the vicar is found murdered. The big city detective brought in to investigate, a coffee lover, finds herself navigating a foreign world of tea and scones.
The friendly village dragons really want to help solve the murder. The problem is that they’re a little out of touch with the modern world (though no more than anyone else in the village), incessantly stepping on each other’s feet, and must under no circumstances reveal their presence to the world.
Hilarity and sponge cakes ensue.
You’ll love this book if you agree…
- Any book is better with dragons, especially a cozy mystery.
- Tea and scones, or possibly sponge cake, are an appropriate solution to any problem from home invasion to dragons on the loose.
- The correct answer to “how many dragons fit in the back seat of a rather small car?” is two.
- The proper procedure for a police officer investigating a murder is: interview everyone at the Toot Hansell Women’s Institute meeting, determine the most likely murderer, arrest her, take her out to a cafe for a nice cup of tea and a chat.
- Poor spelling and excessive use of exclamation marks a true villain make.
- The best afternoon is a quiet one spent in an English country village surrounded by becks, fells, and mossy stone walls. Which are just romantic terms for streams, hills, and mossy stone walls, but sound so much nicer.
- Appropriate weapons to confront an intruder in your house include a frying pan with a cheery pattern of daffodils on it and a pineapple.
You’ll hate this book if…
- The mystery in “cozy mystery” is the most important part for you. You want strings of clues that hang like Christmas lights, red herrings, twists you never saw coming, and a shocking resolution that blows you away. And when I say “shocking resolution” I don’t mean the storm passes and they all sit down for a nice cup of tea.
- You believe all dragons should be of the juggernaut variety that leave knights screaming and maidens reaching for their lances.
- You want your heroes to be young, buff, and preferably topless. And under the age of 50. We don’t get many ages, but we do get the scent of a great deal of grey hair.
- Your ideal read is action! Car chases! Gunfights! Actually, there is a car chase, which occurs at the speed of a lazy jog and no one is actually chasing them. It’s still exciting.
- You like your cozy mysteries blasphemy free. But don’t worry, there’s no nudity. Possibly unless you count dragon nudity.
My verdict
Five cups of tea for adorableness. And dragons.
As I mentioned before, you’re not going to believe any score I give a book written by one of my friends. So ignore the “five”. The cups of tea, adorableness, and dragons are the important parts.
And did I mention right now Baking Bad is free?
Baking Bad – A cozy mystery (with dragons) by Kim M. Watt
And because an author should be allowed to speak for her own book, here’s the official blurb.
A tranquil village.
A poisoned cupcake.
A murdered vicar.
A simple case – or it should be. But all clues point to the Toot Hansell Women’s Institute, and Detective Inspector Adams is about to discover there’s much more to the W.I. than bake sales and jam making.
Alice Martin, RAF Wing Commander (Ret.), and current chair of the W.I., knows the ladies of the Women’s Institute are not guilty. But she has a bigger problem. Toot Hansell has a dragonish secret, and she needs to keep the police well away from it. And she’d really rather not be arrested for murder. Again.
Meanwhile, Beaufort Scales, High Lord of the Cloverly dragons and survivor of the days of knights and dragon hunts, knows even better than Alice that the modern dragon only survives as long as no one knows they exist. But he also knows friends don’t let friends face murder inquiries alone. Beaufort fully intends to Get Involved.
This investigation is about to take on dragonish proportions.
Best put the kettle on.
A funny cozy mystery (with dragons), for anyone that likes their mysteries British, gentle, and well-stocked with cake, tea, and friendship. And dragons, obviously.
Get it from Kim’s site Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Other ebook stores
Somewhere floating around is a box for you to put your email address in if you want to hear more from me. It won’t all be about books. Probably some of it will.
You forgot a very important thing: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK UNLESS YOU HAVE CAKE IN THE HOUSE. Because it will make you want cake. A lot. I’ve put on 143lbs since I started the series, and it’s only book four.
I put on 20kg just writing the post about it.
As an American whose nerves are just about shredded by . . . well, you can imagine . . . I could use some becks and fells and helpful dragons.
You poor thing! You definitely need some dragon help. Though I wonder if the thing for you isn’t more of a juggernaut dragon. You know, for incineration purposes.