After her mother dies from a heart attack, Sloane Templeton goes from Cyber Crimes Unit to bookstore owner before she can blink. She also “inherits” a half-batty store manager; a strange bunch of little old people from the neighborhood who meet at the store once a week, but never read books, called the Granny Oakleys Book Club; and Aunt Verline, who fancies herself an Iron Chef when in reality you need a cast iron stomach to partake of her culinary disasters. And with a group like this you should never ask, “What else can go wrong?”
A lot! Sloane begins to receive cyber threats. While Sloane uses her computer forensic skills to uncover the source of the threats, it is discovered someone is out to kill her. Can her life get more crazy?
Bonnie Calhoun is the Owner/Director of the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance (CFBA) where she has 250+ book reviewer blogs that twice weekly do blog tours for the latest in Christian fiction. She is also the Owner/Publisher of Christian Fiction Online Magazine (CFOM), a three-year-old 50+ page Ezine with columns and articles by the best and brightest authors and professionals in Christian fiction. Bonnie serves as the President of the Christian Authors Network (CAN), and Northeast Zone Director of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW).
My Impressions:
Cooking The Books is Bonnie Calhoun’s debut mystery novel set in New York City and featuring a cast of quirky and endearing characters including the smart-talking Sloan Templeton, former forensic investigator and now reluctant book store owner. Sloan inherited the book store following the sudden death of her mother. Now dealing with grief, a rocky love life and the effects of past abusive relationships, Sloan is a little stuck. She is having trouble moving on — she refuses to enter her mother’s apartment, won’t let anyone mention her ex-husband’s name and cannot sell the book store that she doesn’t want, but is the only thing left from her mom. Adding to the pressures of Sloan’s life is a persistent realtor and a disaster prone Aunt. Sloan definitely has her hands full. When danger and threats enter the equation, Sloan is forced to face her fears head-on.
Calhoun’s novel is a great first effort. Sloan is sassy and sarcastic. The characters are quirky and fun. The dialogue (often within Sloan’s own head) is often laugh out loud funny. The mystery was a little slow to develop, but once started, it took off like a rocket. Sloan has a lot of fears to face, and Calhoun makes her confront them all. All in all, I enjoyed Cooking The Books and am looking forward to more adventures with Sloan, Fifi and Aunt Verlene. And I really hope the budding attraction to Detective Justice is explored in future books. So if you like a sassy sleuth, pick up Bonnie Calhoun’s Cooking The Books.
Recommended.
(I received Cooking The Books from Glass Road PR in exchange for a review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.)
Thank you for hosting my book on your blog. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Stay tuned.
Looking forward to another Sloan Templeton adventure! Thanks for stopping by.
🙂