Trinidad is one of the three former wives of a white-collar criminal named Gabe. She is now divorced from said con-man and has relocated to her ex-husband's hometown. Why? Well, the only good thing he seems to have done was leave her a building in Upper Sprocket, Oregon. Trinidad Jones is opening an ice cream shop that will feature fantastical giant shakes with loads of toppings that she calls Freakshakes. Just a few weeks before her July 4th opening, Trinidad stumbles across a dead body.
Dana Mentink's book includes everything that makes a cozy a cozy. We have a quirky small town, We have an amateur sleuth who is new to town. Trinidad has this wonderful dog named Noodles who flunked out of service-dog school and was rescued by her. Trinidad makes a friend and that draws her into the murder investigation. Trinidad also meets Quinn the nut farmer who is a military veteran that is also the caretaker of his brother. I can't imagine anyone reading this book and not thinking Quinn is a great guy. There is a real tender friendship, leading to affection and a future romance (?) between Trinidad and Quinn that is so lovely to read.
The suspects all have good motives and the red herrings and clues make perfect sense in the story. I appreciated that in this series the police chief is not a love interest, and she is portrayed as very competent at her job. Additionally, as the story and the sleuthing goes on, Trinidad isn't out running around putting herself in danger and leaving the police investigation out of the loop.
I think this is an excellent example of a cozy mystery and I would recommend it to anyone looking to start reading the genre. I'm looking forward to reading more in the series!
5 stars, I don't really have any complaints!
I received an ARC of this book from #NetGalley, #PintofNoReturn. All of the opinions are mine!
