Assault & Pepper (Spice Shop Mystery, #1)

by Leslie Budewitz

The Agatha Award-winning author of Crime Rib is proud to introduce Pepper Reece, the owner of the Seattle Spice Shop who thinks she can handle any kind of salty customer—until a murderer ends up in the mix…

After leaving a dicey marriage and losing a beloved job in a corporate crash, Pepper Reece has found a new zest for life running a busy spice and tea shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Her aromatic creations are the talk of the town, and everyone stops by for a cup of her refreshing spice tea, even other shopkeepers and Market regulars. But when a panhandler named Doc shows up dead on the store’s doorstep, a Seattle Spice Shop cup in his hand, the local gossip gets too hot for Pepper to handle—especially after the police arrest one of Pepper’s staffers, Tory Finch, for murder.

Tory seems to know why she’s a suspect, but she refuses to do anything to curry favor with the cops. Convinced her reticent employee is innocent, Pepper takes it on herself to sniff out some clues. Only, if she’s not careful, Pepper’s nosy ways might make her next on the killer’s list…

• ISBN10: 0425271781
• ISBN13: 9780425271780
• Publish Date: 3 March 2015
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780425271780

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

Not bad.  Pretty good actually.  This one takes place in Seattle, at Pike's Market, in a spice shop.  An author's note at the beginning specifies what parts of the market she's taken artistic liberties with, but she mostly leaves the market as it really is.  I've only been there a handful of times myself, but I had no problem 'seeing' the market and she uses RL landmarks to help the reader along too.

The author does an excellent job weaving facts and information about spices through the narrative without sounding like a presenter on the Home Shopping Network, and she further ties the narrative to the MC's reading of the Brother Cadfael Mysteries, which was kinda cool.  Also included in the author's note at the beginning are the titles of references she used for her spice and herbal information; a step far beyond what cozy writers normally bother with, and it was appreciated (I'll be checking those books out).  There were even a couple of recipes in the back I'd try.

The mystery was o.k.  I guessed the murderer really early, although not the motive (the author didn't telegraph clues, but the story structure - I don't know how else to put it - gave the killer away).  I still enjoyed the process though, and the MC gets points for avoiding TSTL moves.

I'll definitely read the next book.