Lemon Tart: A Culinary Mystery

I’ve had this series on my TBR pile forever. I’m glad I finally got the chance to start it. “Lemon Tart” was a fun read. I enjoy that the main character, Sadie, deviates from the norm. I’m glad she is in her 50’s and sorting out the next chapter of her life. I can easily relate to her and her family. The author’s description of Sadie’s character being written to portray “Paula Deen (cooking show host) meets Angela Lansbury,” made me laugh. The mystery had lots of twists and turns and kept you guessing until the last minute. I look forward to seeing where relationships evolve from here. The recipes are an added bonus.

I thought this was going to be a cute little mystery that involved a Lemon Tart somehow, but instead it surprised me with a murder, cover up, twists and turns and some good looking recipes. Sadie Hoffmiller might be the neighborhood busy-body, but she is no fool. She is also single minded and refused to give up even when she was told to stay out of police business. She finds that her young neighbor was murdered early one morning and that her toddler has gone missing. Sadie relentlessly tries to uncover clues to solve the murder and find the little boy. When secrets turn up very close to home, Sadie begins to wonder if she ever really knew the people she was closest to. There are many twists and turns and several raised eyebrows as I read this intriguing little murder mystery.

This is a fun book for book club . Keeps you interested and was a fun mystery that isn’t scary. Very easy read.

I am divided when it comes to my opinion of this book. On the one hand I quite enjoyed the whole murder mystery aspect of the book, although it is definitely light-hearted reading without any clever dialogue or anything, I still thought the plot was engaging and interesting. I liked the author's unique way of using cooking to solve a murder and judging by the titles of all her other books, they all do this. I think what really turned me off was the main character. She was very irritating. She was the annoying busy body, nosy neighbor that nobody likes and comes across as a bit condescending and self-righteous. I could probably get past this if she wasn't so determined in her thinking that she was better than trained detectives when it came to solving a murder (like she knows anything about it!) she honestly should have been tossed in jail for entering a crime scene. She needs to butt out and let the police handle it, but then the whole premise of the book wouldn't work! Anyway, I think I will read the next in the series just to see if her character will get better and grow on me and if not I am hoping that at least the plot will be as entertaining as this one was, excepting the dumb things that Sadie does sometimes!

I love this series! This is my 2nd time reading these books. What’s fun is that I probably read Lemon Tart about 4 or so years ago. I couldn’t remember “who done it”, so it’s like reading them for the 1st time. Josi S. Killpack is an amazing writer who keeps you guessing from beginning to end! Sadie Hoffmiller, main character, is a hilarious busybody who keeps stumbling in to sticky situations. And don’t get me started on the recipes... 🤤. They are fantastic!!! Thank you Josi for your amazing books!

Overall I liked this book. The mystery involved many characters and kept me guessing. It seemed to stray from pushing the mystery forward at times. Sometimes, I wanted to skim to get to the main story without so much side dialogue. The recipes are a fun addition.

I rarely give five stars to a book, but this one earned every one of them! This book introduces us to Sadie, who loves to cook almost as much as she loves sticking her nose in others' business, and is a delightful and sometimes surprising character. This book was a fun read and a true page-turner, with enough twists and turns to keep me guessing right up to the end. I also love that the book was clean - no profanity, vulgarity, etc., something which my teenage daughter also appreciated.

This is the first book that I have read from this author. I will definitely be reading more of her books. I really enjoyed the perspective she gives on how important it is for women to take care of their homes and of the people around them. She puts together a very creative story line that kept me reading late into the night!

Lots of twists and turns and yummy recipes! You think you know 'who done it' multiple times, but no, you're wrong again! An enjoyable read.