Publisher's Weekly Review
Seductive as the aroma of powdered sugar and warm spices, this cozy series opener from the pseudonymous Bolton also delivers nourishment. When doll-mender Georgia Treetor fails to show up for her usual rendezvous with other knitters at Deputy Donut in scenic Fallingbrook, Wis., the shop's owners-28-year-old Emily Westfall, a cop's widow, and Tom, her retired police chief father-in-law-become alarmed. The mystery deepens with the arrival of Lois Unterlaw, who just moved back from Madison and claims to be Georgia's oldest friend. Lois (who has a key), Emily, and the knitters enter Georgia's house, where Emily finds her body, grotesquely masked with an overturned Deputy Donut box. A 911 call brings Det. Brent Fyne, the former partner of Emily's late husband, and her distress intensifies; discomfort has reigned between them since the awful night when her husband was shot. Will Emily go a-sleuthing? Will Georgia's killer threaten her, Brent save her, and Tom offer his blessing? Dollars to penuche donuts (recipe included), the reader knows the answer but will still find much to enjoy. Agent: John Talbot, Talbot Fortune Agency. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
The widow of a police officer serves up doughnuts and mayhem in rural Wisconsin.Since the death of her husband, Alec, Emily Westhill has kept busy running Deputy Donut with her father-in-law, Tom Westhill. A former police chief himself, Tom is also a doughnut expert, and he and Emily cook up a truly dizzying array of confections, from lemon-glazed blueberry to maple-bacon. But when Georgia Treetor fails to show up at the shop with her regular group, six yarn fans who call themselves the Knitpickers, a worried Emily takes a break from baking. She treks out to Georgia's house and discovers the worst. Someone has killed the frail older woman and left her body on the floor with a doll shoved in her mouth. Fellow Knitpicker Lois Unterlaw is so distraught that she begs Emily to find out who killed her lifelong friend. But Emily knows enough to leave the sleuthing to Detective Brent Fyne of the Fallingbrook policeat least, until Brent gets replaced as lead investigator by the obnoxious Yvonne Passenmath of the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation. From there, Emily and Brent follow the familiar path of professional investigator and amateur sleuth who are kind of sweet on each other but kind of not, tracking down a killer whose motives are far from obvious.Despite its cavalcade of variations on the good old-fashioned doughnut, Bolton's series opener is pretty standard working-woman-cozy fare, with a pleasant enough heroine to make it worth the read. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Widowed Emily Westhill and her father-in-law, former police chief Tom Westhill, own the donut and coffee shop Deputy Donut, a favorite hangout of local law-enforcement officers and the rest of small-town Fallingbrook, Wisconsin. When Georgia Treetor doesn't show up at the shop for her knitting-group meeting, Emily and the rest of the Knitpickers go to her house to check up on Georgia and find her murdered. Five years earlier, Georgia's son, Matthias, was also murdered. Emily and Georgia's good friend Lois launch their own investigation, hoping to clear Lois' great-nephew Randy, as circumstantial evidence piles up against him. Assisting her husband's former partner, local police detective Brent Fyne, Emily ultimately solves the murders while running the donut shop and tending her cat, Dep, a fully realized supporting character. Bolton brings several popular themes together cooking, knitting, small businesses, and, of course, cats in this appealing cozy.--O'Brien, Sue Copyright 2017 Booklist
Library Journal Review
When Emily Westhill's police detective husband was killed on duty three years earlier, he was investigating the murder of Matthias Treeter. Now, when Matthias's mother, Georgia, doesn't show up at Emily's Deputy Donut shop, her friends in her knitting circle ask Emily to accompany them to check on her. They find Georgia dead at home, and Emily's mistakes at the murder scene draw her into the case. But, it's Emily's lifelong knowledge of the town residents that will help her to save herself when she catches a killer's eye. The first in a new cozy series by pseudonymous Bolton (Janet Bolin, Seven Threadly Sins) is a slow-paced story that carefully develops the protagonist's background. The emphasis on the sympathetic amateur sleuth's donut shop as the center of the action creates a strong sense of place. VERDICT Fans of Jenn McKinlay's "Cupcake Bakery" mysteries may want to branch out into other pastry-related cozies like this one.-Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
