Description (from cover):'By the Spoonful is Snowflake, Vermont's most popular soup shop, but owner Lucky Jamieson doesn't have any time to enjoy her success--she's too busy trying to keep a lid on false accusations against her loved ones...
It's almost May, and some of the local ladies have organized a pagan celebration in the woods to welcome spring. But the evening goes terribly wrong when one of the attendees winds up dead, apparently poisoned by an herbal concoction prepared by Lucky's grandfather, Jack.
Lucky's sure her grandfather could not have made such a tragic mistake. But before she can clear him of suspicion, her best friend, Sophie, is diverted from planning her wedding to By the Spoonful chef Sage DuBois when she finds a dead man floating in the creek on her property. Now it's up to Lucky to get both Sophie and Jack out of hot water before a killer stirs up more trouble...'
My thoughts:
I typically enjoy this series, but for some reason I found that this book just didn't strike me the same as the others in this series. I felt that the mystery was a little obvious and that there were not a lot of suspects or clues to help the reader. I felt a little disappointed in that because normally this series is a winner in a book, but this book just sort of fell flat. Lucky's grandfather has been accused of poisoning a local lady at a May festival. Lucky, of course, believes adamantly that Jack would not make such a careless mistake and sets out to discover just who had motive to want this lady dead. Of course, the lady isn't what she seems and it seems that she had a somewhat sinister past. While she is on the trial of a poisoner, Lucky's best friend Sophie comes across a dead body in the river behind her property. It seems that Lucky has a double murder investigation on her hands.
Normally, I lap this series right up, but I struggled somewhat with this book. I am not sure if it was the plot, the mystery or just everything combined, but I wasn't much impressed. I have come to love this author's writing and perhaps it was just that I was expecting a little something more and it wasn't delivered. The characters are quaint and I enjoy reading about them, so I don't think it was that. I did start to figure out things about halfway through the book and that kind of put me off a little. I like a good surprise. I really did enjoy the way that this book ended as it was monumental to the characters and I am anxious to see what is in store next for these characters.
Normally, I can pinpoint what part of a book that I didn't like. For this one, it was a little harder for me. I think generally it was everything overall and not just one specific thing that stuck out to me. I hope that this is just a fluke, as I really tend to enjoy this series and that the next one will be better. I am such an optimistic reader and have a hard time letting a series go. I usually stick it out until I can't stick it out anymore. I am not anywhere near that point with this series, so hoping that the next book is just phenomenal.
Overall Rating: 2.0
Title: Ladle to the Grave
Author: Connie Archer
Series: Soup Lover's Mystery #4
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: March 3, 2015
Pages: 304
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Get It: Amazon; Barnes & Noble
Disclaimer: This book was selected from the library by myself and I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.
