Lacy Steele returns to her hometown after a bad breakup with her ex who strangely enough gets together with her sister, Riley. Things don't get better in Mudville when Lacy's grandmother is arrested for murder! Lacy can't understand why the detective of the police force is trying so hard to implicate a little old lady for such a murder. Lacy decides that it is up to her to solve the mystery along with her classmate (He was the school jock and most popular guy in school.) and cop, Jason and new pastor to her grandmother's church, Tosh.I think this book is mis-named. I mean, she does go to her favorite local coffee shop for coffee every morning because she doesn't know how to make it on her own. And I see why they named it that, but I don't want to give away anything. But I just kept thinking it should be called the Banana Cream Pie Murder. The murder weapon was the knife they had used to cut up the banana cream pie that Lacy's poor dastardly Grandmother had brought the deceased before she was... deceased. (Lacy's grandmother is not dastardly)The big twist at the end took me totally by surprise. I wasn't expecting that sort of twist at all. Good on you, Vanessa! When I bought this book a few years ago, I think it was the cover that kept me from reading it. It just looks dang cheesy. But the text is not cheesy at all. This is a well-written and interesting story. The murder story was complex and the characters are all individual and well drawn out. No cardboard people in this book. I was captivated by Lacy and all her exploits. This is definitely one you want to check out. I mean, it's only 99 cents in the Kindle store and worth every penny. So, how can you lose? This book takes the axiom "don't judge a book by its cover" to a whole new level. This is another cozy mystery series that I intend on pursuing further. Ms. Gray Bartal's first offering was well-written, humourous and kept me guessing until the end. I thought at one point that I had the mystery, murderer and motive all figured out, but I was wrong. The ending surprised me, which is a good thing, in my opinion, even though it did seem to come out of the blue a little bit. I love these kinds of mysteries full of small-town quirky characters and dark secrets, and the author has managed quite well to portray these elements.Lacy was a very believable, relateable, and likeable character. She was flawed, scarred, vulnerable, feisty and determined. Despite all the obstacles and danger thrown her way, she was very dogged in her efforts to prove her grandma was innocent. Her loyalty and love toward the older woman was very admirable and sweet.The one element I did have a bit of an issue with was the dreaded love triangle (at least, dreaded to me). Lacy's emotions were torn between Tosh, the new sexy pastor, and Jason, the sexy ex-football jock from high school. Ugh! I'm not sure which one of the potential love interests I prefer, but I guess I would be more inclined to choose Jason, even though he had a bit of an attitude and seemed to harbour some secrets of his own.All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this start to the Lacy Steele series and would definitely recommend it to fans of the genre.
What do You think about Morning Cup Of Murder (2011)?
Great start to a new mystery series. I'm looking forward to the next one in the series.
—steph
Fun, mindless reading as a break from cleaning out 47+ years of stuff.
—Cwwen20
Great story. Love a good murder mystery.
—Jlindsey94
