Review: Enjoyable first book in a cozy series
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 11, 2013
"Sweet Masterpiece: The First Samantha Sweet Mystery" by Connie Shelton was, for me, a good introduction into the life of Sam Sweet.  She was a likeable central character who presents a strong and positive image.  I also liked the fact that she was in her 50's and was working two jobs to pay her bills and save for her dream of owning her own bakery.  I had never heard of her job for the government before I read this book.  I found it fascinating that she broke into homes that people had walked away from because they had defaulted on their government loans.  She cleaned them up for sale at auction - who knew there was a job like that?  This type of job added to this original plot because Sam had a legitimate reason for being at the homes instead of her just being nosy (which many cozy mysteries use for their main characters).However, there were a couple of times during the story where Sam did do things that I call "TSTL moments" and they jolted me out of the story.  I was shaking my head thinking "why?".This series is set in Taos, NM.  I have visited there and loved the area.  Connie's descriptions of the town and surrounding area were so vivid that I was quite happy to "see" familiar spots that I had visited before.The secondary characters were really well developed and I enjoyed meeting them all.  The handsome sheriff and his mother, Sam's daughter and Sam's friends helped to keep the plot moving.  The story was interesting with enough twists and turns that kept me reading until the end.  I look forward to the next book in this series.