The Crêpes of Wrath by Sarah Fox
When Marley McKinney’s aging cousin, Jimmy, is hospitalized with pneumonia, she agrees to help run his pancake house while he recovers. With its rustic interior and syrupy scent, the Flip Side Pancake House is just as she pictured it–and the surly chef is a wizard with crêpes. Marley expects to spend a leisurely week or two in Wildwood Cove, the quaint, coastal community where she used to spend her summers, but then Cousin Jimmy is found murdered, sprawled on the rocks beneath a nearby cliff. After she stumbles across evidence of stolen goods in Jimmy’s workshop, Marley is determined to find out what’s really going on in the not-so-quiet town of Wildwood Cove. With help from her childhood crush and her adopted cat, Flapjack, Marley sinks her teeth into the investigation. But if she’s not careful, she’s going to get burned by a killer who’s only interested in serving up trouble.
For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #1: A pun in the title)
The Reason
I was looking for books to fit the prompt for the 2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge with a pun in the title. This title caught my attention, and the rest of the series have similarly fun titles too!
The Narrator(s)
Marguerite Gavin. She did a great job, I think I like the book more than I would if I was reading on print because of her narration.
My Thoughts
I don’t read a lot of cozy mysteries but I love reading the occasional one when I come across them. This book caught my attention because of the brilliant title, and I thought I’d try it. It was quite fun and entertaining, and the narrator was also very good and made listening to the story very easy. However, I found the characters a little two-dimensional and didn’t connect with them as much as I wanted to. I also thought the plot itself was a little flimsy, and in the end, I don’t like the book enough to continue with the rest of the series.
One thing to note, that I both like and dislike, is that the MC constantly calls the detective every time she has any new information. I dislike it because that sort of removes the MC as the unofficial sleuth in this genre, but I like it because the practical, cautious person in me is like, finally! A portrayal of what an actual, smart person should do if this was a real life situation; let the professionals handle this and never, ever keep important clues to yourself or decide to investigate on your own!!
In any case, it was an entertaining read and I enjoyed it.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?