Review: A bit too trite
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 11 9, 2013
Soapmaker Andi Clark finds herself caught in the middle of a mystery when a customer dies from an allergic reaction to one of Andi's scrubs.  The deceased was allergic to strawberries, and somehow strawberry seeds wound up in the scrub.  Like many of the main characters in cozy mysteries, Andi is supposed to be something of a lovable disaster, and she sets about trying to solve the mystery.  All in all the mystery was not in and of itself terrible.  Certain elements of the story were unbelievable or unwelcome.  The complete lack of suspicion about the scrub, and the complete unwillingness of the police to believe that finding strawberry seeds in there was anything more than an accident seemed odd.  Throughout the story Andi is suffering from a reluctance to commit to her long-term boyfriend.  Again, this is a fairly common trope in cozy mysteries, and one that I find to be completely over-used.  Sometime, somewhere, someone thought it would be fresh and innovative to have the woman have commitment issues.  It's not fresh and innovative anymore.  Not at all.  It's just annoying.  Finally, this book was laced with religious elements that added nothing to the story or the characters.  Final analysis?  Okay, could be better.