Review: Death at the Day Lily Cafe by Wendy Sand Eckel

Title: Death at the Day Lily Cafe
Author: Wendy Sand Eckel
Pages: 288
Genre: Mystery, Cozy
Source: Free ARC from St. Martin’s Press

Rating: B+

Note: As stated under the Source (above), I received this book for free from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review (and trust me, honest is always what you’ll get).

Review: This book was quite a surprise. The first couple of chapters I really, really struggled. Too much inane and somewhat clunky description. Sometimes it feels to me like an author had a difficult time starting (assuming they actually started with the first chapter!) and never went back to iron out the meager beginning. And that was the case here. It felt stilted and was very uncomfortable to read. Being new to this author, I didn’t know if it would get better and I seriously considered putting it aside. But, I was intent on getting at least 50 pages in before giving up, and surprise, surprise…it got SO much better! When all was said and done, I was very glad that I had persisted because I would have been missing out.

I’ve been reading a lot more cozies lately, and these characters – especially Rosalie – were easy to get to know and get comfy with. Some of the scenes were a bit saccharine for my taste, but that seems to be the way with cozies – the main character is a little “too much” of something (emotional, bitchy, whiny – you get the idea). Maybe the characters have to be a little larger than life because the stories themselves tend to be so laid back. Regardless, I liked Rosalie and all of her peeps.

The mystery itself was decent enough. Not scary or intense (this is a cozy, remember?), not violent or sexual (totally G rated), and once again, the details weren’t all obvious, but somethings were clear from the get go. A light, easy, fun read with relatable characters that you just might be interested in befriending. At the risk of repeating myself (because I’m pretty sure I said something similar in one of my more recent cozy reviews), this is one of the better cozies I’ve read lately.

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