Peanut Butter Panic
Thanksgiving is Bailey King’s busiest holiday weekend. This year promises to be even more hectic since Bailey’s candy shop, Swissmen Sweets, is providing peanut desserts and more for Harvest, Ohio’s first village-wide Thanksgiving celebration. Yet, even with a guest list of close to seven hundred people, Amish and English alike, the event’s organizer, Margot Rawlings, is unfazed until she discovers her mother, former judge Zara Bevan, will be in attendance.
Zara’s reputation as a harsh critic is matched only by her infamy as a judge who has actively harmed the Amish community. So no one is prepared when Zara arrives with much younger boyfriend Blaze Smith and reveals their impending nuptials at dinner. That should have been the day’s biggest news, except shortly after the announcement, Blaze suffers an allergic reaction to something he’s eaten and dies on the spot.
Now, Bailey’s desserts are prime suspects, along with Margot and nearly everyone who attended the meal. With such a cornucopia of possibilities, Bailey must dig in and get to the bottom of this murder before the killer goes in for seconds.
The Details
Series: An Amish Candy Shop Mystery – Book #7
Author: Amanda Flower
Genre/Category: Cozy – Culinary/Holiday
Publisher: Kensington Cozies
ISBN: 1496734610
Page Count: 304
Rating: 
The Review
It is no secret that the “An Amish Candy Shop Mystery” series, among other Amanda Flower series, are some of my favorites. There is just something about the Amish life in these books, the delectable candy and the special peanut treats she makes that keep me happy. The village is filled with wonderful people such as Juliet and Margot, not to mention Bailey’s love interest, Aiden. With the seventh book in the series coming out later this month, Peanut Butter Panic will make you smile, wonder about life and relationships, and ultimately give you comfort.
Bailey is busy making candy with her grandmother, cousin, and friend. She doesn’t have time for anything else. But when she finds Margot panicked and desperate, she agrees to help. Margot’s mother, a notorious former judge who has it out for the Amish, is coming to town, and no one is happy about it. When Zara gets to the village, she has a young man in tow. As the Thanksgiving day village-wide dinner begins, Blaze, Zara’s boyfriend, falls over into his mashed potatoes and dies from a peanut allergy. At first, it is believed to be an accident, but Bailey has her doubts and soon learns they are justified. But who would want to kill the man and why?
Bailey jumps in to help clear her peanut candy treats, and Margot, who is quickly becoming the number one suspect. There are plenty of other suspects, mainly Amish men, that Zara sent to prison, but why would they kill a stranger and not Zara? It makes no sense. So without any thought to her problems or safety, she begins to seek out the people who might have wanted to hurt Zara and decides to kill her boyfriend to exact their revenge. The suspects are all local, and with the help of her cousin, she tracks down each one of them.
The charters in this series are always fun to spend time with. Swissmen Sweets and their yummy candy make your mouth water. Using a peanut treat as a weapon for murder should be illegal, but I definitely enjoyed the idea. Having Margot at the center of this book makes her more human; until now, she has just been a bossy tyrant who manages to convince Bailey to do anything she asks. Of course, no book in this series would be complete without Jethro, the pig, he has become a star, and central character readers adore. The Amish country is described lovingly, and it is clear that the author knows her subject matter well. The killer, once revealed, shows no remorse, and readers will not have any sympathy for them.
The story was a little slower than usual, and there was nowhere near enough of Aiden this time. However, I like the direction the series is going in and hope we will get more peanut treats, Margot, Jethro, and, most of all, more murders for Bailey to solve. Peanut Butter Panic fits nicely into the series and sets up some interesting future scenarios. I hope everyone reads this book and the entire series and loves it as much as I do.
The Author
Amanda Flower is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author of over twenty-five cozy mystery novels. She started her writing career in elementary school when she read a story she wrote to her sixth-grade class and had the class in stitches with her description of being stuck on the top of a Ferris wheel. She knew at that moment she’d found her calling of making people laugh with her words. In addition to being an author, Amanda is a former librarian with fifteen years of experience in Northeast Ohio.
Other books from the “An Amish Candy Shop Mystery” series readers may wish to grab are Lemon Drop Dead or Marshmallow Malice.
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