Publisher's Weekly Review
Set in Fallingbrook, Wis., Bolton's charming third Deputy Donut mystery (after 2018's Goodbye Cruller World) opens on the morning of the Fourth of July when Deputy Donut shopkeeper Emily Westhill is supposed to drive the festivities' king and queen in the town parade. Emily ends up with the duke and duchess, however, after the queen, Taylor Wishbard, turns up her nose at Emily's restored Ford. That evening during a picnic, someone aims a firework, hidden in a batch of Emily's donuts, at the snooty Taylor, killing her. When photographer Philip Landsdowner accuses Emily of lighting the firework, and Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation detective Rex Clobar considers her a suspect, Emily turns sleuth. Could it have been Taylor's best friend or her old boyfriend? Maybe the hairdresser Taylor maligned or Landsdowner or someone from the ice cream shop where Taylor worked? Bolton keeps the reader guessing throughout. Yummy donut recipes round out a whodunit (or is it a whodonut?) sure to please cozy fans. Agent: John Talbot, Talbot Fortune Agency. (Sept.)
Kirkus Review
Baker Emily Westhill (Goodbye Cruller World, 2018, etc.) whips up a deadly delight that derails her local Independence Day celebration.Since the death of Alec, her police detective husband, Emily's been absorbed with one goal: Making her cafe, Deputy Donut, a success. So she's thrilled at the chance to drive her vintage Ford Fordor in the annual Fallingbrook Fabulous Fourth Festivities parade. Festival queen Taylor Wishbard, who's considerably less thrilled at the prospect of greeting her fans in a tiny car painted to look like a police cruiser, insists on being chauffeured in her own convertible instead. All too soon, snippy Taylor gets hers. She's skewered by a rocket hidden in a stack of donuts during the annual municipal fireworks display. The mishap throws Emily right into the path of Brent Fynee, her late husband's hunky ex-partner, who's called in to investigate. Brent has an eye for Emily, but instead of bonding them, the grief they share has always pulled them apart. Now Brent has plenty of reasons to find his way to Emily's door. Too bad she's out chasing Taylor's killer. As their one-step-forward, one-step-back relationship competes for oxygen with the murder mystery, no one's the winner.Despite its pyrotechnic setting, Bolton's latest food cozy is a misfire. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
At the Fallingbrook Fabulous Fourth Festivities, Emily Westhill, co-owner of donut shop Deputy Donut, is slated to drive the festival king, Ian, and queen, Taylor, in the parade in her vintage donut-themed car until the queen loudly and angrily refuses. Meanwhile, a creepy photographer is taking photos of Emily and her employee, teenager Jocelyn. When Taylor is murdered with a firework hidden in some of the shop's donuts at the Fourth of July fireworks, the photographer states he saw Emily leave the bag of donuts. Then Jocelyn disappears. To clear herself, Emily interviews possible suspects, including Taylor's best friend, her employer, and her most recent and former boyfriends. Widowed after the murder of her police-detective husband, Emily remains good friends with other first responders, even working behind the scenes as a matchmaker for four of them, little realizing there may be a match in the offing for her, too. Suggest to fans of Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen bakery-themed cozies.--Sue O'Brien Copyright 2019 Booklist
