Price: $2.99
(as of Oct 02, 2024 03:05:37 UTC – Details)
The first book in a new YA cozy mystery series!
Life is sweet for high school senior and ice cream slinger Genevieve Winterland. Her father owns Sweet Dreams Ice Cream Parlour, the cutest confectionery shop in their little town of Pinewood, Arizona. Genevieve loves her job, but when her father hires a broody newcomer with a dark past to provide extra security on her closing shifts, Genevieve bristles. Is this a part of his plan to send her away to college, when all she wants is to stay in Pinewood and run the family business?
Meanwhile, everyone’s favorite new teacher at Pinewood High, Miss Love, is receiving death threats, and then she goes missing. Genevieve suspects the crabby substitute, Ms. Pierce, who seems murderous about being passed over for the position. Or is the culprit Mr. Garcia, the longtime instructor who Miss Love replaced after he was fired for assaulting a student? Just when Genevieve thinks she knows the answer, she stumbles across the dead body of another missing faculty member.
Can Genevieve find the killer terrorizing the teachers in her beloved hometown—before someone else gets iced?
<br><br> ASIN : B0D94VG7L8 <br> Publication date : July 15, 2024 <br> Language : English <br> File size : 2632 KB <br> Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited <br> Text-to-Speech : Enabled <br> Screen Reader : Supported <br> Enhanced typesetting : Enabled <br> X-Ray : Not Enabled <br> Word Wise : Enabled <br> Print length : 169 pages <br>
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B. Lynn Goodwin –
Classic Who-dun-it in Pinewood, AZ
Most teens canât wait to leave town. Not Genevieve Winterland. She wants to spend her years after Pinewood High working in her fatherâs ice cream shop. Her talents shine there, and she feels safe there. Besides, her best bud works right across the street at his dadâs bookstore.When her father hires a broody newcomer with a dark past to provide extra security on her closing shifts, Genevieve bristles. Is this a part of his plan to send her away to college? She doesnât want that, but her father fears she could be like her mother, who became so unhappy she left for Las Vegas, and he doesnât want that.Both are distracted for a while when death strikes a disliked substitute, whoâs hanged herself, and a much-loved new teacher. Why would anyone kill small town teachers? Isn’t that a bit overly dramatic?Hugely upset, Genevieve goes into detective mode, trying to figure out who would have the motive and the opportunity to do such a thing. Her teenage eyes donât see everything the way an adult mind, but itâs interesting to see where her logicâand lack of itâlead her. Can she find the killer before he or she strikes again?This is a quick, entertaining read with optimistic characters and a satisfying ending. The cover hints at the story’s sweetness, yet there’s one dark character and some illegal behavior that will escalate a reader’s interest. Even so, it’s a cozy romance with a likable teen heroine and an uncomplicated look at small-town life. Author Elizabeth Maria Naranjo is the award-winning author of The Fourth Wall (Wido Publishing, 2014) and The House on Linden Way(Kindle Direct Publishing, 2022). Her short fiction and creative nonfiction have been published in Brevity Magazine, Superstition Review, Fractured Lit, Reservoir Road, Hunger Mountain, Literary Mama, Hospital Drive, The Portland Review, Motherwell, and a few other places. Elizabeth’s work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best American Essays, and Best of the Net, and her short story “Windows” was selected for Best Microfiction 2023. She lives in Tempe, Arizona, with her husband and two children.@@@
Melissa A. Bartell –
Delightful and believable opening to a new series
I’ve long maintained that YA/NA titles offer the best storytelling in contemporary literature, and Murder by Milkshake is no exception.Author Elizabeth Maria Naranjo has given us a cozy mystery set around the ice cream parlor where protagonist, Genevieve Winterland works. When her favorite teacher goes missing, the seventeen-year-old trades her ice cream scoop for a (metaphoric) magnifying glass and decides to investigate. Its the perfect combination of teenaged determination and amateur sleuthing, and the story is both engaging and well-paced. Genevieve is a likeable character, smart without being precocious, and written with dimension. I applaud the author for making her young characters sound age-appropriate without resorting to an over-abundance of slang.Worthy of note is the friendship between Genevive and Brandon. They’re best friends, and you never get the sense that either is pushing for that to change. I found this quite refreshing.I also liked that the ice cream shop wasn’t just a throw-away setting. Rather, we see that Genevieve enjoys her job there, even creating her own flavors. (Also, some of her recipes are included, and sound scrumptious.)Over all, this is a satisfying read that tells a complete story but also whets our appetites for further books in the series. It’s also a fast read – much like the perfect sundae, it’s best experienced quickly. I recommend it to teens and adults alike, because the characters may be youthful, but the story isn’t at all childish.Goes well with: a banana split with two spoons so it can be shared with a friend.
clahain –
Sweet & Sinister
Pinewood, Arizona is my new favorite book town. If I ever happen to find myself there, Sweet Dreams Ice Cream Parlour will be my first stop. Elizabeth Maria Naranjo has created a very authentic, very deadly location for her YA mystery series. High School senior Genevieve Winterland is smart, independent, and knows exactly what she wants out of life–to stay in her small mountain town, attend a local college, and take over the family ice cream parlour. Her father worries that she’s selling herself short. He wants her to try her wings by going away to school. This battle of wills makes for a tense subplot ast Genevieve struggles to find out what happened to her favorite teacher. Miss Love vanished after a noisy confrontation with a disgruntled substitute teacher. Genevieve smells a rat and investigates. That’s when things go seriously wrong. No spoilers, but there’s a body and nothing about the death is what it seems.Murder By Milkshake is short, fast paced, and full of action. The characters jump off the page, especially Brandon Summers, Genevieve’s best friend and complete opposite. He’s a bearish, deep-thinking grounding force. I love him and hope Genevieve ends up loving him, too. Someday. Though, to be honest, even if Brandon was edged out of the friend zone, I’m not sure he’d take his nose out of a book long enough to notice.Murder By Milkshake is a fun read. Though it’s written for a YA audience, I’m nearly 55 and still loved it. My mystery-loving Aunt is in her seventies. She read the book in a single sitting and is eager for the next episode!