A Waffle Lot of Murder

A Waffle Lot of Murder

All-Day Breakfast Cafe Mystery #4

by Lena Gregory

3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Published on October 6, 2020 by Kensington/Lyrical Press

230 pages

Cozy Mystery

While the first hints of autumn grace Boggy Creek, Florida, Gia misses the colorful harvest traditions she left behind in New York. On a scramble to make new fall memories—and promote her irresistible pumpkin spice waffles—things take a dark turn when she gets roped into the Haunted Town Festival, a spooky celebration held on deserted farmlands. The desolate area conjures plenty of eerie vibes at night, but Gia and her best friend, Savannah, are nearly frightened to death upon the discovery of the event organizer’s body buried in the nearby woods. More alarming, the local rumor mill says the woman’s shady dealings may have egged someone into sending her to an early grave. Now, there’s no shortage of creepy clues to feast on as Gia and her pals try to stop a killer with a very scary appetite.

My thoughts:

If you’re looking for a Halloween-themed book to read that isn’t especially scary, this is it. A Waffle Lot of Murder is the fourth book in the All-Day Breakfast Cafe Mystery series, featuring Gia Morelli, the cafe owner who has transplanted herself from New York City to a small town in Central Florida, Boggy Creek. I haven’t read the other three books in the series but the author included enough backstory so that I wasn’t lost at all. Gia and her best friend Savannah stumble across a crime near where a Haunted Town festival will be held, in support of the local animal shelter, and things take off from there. We get to meet a number of the local residents along the way, of course, with hints and “red herrings” galore. The Florida landscape is described well and Gia, not being native to the area, has a healthy caution about the local wildlife, like alligators and coyotes, especially because she loves her puppy, Thor. Typical of cozy mysteries, Gia and Savannah get pulled into “helping” the town sheriff investigate the crime and put themselves in danger a couple of times. This was a fun read, but I'm not sure it was compelling enough to entice me to go back and read the first three books in the series. Note: There are some yummy-sounding recipes included at the end of the book. Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books/Lyrical Press for an advance reader copy of this book.