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Gram’s Country Cooking School Mystery #1
If Fried Chicken Could Fly
At Gram's Country Cooking School, Betts and Gram are helping students prepare the perfect dishes for the Southern Missouri Show-Down, the cook-off that draws the first of the summer visitors. Everything is going smoothly until they discover the body of local theater owner Everett Morningside in the school's supply closet, and Everett's widow points an accusatory finger at Gram. Now, Betts has to dig deep into Broken Rope's history to find the modern-day killer-before the last piece of chicken is served...
308 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 3, 2012
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January 28, 2021
If the items in the cast-iron skillet hadn’t burst into flames just as Gram was dunking the coated chicken breast into the hot bubbling grease, we might not have found the dead body so soon.
^^^That right there, kids, is what you call . . . .
I found If Fried Chicken Could Fly while attempting to obtain free crap via the . . . . .
And staying on theme with books that take place in the Show Me State. I am all about the occasional cozy mystery and my go-to guilty pleasure television viewing (when I’m not watching all those Housewives) is the Hallmark Murders and Mysteries channel. This story of Betts, her Gram, the hunky old high school sweetheart turned Deputy, a dead body and . . . . a ghost (????) was just the type of series I could see easily translating to my fave cable channel – and starring . . . .
Because DUH it’s almost illegal to cast anyone else on the Hallmark channel.
If you too like to take the opportunity on a dreary day to get . . .
You’ll probably enjoy this one too.
And your family might love you when you offer to go get some Popeye’s for dinner in order to take an Instagram book pic. Love that chicken from Popeye’s, yo . . . . .
^^^That right there, kids, is what you call . . . .
I found If Fried Chicken Could Fly while attempting to obtain free crap via the . . . . .
And staying on theme with books that take place in the Show Me State. I am all about the occasional cozy mystery and my go-to guilty pleasure television viewing (when I’m not watching all those Housewives) is the Hallmark Murders and Mysteries channel. This story of Betts, her Gram, the hunky old high school sweetheart turned Deputy, a dead body and . . . . a ghost (????) was just the type of series I could see easily translating to my fave cable channel – and starring . . . .
Because DUH it’s almost illegal to cast anyone else on the Hallmark channel.
If you too like to take the opportunity on a dreary day to get . . .
You’ll probably enjoy this one too.
And your family might love you when you offer to go get some Popeye’s for dinner in order to take an Instagram book pic. Love that chicken from Popeye’s, yo . . . . .
June 28, 2012
After a book signing at Murder by the Book (Houston), I was wandering around - as I do when I don't really NEED to buy ANOTHER book.
But I stopped and laughed out loud when I read the title "If Fried Chicken Could Fly" and immediately knew I had to read it -just for the title.
What a pleasant surprise this book turned out to be and I love that!
It's warm and humorous with a little mystery to boot. If there were a Broken Rope, Missouri - I would surely go visit it.
Halfway through the book, I went out to paperbackswap.com and scooped up as many more of Ms. Shelton's books that I could. I only got one which means she must be very popular since there was only one available.
I look forward to the next book in this series.
I highly recommend this book - if anything else, read it for the happiest title ever.
But I stopped and laughed out loud when I read the title "If Fried Chicken Could Fly" and immediately knew I had to read it -just for the title.
What a pleasant surprise this book turned out to be and I love that!
It's warm and humorous with a little mystery to boot. If there were a Broken Rope, Missouri - I would surely go visit it.
Halfway through the book, I went out to paperbackswap.com and scooped up as many more of Ms. Shelton's books that I could. I only got one which means she must be very popular since there was only one available.
I look forward to the next book in this series.
I highly recommend this book - if anything else, read it for the happiest title ever.
December 27, 2017
Good first entry in the series. I liked Betts and Gram and look forward to seeing what kind of adventures they have next. I enjoyed the supporting cast as well and especially liked Jerome. I'm interested to see if he'll be back in future books or if it will be someone else. I had no idea who was behind everything and my one complaint was that there were a lot of characters to try and keep track of which got kind of confusing sometimes.
May 21, 2017
-One plucky, down-on-her-heels heroine making a new start? Check. Betts Winston dropped out of law school and slunk home to help her grandmother run her country cooking school. Why she dropped out is never explained, but it's implied that Betts just wasn't fulfilled as a law student and only found peace and meaning when she came home to find herself in tiny Broken Rope, Missouri. Fulfillment is the go-to excuse for these cozies when the author needs to explain why Our Hero(ine) decides to leave the big city and settle in a town that time forgot. It's more glamorous than admitting that the plot mule to which our narrative wagon is hitched for the next three hundred pages was an incredible dullard who couldn't hack their chosen career path and washed out after a semester-and-a-half to live with their disappointed parents, who aren't even getting rent out of the deal.
In this case, Betts is the school's resident gofer, though she tries to dress it up by saying she's her grandmother's assistant. Assistant. Uh huh. She stocks shelves, cleans, and does some half-assed shopping, and even those arduous duties fall by the wayside as she "investigates" the mystery at hand. However will her seventy-eight-year-old grandmother--who does all of the actual teaching and student evals--survive without her incalculable contributions?
-One cantankerous secondary character designed to act as an anchor and/or font of homespun wisdom to be spouted forth when the heroine gets insufferably boring? Check, and boy, does this character get a workout, because Betts is bland as institutional gruel. Gram, a.ka Missouri Winston, a.k.a Miz is Betts' crusty, septuagenerian grandmother who runs the cooking school. She's set in her ways and feisty and, according to Betts anyway, the best cook EVER. We'll just have to take her word for it, though, because the only time we see her cook, she sets a chicken breast on fire and nearly burns down the kitchen when she doesn't immediately call the fire department. But totally the best cook. The best.
Because this is a cozy mystery and we have to have a reason for Our Heroine to get involved in the plot and take center stage, Gram is arrested for murder when her friend, Everett turns up dead in the school supply closet. Thus, it's up to Betts to don the cape and save the day. Oh, goody.
-One hunky love interest for which Betts can pine? Check. As a bonus, the hunky love interest is Betts' first love, Cliff Sebastian, The One Who Got Away, and he's also the new deputy, which means he'll be shoehorned into the plot at every opportunity and thereby produce ample grist for Betts' overworked and unceasing angst and self-pity mill, whose machinery should be smoking from gross overuse thirty pages in but somehow chugs along for another two hundred and thirty. You lucky reader, you.
On his own, Cliff would be a good character, a bit one-note, maybe, but this is a cozy mystery, not Othello and one note can make a delightful ditty in skilled hands. Alas for us, Cliff isn't allowed to exist or act beyond Betts' petulant pining or the lens through which she sees him. Despite the fact that Betts left him, and that ten years have elapsed since their last contact, Betts pouts like a preteen when she learns that poor Cliff had the audacity to build a life for himself without her in it. He's married? OH, NOES! HOW CAN SHE CONTINUE TO LIVE IN THE SAME TOWN WITH HIM WHEN HER HEART HAS BEEN POISONED BY THIS KNOWLEDGE!!! He might've had children? OH, GOD, THE SELFISH, UNRELENTING CRUELTY OF IT. WHAT HAS HER LIFE BECOME?
Bear in mind that Betts is thirty years old and has dated several men since their doomed love affair. But never mind that. Somehow, the fact that Cliff moved on with his life is a horrible betrayal. Apparently, Betts, a grown woman ostensibly living in the really world, honestly believed that the man she cast aside in pursuit of her dreams all those years ago would wait for her. This isn't inference, by the by. She says this to her brother at one point(we'll get to him later). And she believes it. I just-
Look, I'm all about the One Twu Wub trope. I've written it. It's emotional catnip for me, and I don't blame anyone who eats it up with a double-fisted spoon. But I've never seen a lovelorn character resent the object of their desire for daring to have a life once they were pushed aside. Yet here we see it on full display and without apology. A grown woman acts like a ten-year-old eno queen at the merest hint that her lost love isn't drinking his life away without her lurve to nourish his languishing soul. It's jarring and repulsive, and as relieved as I was when it was revealed that Cliff was divorced, and that the little girl in his company was his niece, I was also angry because that meant Betts' creepy, inappropriate mooning and stropping was going to be rewarded.
And it is, of course. By the story's end, we learn that Cliff never really loved his wife and has been holding a torch for Betts for all these years. She's pettish, judgmental, stupid as a box of hair, and mercurial. What wouldn't crank up a guy's rheostat? Methinks that two years from now, Cliff will be headed across the county line in that patrol car of his to hide from the paranoid succubus who thinks he's flirting with every woman in town, and who wakes him up in the middle of the night in her room at her parents' house to nag him about why he doesn't taaalk to her. Just eat the gun, Cliff. It's faster.
-One quirky best friend? Check. His name is Jake, and he runs the town historical society, because they've got to have someone in these ideal-life fantasies with access to historical records. Jake is a convenient info-dump repository and sounding board, but has no personality beyond his utility to Betts as a prop for her distorted self-image as a a Good Person.
-One sibling designed to make the protagonist look better by comparison? Check. His name is Teddy. Betts describes him as the family flake and a rake, but I'd rather hang out with affable, flirtatious Teddy than Betts. At least Teddy doesn't think his paramours should never date against after a taste of that heady, incomparable Winston love. And for all her carping about Teddy's purported irresponsibility, he shows a remarkable knack for teaching and organization, and he's not the one who deserts their grandmother during the most important event in the school's calendar to play TBI Nancy Drew with a ghost in the old theater.
-One quaint locale? Check. It's called Broken Rope, Missouri, and it trades on its past as an Old West town as a tourist attraction wherein they run faux old-time saloons and stage gunfights. Everything is modern-day Mayberry in Broken Rope. Everyone knows everyone except when they don't, and since this is a visit to Shelton's own private, wistful Idaho where idiots solve mysteries by accident and get lauded as the hero, there's neither hide nor hair of chaw-chewing rednecks in diesel-spewing pickups with Confederate flags and gun racks in the back or of ratty trailers cum meth labs parked on the edge of some weed-choked lot.
-One dash of the supernatural? Check. Betts and her grandmother can see ghosts. Why? Because Shelton has books to sell. Because why not? Because some part of Shelton must've have realized how deathly dull Betts was and sought to spice up this plodding trudge of inanity with a pinch of the whimsical and otherworldly. Whatever the reason, she gives us Jerome Cowbender, the ghost of an outlaw, who turns out to be the true hero of the piece. Since he isn't the author's avatar, however, he'll fade into eternity and leave Betts to bask in the credit.
-One mystery? Check. As previously mentioned, Everett ends up dead in Gram's supply closet. Turns out he was searching for the treasure of Jerome Cowbender as a lark and half-heartedly searching for a daughter he'd given up for adoption years ago. Unfortunately for him, someone else was looking for it and did him in. So imaginative, I know, but if that doesn't twinkle your toes, we get the tragic tale of Jerome Cowbender, who only became an outlaw to support his love and their unborn child. He had cancer, you see, and wanted to provide for an unwed mother before he carked it and shuffled off this mortal coil. But the sheriff was a better shot and plugged him in the back as he rode out of town with his loot. Woe.
Bonus angst: Shortly after the birth of their love child, Cowbender's lover dies of a broken neck after a fall through a trapdoor during her contortionist's act, and the child is raised by relatives. WOE!!!
I've read worse, but I'm in no rush to read more.
In this case, Betts is the school's resident gofer, though she tries to dress it up by saying she's her grandmother's assistant. Assistant. Uh huh. She stocks shelves, cleans, and does some half-assed shopping, and even those arduous duties fall by the wayside as she "investigates" the mystery at hand. However will her seventy-eight-year-old grandmother--who does all of the actual teaching and student evals--survive without her incalculable contributions?
-One cantankerous secondary character designed to act as an anchor and/or font of homespun wisdom to be spouted forth when the heroine gets insufferably boring? Check, and boy, does this character get a workout, because Betts is bland as institutional gruel. Gram, a.ka Missouri Winston, a.k.a Miz is Betts' crusty, septuagenerian grandmother who runs the cooking school. She's set in her ways and feisty and, according to Betts anyway, the best cook EVER. We'll just have to take her word for it, though, because the only time we see her cook, she sets a chicken breast on fire and nearly burns down the kitchen when she doesn't immediately call the fire department. But totally the best cook. The best.
Because this is a cozy mystery and we have to have a reason for Our Heroine to get involved in the plot and take center stage, Gram is arrested for murder when her friend, Everett turns up dead in the school supply closet. Thus, it's up to Betts to don the cape and save the day. Oh, goody.
-One hunky love interest for which Betts can pine? Check. As a bonus, the hunky love interest is Betts' first love, Cliff Sebastian, The One Who Got Away, and he's also the new deputy, which means he'll be shoehorned into the plot at every opportunity and thereby produce ample grist for Betts' overworked and unceasing angst and self-pity mill, whose machinery should be smoking from gross overuse thirty pages in but somehow chugs along for another two hundred and thirty. You lucky reader, you.
On his own, Cliff would be a good character, a bit one-note, maybe, but this is a cozy mystery, not Othello and one note can make a delightful ditty in skilled hands. Alas for us, Cliff isn't allowed to exist or act beyond Betts' petulant pining or the lens through which she sees him. Despite the fact that Betts left him, and that ten years have elapsed since their last contact, Betts pouts like a preteen when she learns that poor Cliff had the audacity to build a life for himself without her in it. He's married? OH, NOES! HOW CAN SHE CONTINUE TO LIVE IN THE SAME TOWN WITH HIM WHEN HER HEART HAS BEEN POISONED BY THIS KNOWLEDGE!!! He might've had children? OH, GOD, THE SELFISH, UNRELENTING CRUELTY OF IT. WHAT HAS HER LIFE BECOME?
Bear in mind that Betts is thirty years old and has dated several men since their doomed love affair. But never mind that. Somehow, the fact that Cliff moved on with his life is a horrible betrayal. Apparently, Betts, a grown woman ostensibly living in the really world, honestly believed that the man she cast aside in pursuit of her dreams all those years ago would wait for her. This isn't inference, by the by. She says this to her brother at one point(we'll get to him later). And she believes it. I just-
Look, I'm all about the One Twu Wub trope. I've written it. It's emotional catnip for me, and I don't blame anyone who eats it up with a double-fisted spoon. But I've never seen a lovelorn character resent the object of their desire for daring to have a life once they were pushed aside. Yet here we see it on full display and without apology. A grown woman acts like a ten-year-old eno queen at the merest hint that her lost love isn't drinking his life away without her lurve to nourish his languishing soul. It's jarring and repulsive, and as relieved as I was when it was revealed that Cliff was divorced, and that the little girl in his company was his niece, I was also angry because that meant Betts' creepy, inappropriate mooning and stropping was going to be rewarded.
And it is, of course. By the story's end, we learn that Cliff never really loved his wife and has been holding a torch for Betts for all these years. She's pettish, judgmental, stupid as a box of hair, and mercurial. What wouldn't crank up a guy's rheostat? Methinks that two years from now, Cliff will be headed across the county line in that patrol car of his to hide from the paranoid succubus who thinks he's flirting with every woman in town, and who wakes him up in the middle of the night in her room at her parents' house to nag him about why he doesn't taaalk to her. Just eat the gun, Cliff. It's faster.
-One quirky best friend? Check. His name is Jake, and he runs the town historical society, because they've got to have someone in these ideal-life fantasies with access to historical records. Jake is a convenient info-dump repository and sounding board, but has no personality beyond his utility to Betts as a prop for her distorted self-image as a a Good Person.
-One sibling designed to make the protagonist look better by comparison? Check. His name is Teddy. Betts describes him as the family flake and a rake, but I'd rather hang out with affable, flirtatious Teddy than Betts. At least Teddy doesn't think his paramours should never date against after a taste of that heady, incomparable Winston love. And for all her carping about Teddy's purported irresponsibility, he shows a remarkable knack for teaching and organization, and he's not the one who deserts their grandmother during the most important event in the school's calendar to play TBI Nancy Drew with a ghost in the old theater.
-One quaint locale? Check. It's called Broken Rope, Missouri, and it trades on its past as an Old West town as a tourist attraction wherein they run faux old-time saloons and stage gunfights. Everything is modern-day Mayberry in Broken Rope. Everyone knows everyone except when they don't, and since this is a visit to Shelton's own private, wistful Idaho where idiots solve mysteries by accident and get lauded as the hero, there's neither hide nor hair of chaw-chewing rednecks in diesel-spewing pickups with Confederate flags and gun racks in the back or of ratty trailers cum meth labs parked on the edge of some weed-choked lot.
-One dash of the supernatural? Check. Betts and her grandmother can see ghosts. Why? Because Shelton has books to sell. Because why not? Because some part of Shelton must've have realized how deathly dull Betts was and sought to spice up this plodding trudge of inanity with a pinch of the whimsical and otherworldly. Whatever the reason, she gives us Jerome Cowbender, the ghost of an outlaw, who turns out to be the true hero of the piece. Since he isn't the author's avatar, however, he'll fade into eternity and leave Betts to bask in the credit.
-One mystery? Check. As previously mentioned, Everett ends up dead in Gram's supply closet. Turns out he was searching for the treasure of Jerome Cowbender as a lark and half-heartedly searching for a daughter he'd given up for adoption years ago. Unfortunately for him, someone else was looking for it and did him in. So imaginative, I know, but if that doesn't twinkle your toes, we get the tragic tale of Jerome Cowbender, who only became an outlaw to support his love and their unborn child. He had cancer, you see, and wanted to provide for an unwed mother before he carked it and shuffled off this mortal coil. But the sheriff was a better shot and plugged him in the back as he rode out of town with his loot. Woe.
Bonus angst: Shortly after the birth of their love child, Cowbender's lover dies of a broken neck after a fall through a trapdoor during her contortionist's act, and the child is raised by relatives. WOE!!!
I've read worse, but I'm in no rush to read more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 19, 2012
I will begin this review with the simple mention that I do enjoyed books written by Paige Shelton. That being said, I now have to admit, I think this new series "A County Cooking School Mystery" is my favorite right off the debut novel.
The premise is gentle and fun. The mystery is solid and even though the motive becomes visable early on, finding the culprit was just a purely enjoyable adventure with laughter along the way.
We have an introduction to our new sleuth, Isabelle "Betts" Winston. She is working for her Grams, Missouri Anna Winston. They operate "Gram's Country Cooking School" in Broken Rope, Missouri. This is an old west town known for it's past villians, thiefs, hangings, and shoot-outs. In fact the town has adopted the dress code of the 1850's as a tourist draw. Naturally you expect a specter or two floating about. You will not be disappointed.
The cooking class has a mild fire. After sending home the students Grams and Betts go to clean up and find a body that leads to a treasure hunt from the past.
Who is master minding the current day search and why are they killing people? I laughed from page one and continued enjoying this book past the reveal and through the delicious sounding recipes. The book felt very authentic to me. Now to await the next one out soon I hope.
The premise is gentle and fun. The mystery is solid and even though the motive becomes visable early on, finding the culprit was just a purely enjoyable adventure with laughter along the way.
We have an introduction to our new sleuth, Isabelle "Betts" Winston. She is working for her Grams, Missouri Anna Winston. They operate "Gram's Country Cooking School" in Broken Rope, Missouri. This is an old west town known for it's past villians, thiefs, hangings, and shoot-outs. In fact the town has adopted the dress code of the 1850's as a tourist draw. Naturally you expect a specter or two floating about. You will not be disappointed.
The cooking class has a mild fire. After sending home the students Grams and Betts go to clean up and find a body that leads to a treasure hunt from the past.
Who is master minding the current day search and why are they killing people? I laughed from page one and continued enjoying this book past the reveal and through the delicious sounding recipes. The book felt very authentic to me. Now to await the next one out soon I hope.
February 8, 2018
A cute and fun cozy mystery set in a small and close-knit country town. Told through the POV of a granddaughter who's recently returned and joined her grandmother's cooking school. There aren't any actual cooking instructions read about, but there's a charming ghost and funny brother. The mystery deepened as it lengthened with some twists, although it wasn't hard picking out the culprit since the suspect pool was so small. The recipes at the end were detailed and generous - I can never make fried chicken, but I have hope after all the tricks and details this time. I can't wait to try the Champagne cookies and peanut butter frosting either. Full review to come.
March 3, 2019
I wasn’t sure about the ghost thing but he turned out to be a cute detail to the story.
August 23, 2015
GRs Cozy Mystery August 2015 BOTM: 3.5 stars - I liked it but it took almost half the book to really get into it. I like many of the characters and town setting not so bad, but just didn't wow me but liked it enough and will probably check out another in the series to be sure. I think I want Gram to have more of a presence and to be a little spunky or spunkier.
Isabelle ("Betts") and her grandmother ("Gram") own a small-town country cooking school. They and their students are getting reading for the town's annual summer cook-off, when they find a body in the supply room of Everett, who is new owner of town's theatre and Gram's friend. Gram is a suspect and briefly arrested, even though the town's sheriff and new officer (Bett's high school bf) don't want to believe it, but Betts and her bff Jake (and town's Historical Society archivist) look into who killer is from other town residents. Also, there town has an odd criminal and character past and the old cemetery is next door to Gram's Country Cooking School, and Gram and Betts also have a shared ability to see a ghost of a past family town resident.
Isabelle ("Betts") and her grandmother ("Gram") own a small-town country cooking school. They and their students are getting reading for the town's annual summer cook-off, when they find a body in the supply room of Everett, who is new owner of town's theatre and Gram's friend. Gram is a suspect and briefly arrested, even though the town's sheriff and new officer (Bett's high school bf) don't want to believe it, but Betts and her bff Jake (and town's Historical Society archivist) look into who killer is from other town residents. Also, there town has an odd criminal and character past and the old cemetery is next door to Gram's Country Cooking School, and Gram and Betts also have a shared ability to see a ghost of a past family town resident.
July 19, 2016
I guess I'm the only one that didn't know about the ghosts. I picked this book because I like the author's Farm Fresh series and I was pleasantly surprised by it.
I'm going to have to read another book in the series to see if I warm up to Betts.
The reason behind the murder was interesting. The fact that it tied into why the ghost was there in the first place helped to justify the ghost being there in the first place. A lot of clues found were with the help of the ghost and I don't think the clues would have been found had he not been there. I guess more ghosts show up in the rest of the series, but I hope this ghost comes back later.
Now that I've said 'ghosts' 6 times, let's make it an even 10: ghosts, ghosts, ghosts and ghosts.
I'm going to have to read another book in the series to see if I warm up to Betts.
The reason behind the murder was interesting. The fact that it tied into why the ghost was there in the first place helped to justify the ghost being there in the first place. A lot of clues found were with the help of the ghost and I don't think the clues would have been found had he not been there. I guess more ghosts show up in the rest of the series, but I hope this ghost comes back later.
Now that I've said 'ghosts' 6 times, let's make it an even 10: ghosts, ghosts, ghosts and ghosts.
November 2, 2012
Maybe if you find out someone you know (and are closely related to! and love!) shares your ability to see ghosts, you should carve out 5-10 minutes to share everything you have learned about that ability. Especially if they are working to clear you of a murder charge. Seriously, FIVE freaking minutes to prevent them from bumbling around. It's not a character-building trait they have to learn their-selves!
March 22, 2017
A friend had been urging me to read this for quite some time, knowing how much I enjoyed having ghosts in books. I finally got around to it and enjoyed it tremendously! It was so much fun to read. It was well written, not overly simplistic as so many "cozies" can be, and I did love Jerome, the star ghost in this first book of the series. I will definitely read the other books and hope she continues to write for this series.
April 26, 2012
I almost gave up reading when the ghost showed up..but it ws okay. I may read the sequels, we'll see.
The "mystery" was not crafted very well. I did enjoy the charactors. Bett's and her Gram, Grams cooking school and the old boyfriend who shows up as the town sheriff of Broken Rope Missouri.
The "mystery" was not crafted very well. I did enjoy the charactors. Bett's and her Gram, Grams cooking school and the old boyfriend who shows up as the town sheriff of Broken Rope Missouri.
May 6, 2025
We all know paranormal is my least favorite shelf call in Cozy Mystery Book Bingo and it ALWAYS gets called. I dread it like a dentist appointment.
My pick was the first book in a series called A Country Cooking School. I was happy as it also hit several of my personal reading challenges for the year. Overall I did enjoy the mystery, characters, and setting. I did enjoy Jerome the ghost. He was a tasteful ghost. I would even continue the series for any paranormal cozy mystery books I need to read.
If Fried Chicken Could Fly is set in Broken Rope, Missouri and centers around an old west style town. Betts has long ago returned to Broken Rope to help her grandma run the local cooking school. Every year there is an annual showdown for the cooking school students to show what they have learned. It also is the start of tourist season. Unfortunately, Miz (grandma) is accused of murder a few days before the showdown. Was the deceased her lover or just a friend? What secrets is everyone hiding? Betts takes it as her personal duty to clear her grandma but that means she also has to work with her high school love whom she never has truly gotten over.
My pick was the first book in a series called A Country Cooking School. I was happy as it also hit several of my personal reading challenges for the year. Overall I did enjoy the mystery, characters, and setting. I did enjoy Jerome the ghost. He was a tasteful ghost. I would even continue the series for any paranormal cozy mystery books I need to read.
If Fried Chicken Could Fly is set in Broken Rope, Missouri and centers around an old west style town. Betts has long ago returned to Broken Rope to help her grandma run the local cooking school. Every year there is an annual showdown for the cooking school students to show what they have learned. It also is the start of tourist season. Unfortunately, Miz (grandma) is accused of murder a few days before the showdown. Was the deceased her lover or just a friend? What secrets is everyone hiding? Betts takes it as her personal duty to clear her grandma but that means she also has to work with her high school love whom she never has truly gotten over.
March 28, 2018
Quirky and Cute
Broken Rope, MO. The town name says it all.
A slow southern town and a story about a stubborn woman who even when faced with a murder charge keeps her own council. Which drives her granddaughter Betts, nuts.
And Betts has her own problems with moving on and trusting in people.
Together they run a top cooking school and when murder occurs the fun starts.
Or for me the fun starts when a ghost shows up, Jerome Cowbender, a thief who had two claims to fame. One he couldn't shoot and hit the side of a barn and two he stole a large stash of gold.
The plot is easy to figure to figure out. Which I'm sure was never meant to be hidden at all.
But the killer was a surprise.
I can't wait to start the next book and see what ghosts pop up.
Broken Rope, MO. The town name says it all.
A slow southern town and a story about a stubborn woman who even when faced with a murder charge keeps her own council. Which drives her granddaughter Betts, nuts.
And Betts has her own problems with moving on and trusting in people.
Together they run a top cooking school and when murder occurs the fun starts.
Or for me the fun starts when a ghost shows up, Jerome Cowbender, a thief who had two claims to fame. One he couldn't shoot and hit the side of a barn and two he stole a large stash of gold.
The plot is easy to figure to figure out. Which I'm sure was never meant to be hidden at all.
But the killer was a surprise.
I can't wait to start the next book and see what ghosts pop up.
November 15, 2021
Intriguing - a cute cozy mystery that is the first in a series. Centered around Gram's Country Cooking School, Betts assists her grandma with teaching classes and catering food. When the body of a man grams was seeing is found in the maintenance room, all hell breaks loose. Grams is considered a suspect and briefly jailed. It's up to Betts to try and solve the crime - and hopefully before the big cookoff that brings all the tourists to town. She might be in more danger than she knows - but thankfully a cowboy comes to her aid as does her ex-boyfriend who has recently returned and become a cop. It was cute and quirky - but I could have done without the supernatural element.
April 13, 2019
Take one sassy law-school dropout turned cooking instructor, add an even sassier grandmother with a genius for comfort food, stir in a heaping cupful of whodunit and add a pinch of ghost...I'M IN! This first book in the Gram's Country Cooking School Mystery series has certainly whetted my appetite for more!
April 21, 2018
This was pretty good. I might have given it 5 Stars, but it was one of those books that if you put it down for a bit and then pick it up again, it takes a while to get all the characters straight again. I’ll continue the series, though.
October 11, 2017
This was an enjoyable cozy mystery. The town in the story is unique with an interesting history, a little paranormal thrown in. I liked the characters and I am looking forward to reading book two in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2015
I realize that cozy mysteries are inherently unrealistic but I would like them to be probable enough that I can suspend my disbelief long enough to enjoy the book. The paranormal (in this case a ghost) is just too far across the line for me... I don't know why it is but although I can enjoy the supernatural in many books, I don't like it in mysteries.
The other strike against this mystery set in southern Missouri is my doubts about the historical accuracy of the "Old West" history of this town -- since when was 1912 the time of gun fights in the streets? I think that era was 50 years earlier (and further west). And newspapers of that time using the phrase "good guys or bad guys"... I checked on that one -- the use of the word "guy" to mean man, chap, fellow started in the United States in 1896, so in 1912 Missouri it would be possible (though IMO unlikely) for it to appear in a newspaper but it still jarred upon me.
The mystery was OK but not possible for the reader to solve ahead of the narrator. I did like the twist that & felt that the balance of personal life and sleuthing was good.
The other strike against this mystery set in southern Missouri is my doubts about the historical accuracy of the "Old West" history of this town -- since when was 1912 the time of gun fights in the streets? I think that era was 50 years earlier (and further west). And newspapers of that time using the phrase "good guys or bad guys"... I checked on that one -- the use of the word "guy" to mean man, chap, fellow started in the United States in 1896, so in 1912 Missouri it would be possible (though IMO unlikely) for it to appear in a newspaper but it still jarred upon me.
The mystery was OK but not possible for the reader to solve ahead of the narrator. I did like the twist that & felt that the balance of personal life and sleuthing was good.
January 8, 2012
I didn't have high expectations for this book - the synopsis didn't grab me. But I was pleasantly surprised once I started reading and didn't stop until I was through. It's a ghost story! It's a good first start to a new series, although I didn't warm up to the main character a whole lot. But I had the same problem with this authors other series, the Farm Fresh Mysteries. I've just recently read the third in that series and found the characters much more likeable and 3 dimensional than I found them to be in the first two. So I am confident this series' character development will evolve as well. I'm hoping for a bit more humour and a tiny bit less earnestness.
The plot of the murder was good, and I really enjoyed how it was all tied in with the ghost story. I especially enjoyed the friendship between the ghost and the main character, Bettes. I didn't guess the murderer ahead of time, but I don't recall there being a whole lot of clues either. Overall, I really enjoyed the book and I'm really looking forward to the next one.
The plot of the murder was good, and I really enjoyed how it was all tied in with the ghost story. I especially enjoyed the friendship between the ghost and the main character, Bettes. I didn't guess the murderer ahead of time, but I don't recall there being a whole lot of clues either. Overall, I really enjoyed the book and I'm really looking forward to the next one.
January 16, 2016
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Everyone loves their grandma’s cooking. My grandma even ran a restaurant for awhile. Gram reminds me a lot of my Grandma Lue. She also made the best fried chicken. The whole idea of a country cooking school fascinates me. I was just a teenager when my grandma passed away so I never really had a chance to learn from her but do have a few of her recipes in my recipe box.
I have to say the appearance of Jerome Cowbender did surprise me but as he became a major player in the plot I couldn’t imagine the story without him. I now understand how sometimes characters just appear in these stories without the author’s control. He was a brilliant addition to a wonderful story.
The story has a perfect mix of cozy fixings, with a “surprise ingredient”, blended expertly to make a culinary masterpiece for our reading pleasure.
The town of Broken Rope seems to have more than it’s share of quirky residents, which means plenty of fodder for future installments of this new smokin’ series!!!!
Everyone loves their grandma’s cooking. My grandma even ran a restaurant for awhile. Gram reminds me a lot of my Grandma Lue. She also made the best fried chicken. The whole idea of a country cooking school fascinates me. I was just a teenager when my grandma passed away so I never really had a chance to learn from her but do have a few of her recipes in my recipe box.
I have to say the appearance of Jerome Cowbender did surprise me but as he became a major player in the plot I couldn’t imagine the story without him. I now understand how sometimes characters just appear in these stories without the author’s control. He was a brilliant addition to a wonderful story.
The story has a perfect mix of cozy fixings, with a “surprise ingredient”, blended expertly to make a culinary masterpiece for our reading pleasure.
The town of Broken Rope seems to have more than it’s share of quirky residents, which means plenty of fodder for future installments of this new smokin’ series!!!!
July 16, 2016
At Gram's Country Cooking School in Broken Rope, Missouri, Betts Winston and Gram are helping students prepare the perfect dishes for the Southern Missouri Showdown, a cook- off that draws lots of summer visitors. Then they discover the body of local theater owner Everett Morningside in the school's supply room-- and Everett's widow points the finger at Gram. Now Betts must clear Gram's name while keeping the cook- off preparations on schedule.
This is a really fun, clean cozy mystery and the first in this series by Paige Shelton. She is a new-to-me author. And the premise is gentle and fun. What really made it enjoyable was the role that the ghost of infamous cowboy, Jerome Cowbender, from early days of Broken Rope played as assistant sleuth. There were plenty of twists and turn as well as a few surprises that made this an especially likeable read. I look forward to reading the others in the series to see if Jerome makes a return appearance or perhaps brings fellow ghost friends from Broken Rope's past to join the fun. Great recipes at the end.
This is a really fun, clean cozy mystery and the first in this series by Paige Shelton. She is a new-to-me author. And the premise is gentle and fun. What really made it enjoyable was the role that the ghost of infamous cowboy, Jerome Cowbender, from early days of Broken Rope played as assistant sleuth. There were plenty of twists and turn as well as a few surprises that made this an especially likeable read. I look forward to reading the others in the series to see if Jerome makes a return appearance or perhaps brings fellow ghost friends from Broken Rope's past to join the fun. Great recipes at the end.
May 8, 2016
Welcome to Broken Rope, Missouri. The town is known
for it’s old west bad outlaws. These villains and thieves
caused lots of shoot outs and hangings. During tourist
season the members of the town go all out to wear clothing
depicting the 1850’s dress style.
Broken Rope starts the summer off with the Southern
Missouri Show-Down. This is a yearly highly anticipated
cook-off.
Gram's Country Cooking School run by Missouri Anna
Winston and assistant by her granddaughter, Isabelle "Betts"
Winston teaches classes which recipes will be entered into
the cook off.
A chicken goes flying from the fryer ensured by a kitchen fire
at the school. The night class is sent home so clean up can
start.
But wait what is this… a body in the supply closet. A DEAD
BODY!!! Now the story really begins……..
Fires, Murder, Mystery, Humor, Hidden Treasure with a
ghost and a touch of romance make this an enjoyable read.
for it’s old west bad outlaws. These villains and thieves
caused lots of shoot outs and hangings. During tourist
season the members of the town go all out to wear clothing
depicting the 1850’s dress style.
Broken Rope starts the summer off with the Southern
Missouri Show-Down. This is a yearly highly anticipated
cook-off.
Gram's Country Cooking School run by Missouri Anna
Winston and assistant by her granddaughter, Isabelle "Betts"
Winston teaches classes which recipes will be entered into
the cook off.
A chicken goes flying from the fryer ensured by a kitchen fire
at the school. The night class is sent home so clean up can
start.
But wait what is this… a body in the supply closet. A DEAD
BODY!!! Now the story really begins……..
Fires, Murder, Mystery, Humor, Hidden Treasure with a
ghost and a touch of romance make this an enjoyable read.
February 11, 2015
A really nice read. I liked that it had more then just a murder mystery going on, there is also the mystery of a wild west outlaw's buried treasure! Plus, there's a few ghost involved. The characters were pretty fleshed and distinct from each other. I also liked that there was some recipes included in the back! A nice touch.
Two biggest problems are that the book has the tired cliché of a someone being forced to return home after failing to become what they set out to, which is something I think I've read in nearly all these mystery books I've read over the years. And the other thing is that the rules for how the ghost can interact with real people and physical objects changes at the very last minute. I think the author was trying to set up future storylines, but come on, you make the rules, you stick to them.
Still, a nice charming book that I enjoyed reading.
Two biggest problems are that the book has the tired cliché of a someone being forced to return home after failing to become what they set out to, which is something I think I've read in nearly all these mystery books I've read over the years. And the other thing is that the rules for how the ghost can interact with real people and physical objects changes at the very last minute. I think the author was trying to set up future storylines, but come on, you make the rules, you stick to them.
Still, a nice charming book that I enjoyed reading.
May 19, 2012
If Fried Chicken Could Fly by Paige Shelton is delightful and brightened my day.
After dropping out of law school, Isabelle (Betts) Winston returns to her hometown of Broken Rope, a town with a colorful past and a history of hangings. Betts joins her grandmother, Missouri (Miz) Winston, in teaching at grandma’s cooking school. The story begins with a fire in the kitchen and a dead body in the cleaning supply room. Unfortunately, the cadaver is Miz’s latest beaux, Everett Morningside.
From cooking to ghosts to hidden treasure, this story will hold your interest until the last page. The characters were fun and I can’t wait to see where their next adventure leads. I highly recommend this book to any reader who wants to be entertained, whether you enjoy mysteries or not.
After dropping out of law school, Isabelle (Betts) Winston returns to her hometown of Broken Rope, a town with a colorful past and a history of hangings. Betts joins her grandmother, Missouri (Miz) Winston, in teaching at grandma’s cooking school. The story begins with a fire in the kitchen and a dead body in the cleaning supply room. Unfortunately, the cadaver is Miz’s latest beaux, Everett Morningside.
From cooking to ghosts to hidden treasure, this story will hold your interest until the last page. The characters were fun and I can’t wait to see where their next adventure leads. I highly recommend this book to any reader who wants to be entertained, whether you enjoy mysteries or not.
September 17, 2015
This is a great cozy series. Complete with cooking, ghosts, mysteries to solve and romance to boot. This is the second book I have read in this series, although it is the first in the series. Betts and Gram are teaching students to cook for an upcoming cooking contest when they discover a dead body in their cooking school. When Gram (Missouri Anna) is detained in the murder, Betts steps up to help. When a ghost appears to her she is a little shook up but comes to depend on him to help her clear Gram and find the real murderer.
October 20, 2012
This is the first book I've read of Paige Shelton and I can't wait to read another one. It was an easy, light, but exciting cozy mystery with a little bit of super natural and romance blended in. I love it when a plan comes together and in this book it did. Hopefully we'll see more of Jerome and meet more of his "friends" in books to come.
December 5, 2012
Once again I've broken my own rule "No cozy paperback mysteries". Once again I know why I have that rule. Not only does the girl see a ghost, there are more to come..nothing specific, but the hints are throughout the book. And I just wish that authors today or their editors, knew or followed the rules of grammer/syntax, all that stuff that seems to be extraneous any more.
October 16, 2018
First time reader of this author and now i am hooked. This was such a great, easy and creative series. i was hooked after the first page.
The characters were easy to fall in love with and follow, along with the story. the author made the mental visions so easy and vivid of the surroundings and the characters actions felt so real.
i would highly recommend this author and this series.
The characters were easy to fall in love with and follow, along with the story. the author made the mental visions so easy and vivid of the surroundings and the characters actions felt so real.
i would highly recommend this author and this series.
February 11, 2014
While the characters and setting were charming, the mystery wouldn't have been solved without the help from a friendly ghost that is visible to only the protagonist, Betts and her grandmother. Rather ridiculous even for a cozy mystery.
I didn't hate it, but it really was a poor mystery.
I didn't hate it, but it really was a poor mystery.
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