Cozy Monday

Kernel of Truth (Popcorn Shop Mysteries #1) by Kristi Abbott (Berkley Prime Crime mass market paperback, 1 March 2016).  

Opening a gourmet popcorn shop in her hometown of Grand Lake,Ohio was not something that Rebecca Anderson had ever planned, but she's glad she did.

The two major thorns in her side, her celebrity chef ex-husband Antoine and Grand Lake good girl Jessica James are more than offset by her friend and mentor Cordelia "Coco" Bittles, and having the opportunity to live near her sister Haley, who's married to Rebecca's best friend Dan (now the town sheriff) , and their son Evan.  

Then Coco is killed in her chocolate shop, next door to Rebecca's POPS, and everything goes sideways.  Jessica happens to be Coco's niece, and inherits Coco's Cocoas.  She's jealous of the relationship Rebecca had with her aunt, and does everything she can to make Rebecca look bad (and herself, innocent).  

At first, Rebecca is more worried about finding Coco's killer than her own safety. There is s no shortage of suspects, but her investigations keep landing her in trouble.  And it doesn't help that Antoine keeps calling to ask her to come back to him.

Rebecca is a thoroughly appealing protagonist: smart and talented, but prone to foot-in-mouth disease.  Her return to her hometown is tinged with a feeling of failure, which some of her old "friends" can't seem to let her forget.

Kernel of Truth is a quick, enjoyable read.  There is an excerpt of the sequel, Pop Goes the Murder, due next January, at the end of the book to  whet your appetite.  That is, if the decadent popcorn recipes, also included, haven't already done that.

The publisher has generously offered a copy of Kernel of Truth to one of my readers. Please comment below by 12:01 a.m. on Monday, March 14. Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy of the book.