Review: Peach Clobbered by Anna Gerard

Genre:
Cozy Mystery

Format:
E-ARC

Publisher:
Crooked Lane Books

Release Date:
July 9, 2019




Synopsis from Goodreads:

What’s black and white and dead all over? Georgia bed and breakfast proprietor Nina Fleet finds out when she comes across a corpse in a penguin costume.

Nina Fleet’s life ought to be as sweet as a Georgia peach. Awarded a tidy sum in her divorce, Nina retired at 41 to a historic Queen Anne house in quaint Cymbeline, GA. But Nina’s barely settled into her new B&B-to-be when a penguin shows up on her porch. Or, at least, a man wearing a penguin suit.

Harry Westcott is making ends meet as an ice cream shop’s mascot and has a letter from his great-aunt, pledging to leave him the house. Too bad that’s not what her will says. Meanwhile, the Sisters of Perpetual Poverty have lost their lease. Real estate developer Gregory Bainbridge intends to turn the convent into a golfing community, so Cymbeline’s mayor persuades Nina to take in the elderly nuns. And then Nina finds the “penguin” again, this time lying in an alley with a kitchen knife in his chest.

A peek under the beak tells Nina it’s not Harry inside the costume, but Bainbridge. What was he doing in Harry’s penguin suit? Was the developer really the intended victim, or did the culprit mean to kill Harry? Whoever is out to stop Harry from contesting the sale of his great-aunt’s house may also be after Nina, so she teams up with him to cage the killer before someone clips her wings in Peach Clobbered, Anna Gerard’s charming first Georgia B&B mystery.

My Review

Nina Fleet leaves the big city life in Atlanta for a small town in Georgia where she purchases a Bed & Breakfast. She’s met with resistance when the late former owner’s nephew claims the house belongs to him. It could prove to be a nasty court battle, but for now, the house belongs to Nina.

Her first guests are a group of elderly nuns who have been evicted from their convent by a nasty real estate developer. The mayor convinces Nina to help them. She grows attached to these wonderful women and she’s more than happy to provide them with a place to stay. When the real estate developer turns up dead, Nina does some snooping on her own to find a killer.  There is a long list of suspects to investigate.

One of my favorite settings for a cozy mystery is a Bed & Breakfast. This book does not let me down. We have a great old B&B filled with very interesting and unique guests. It even has our heroine’s lovable dog who lends a helping paw in solving the mystery.

This is the first book in the series and already I am hooked.  I devoured this one in just a couple of days. I couldn’t wait to find out who the killer was and I was nicely surprised.

Anna Gerard is also the author of the Black Cat Bookshop mysteries (written under the name Ali Brandon). That series is one of my favorites. There’s also the Tarot Cat Mystery series written under the name Diane A.S. Stuckart. I do need to catch up with both of those series. I wish this one had a cat, but I fell in love with the dog instead.

Whichever name she writes under, her cozy mysteries are a fun to read. She creates stories and characters that make me smile.

For reading challenges:
Craving For Cozies Reading Challenge 2019
What An Animal Reading Challenge 2019
Cloak & Dagger Reading Challenge 2019

FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.