Fruit Cake and Fear (Peridale Cafe Mystery #8) by Agatha Frost

Fruit Cake and Fear

(Peridale Cafe Mystery #8)

by Agatha Frost

Kindle Edition, 254 pages

Published August 30th 2017 by Pink Tree Publishing LTD

Goodreads synopsis: 

The 8th book in the BESTSELLING Peridale Cafe Cozy Mystery series!

A storm hits Peridale with disastrous effects. Barker's cottage is destroyed, forcing him to move in with Julia, but she has more to worry about than him leaving his socks around and not putting the toilet seat up. Julia is shocked when the storm also uncovers a secret basement underneath her cafe and even more shocked when she finds the body of a teenage girl who has been missing for twenty years.

The cold case team rushes in, pushing Julia out of her cafe and leaving her to unravel the truth of the past one thread at a time. When she realizes the girl, Astrid, was the daughter of Evelyn, the eccentric B&B owner, Julia vows to piece together the events that led to Astrid being trapped in a basement for decades. How did the girl die, and more importantly who killed her? Julia hunts for clues to a case the village had almost forgotten about so she can bring Evelyn the peace she deserves, but will she be able to do it in time before somebody she loves suffers a similar fate?

***

4.5 Stars

This is the eighth book in the Peridale Cafe mystery series by Agatha Frost.

This storyline was a little more complex than some of the other books in this series. A horrible storm forces as tree to demolish Barker’s cottage. Plus it breaks loose a paver around Julia’s bakery. She discovers a hidden basement and shockingly a very real skeleton!

I am liking this series more and more as it moves forward in time. This one is the best yet, in my opinion. The complex plot leads us in so many possible ways that it really gives us great insight into the background of many characters. I do wish there was a bit more Jessee in some of these stories. I think it might be a nice idea to spin her off into her own YA type series for a few books just to give the Jesse lovers something more tangible to hold onto.

The whodunit aspect of this had me stumped the entire way through.  I had no idea who could be the culprit. This is unputdownable and just keeps you guessing!

If you love Agatha Frost, check out her new series Claire’s Candles Cozy Mysteries or the Scarlet Cove series.

If you love a good cozy mystery, definitely check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.