Beyond a Reasonable Donut (Deputy Donut Mystery #5)

by Ginger Bolton

Overview

In the fifth Deputy Donut Mystery by Agatha Award-nominated author Ginger Bolton, Emily Westhill, owner of the best donut shop in town—alongside her retired police chief father-in-law and her tabby cat Deputy Donut—is gearing up to man the donut tent at the annual Friday the 13th fair...

Selling her corn fritters at a carnival, Deputy Donut Café owner Emily Westhill faces off against a murderer who doesn't play fair...

Emily and her assistant, Nina, are looking forward to manning the Deputy Donut tent at the Faker's Dozen Carnival in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin—a festival held on Friday the thirteenth to celebrate good and bad luck. But Emily has barely dropped the corn fritters in oil when bad luck boils up. First, their bucket of confectioner's sugar disappears—and then while a mime creates a distraction, a magician robs their cash register.

After the carnival, their misfortune continues. Emily discovers that someone has broken into artist Nina's loft and vandalized a large painting in progress with the bucket of stolen sugar, which is now on the head of the mime, who seems to have been suffocated. Emily would bet Nina was the intended victim, but the cops think Nina silenced the mime. Now Emily must catch the killer white-handed—before someone else kicks the bucket...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781496725585
Publisher:	Kensington
Publication date:	05/25/2021
Series:	Deputy Donut Series , #5
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	132,523
Product dimensions:	5.52(w) x 8.22(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

Ginger Bolton is the pseudonym of an Agatha-nominated cozy mystery author. She is the author of the Deputy Donut Mystery series and is very fond of donuts, coffee, and coffee shops that encourage patrons to linger and chat. Ginger lives in a rural area surrounded by cozy villages. When she isn't reading, writing, or daydreaming while gazing out windows, she walks her dogs, plays an electric piano (she uses earphones so as not to frighten the wildlife), creates minor disasters in her kitchen, and occasionally takes part in local amateur theater productions, which, intended or not, become comedies. Visit her online at GingerBolton.com.

Editorial Reviews

04/12/2021

Bolton’s gentle fifth mystery featuring widow Emily Westhill, part owner of the Deputy Donut shop in Fallingbrook, Wis. (after 2020’s Boston Scream Murder), finds Emily and her enthusiastic assistant, Nina Lapeer, heading to the Faker’s Dozen Carnival fairgrounds to prepare their fritter stand. The carnival’s theme is Friday the Thirteenth, and there certainly seems to be a good deal of bad luck floating around the Deputy Donut stand: a petty thief makes off with money from the cash box, a manic mime helps the thief escape, and—most peculiarly—a bucket of powdered sugar goes missing. At the end of the day, Emily stops by Nina’s apartment, where she discovers the mime suffocating in the errant bucket of powdered sugar. Nina promptly becomes the prime suspect in the mime’s murder. Series fans will be pleased to attend the wedding of two cast regulars and to try out the easy-to-follow recipes, including one for corny fritters. This undemanding cozy is a treat. (June)

Publishers Weekly

2021-03-17
A visit to a carnival lands a donut maker in a deep hole.

Emily Westhill has run Deputy Donut with her father-in-law ever since her detective husband was killed in the line of duty. At the carnival she attends with her talented employee, Nina Lapeer, an artist who’s just about to get a one-person show, they run into grouchy event manager Marsha Fitchelder, who seems intent on making their lives miserable. Things go from bad to worse: First, someone steals a large bucket of confectioner’s sugar; then, a magician and a mime steal from the cash box. The best part of the day is the time Emily spends with Detective Brent Fyne, who was her husband’s partner. The two are attracted to each other but are overcome by their shared trauma despite their friends’ efforts to foster a romantic relationship. Back at Nina’s loft, Emily finds a mime who looks remarkably like Nina with her head buried in a bucket of powdered sugar and more sugar thrown all over Nina’s masterpiece. After the mime dies, the police arrest Nina, but Emily’s determined to prove her innocent. Nina’s locket, which the victim was evidently trying to steal, provides a clue that harkens back to Nina’s mysterious past, making her look even guiltier. In the end, Emily and her friends go to a lake resort for a friend’s wedding and find far too many people involved in the death already there.

Plenty of twists and intriguing characters add up to an enjoyable donut-centric mystery.

Kirkus Reviews