Of Spice and Men

Again, I was excited to have the opportunity to read the newest release in Sarah Fox’s Pancake House Mystery series, “Of Spice and Men,” and totally entertained with revisiting the well-developed and sometimes quirky characters (even the ‘fur’ friends), and being absorbed in another clever mystery. This time Sarah has a Hollywood-twist with a movie crew invading Wildwood Cove. Everyone is all abuzz by the prospect of having their town being center stage, and Marley McKinney, owner of The Flip Side, is overjoyed with the extra business from the cast and crew who find her crêpes delicious.

I greatly enjoy Sarah’s style of writing as the her ‘twists’ come early with Marley invited to the set, but finds the special-effects makeup artist Christine is a real-life victim of a trailer fire; the police are labeling it murder. Ok, it gets even better when Sarah adds ‘turns' with Marley discovering her boyfriend’s ex was the replacement lead in the film, Alyssa Jayde, who rivals any full-of-herself diva, and then, hold on, here it comes! The ex needs someone to clear her name from the ‘prime suspect’ list. Yeah! What an exciting start! Marley finds curious visitors, tensions on set, jealousies, missing props, and threats overheard “burn your whole career down to a pile of ashes!” All this and well-written drama, a few giggles, continuing romance, a ‘What? No, watch out!’ ending, and delicious easy-to-follow recipes straight from The Flip Side kitchen: Pumpkin Waffles and a Basic Crêpes recipe for those tasty fillings for Pumpkin Crêpes and Apple Crêpes.

"Disclosure: A review copy of this book was selected by me from NetGalley. All of the above opinions are my own.”

Of Spice and Men by Sarah Fox is the third installment in A Pancake House Mystery series. A film crew from Hollywood is in town to do a remake of the horror film The Perishing. Marley McKinney is looking forward to the extra business the movie people will bring to The Flip Side Pancake House. Marley and Sienna get invited by Christine Gallant, a special effects make-up artist, for a behind the scenes tour. They arrive to find the trailer door unlocked and a fire inside. Marley (with a little help) rescues Christine from the burning trailer, but it is too late. Sheriff Ray Georgeson arrives and Christine’s death is ruled a homicide. Alyssa Jayde, an actress, is the prime suspect. Brett, Marley’s boyfriend and Alyssa’s ex-boyfriend, defends Alyssa. Marley starts asking questions and ends up with a lengthy suspect list. Who killed Christine? Can Marley clear Alyssa’s name and find the killer? Marley’s curiosity just might be her undoing!

Of Spice and Men is an easy to read story. I recommend reading the first two books in the series prior to Of Spice and Men. I found the book heavy on romance and jealousy (and light on mystery). I felt too much of the book was devoted to Brett and Marley’s romance. Marley was jealous of Brett’s ex-girlfriend and she handled the situation poorly (immaturely). We are subjected to countless chapters on this situation along with storms that are plaguing the area and Marley talking to (and about) Flapjack (her cat). The author seemed to use the same verbiage when she was discussing Flapjack (copy and paste). I am giving Of Spice and Men 3 out of 5 stars. The murder of Christine was easily solved. It is not difficult to identify the culprit. The killer’s motive, though, was interesting. Of Spice and Men is a light cozy mystery. Many readers will enjoy visiting the charming town and the characters who inhabit it.