Town in a Maple Madness by B.B. Haywood

Town in a Maple Madness by B.B. Haywood ISBN-13: 9780425278642 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: April 4, 2017

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads
Return to Cape Willington, Maine, where blueberry farmer Candy Holliday springs ahead into sleuthing... The imminent arrival of spring has the locals gearing up for their sweetest celebration ever the first annual Maple Madness Weekend. Along with maple sugar house tours, a community-wide marshmallow roast, and a weekend-long pancake breakfast, restaurants will be serving up special maple syrup dishes. But the weekend festivities are put in jeopardy when things start to get sticky...

One of Candy's friends is accused of stealing sap from a rival's sugar maple trees, and landscaper Mick Rilke is found dead, floating down the river wrapped up in a fisherman s net. As Candy taps into Mick s life, his unsavory side comes to light, as well as a possible connection to both crimes. Now it's up to Candy to follow the flow of suspects to a cold-blooded killer


My Review:
Town in a Maple Madness is a cozy mystery. It's the 8th in a series, but you don't need to read the previous books to understand this one, and this book didn't spoil the whodunit of the previous novels.

The mystery was clue-based, but the story was more about suspense and romance. After several characters gave Candy information and asked her to solve things, she headed off by herself to remote locations to check out crime scenes and repeatedly found herself in danger. Despite present and past experiences, she refused to bring along a companion (except for the dog, who was sometimes left locked in the jeep) and didn't think to bring a weapon for protection, so she had to use improvised weapons. She also delayed calling for help on her phone when letting people know what was going on would have been smart and helpful. I assume this was all done to increase the suspense, but it seemed an artificial way to do so.

That said, the heroine was likable. There were just enough clues and so few suspects that I was able to guess whodunit before the heroine, though I couldn't guess why. (Gotta love it when the suspect provides a strong clue, though Candy didn't notice it.) There was a very minor amount of bad language. There were no sex scenes. Overall, I'd recommend this book to fans of the series.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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