Eggs in Purgatory (Childs)

Eggs in Purgatory
Cackleberry Club #1
by Laura Childs (2008)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This was a book club selection. The person who chose this (and two others) wanted to try a "cozy mystery" and this author had a couple of series going. To be honest, I didn't look at the publication date until I started writing this entry. I know that there are several books in the series.

I listened to this book twice. I got a copy of the paperback from the library when I was almost done the second time, so I only read a few chapters. By that point I already had the voices in my head. It's a quick read and probably reads faster than 8 hours of audio.

I gave it a second listen because I thought I'd missed a few things along the way, but it turns out that many of the others in our book club had issues with the book as well. Overall, we did enjoy it, and there was a feeling that it could rate 3.5 as a novel, and maybe a 4 as a cozy mystery.

I was one of the few who had read cozies before but, as I pointed out, this is the first one that I've read without any witches or elves or ghosts. Even some of the discussion questions were skipped because they addressed any paranormal elements of the book. I almost missed them, but it didn't need them.

The biggest complaint with the book was too many characters, not enough information about the crime/mystery, a lot of talk about food, and a "side quest". Most of us enjoyed the side quest but it didn't distract/detract from the main story. One of the reasons I listened a second time was when the murderer was revealed, I was totally "huh?". I wasn't alone. The second time through I paid more attention. Even with that, there is a confrontation in the restaurant that ends when a character named Junior comes flying through the door. Not only had I forgotten about Junior when this scene occured the first time through, I'd forgotten about him again the second time, even though I knew how the scene would turn out.

So some notes:

There are three women, Suzanne, Toni, and Petra, who are all widows. Suzanne is the POV character. Her husband ran a gas station in Kindred and after he died, it couldn't stay a gas station because she was getting squeezed by suppliers. The Cackleberry Club was born. The place becomes something of a community center with a restaurant (with a prixe fixe menu), a book nook, a yarn/knitting/quilting area, etc. One morning, Suzanne's lawyer is found dead in his car with eggs in purgatory on his face and blood on his chest.

Suzanne looks into the mystery. The local Sheriff Roy Doogie is overly accomodating with spilling information at times (although the voice acting is awful). He's not an idiot, though.

Also in the cast of characters are the romance-novelist widow of the deceased lawyer, the lawyer's secretary, the former partner of the Suzanne's deceased husband and that man's wife, who is on the Library Council (yeah, it's a thing), the Rev. Yoder on the old, local church down the road, and a religious cult not far away but technically one county over. And there are some people who sell produce and folks who are of interest because of the tires on their trucks.

THere were some good characters, but it was a little too much and the ending wasn't entirel satisfying. Also, the print edition (not the audio) had a handful of recipes. I considered making Eggs in Purgatory over the Memorial Day weekend, but I was alone each morning and I had other food in the fridge. I did end up making Toad in the Hole, but the baking dish was too big and the amount of sausage required was too little. Since there were no pictures, I didn't understand how to arrange the sausage in the baking dish. I looked online after the fact and saw that a square dish might've worked better.

Anyway, it was a good book for a cozy mystery. A non-paranormal cozy mystery. I will probably read more, if not this series than of others. I know I have downloaded a few of them from Amazon (freebies) before I put a halt to it. Summer is coming and I'll have some reading time.