what I’m reading: cruel candy by mildred abbott.

After a divorce and a business deal gone bad, Winifred Page and her corgi, Watson, move to the town of Estes Park, Colorado. There she plans to open a bookstore in one of the vacant buildings owned by her stepfather. But when she goes to check out her new storefront, she finds a dead body upstairs. When the police bring in her stepfather for questioning, Fred sets out to do some questioning of her own to find out who the real culprit is.

Cruel Candy is the first book in the Cozy Corgi Mysteries series. I have to confess, I was a little disappointed that this cozy mystery had such a plain, and dare I say dull, title. Where is the pun? Where is the play on words? But then I looked at all the book titles in this series and every title is an alliteration, so I guess that’s okay.

The other thing about this book that made me roll my eyes is that the woman who is killed is discovered to have been running an edible business and the amount of shock and pearl-clutching that the inhabitants of the town engage in was ridiculous. I mean, this book takes place in Colorado, which was one of the first states to legalize recreational weed use. I had to look up to see when this book was published (2017) and yet people are acting like it is so scandalous. It kind of made me laugh.

Of course, the star of the book is Watson, the corgi. He sniffs out all the clues and provides a sounding board for Fred to voice her theories. Like his namesake, he really is the perfect sidekick to solve a murder.

There are a lot of great characters in this book and I thought the town provided the perfect backdrop for this series. I had my suspicions about who the killer was and I’m proud to say I guessed the who but not the why. There is also not one, but two potential love interests for Fred.

I would definitely read more of this series!

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