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A Hopeless Ness: Scottish Bakehouse Mysteries
Rumors of strange sightings in the local lake are making waves in Loch Mallaig, Michigan, where Molly Ferris and her best friends, Carol MacCallan and Laura Donovan, operate a popular Scottish bakehouse. Molly has heard the gossip floating around about the so-called Loch Mallaig Monster and chalked it up to the Month of the Faeries, the October pranking tradition celebrated by the town. The last thing she expects when she visits the pier is to actually see the long-necked creature gliding through the water with her own eyes. Although Molly knows there couldn’t possibly be a mythical beast lurking in their loch, not everyone in town has such a firm grasp on reality. Monster mania reaches a fever pitch in the midst of a library presentation about water cryptids—and the unreal situation becomes anything but fantasy when local college student Jamison Abernathy dies at the end of the lecture and the police declare it murder. Jamison’s grieving girlfriend asks Molly and her friends for help exonerating his best friend for the crime, pulling the Bakehouse Three into a tangled mess of questionable business ethics, intense family drama, and dubious scholarly pursuits. Determined to uncover Jamison’s killer, Molly tracks the truth to dangerous lengths. But when it comes time to sink or swim, will Molly keep her head above water or will she drown in deadly deceit?
207 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2021
10 people want to read
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November 28, 2023
A Hopeless Ness by Jan Fields is a cozy mystery with a twist on the Loch Ness Monster story. This is the Scottish Bakehouse Mystery series, and I truly wish the publisher would include at least one of the delicious recipes that the “Bakehouse Three,” Molly Ferris, Carol MacCallan, and Laura Donovan, prepare in their bakery.
That wish aside, these cozy mysteries are logical and contain backstory for the characters. Backstory is why the character does what he does in the plot. A Hopeless Ness is Molly Ferris’ story. She’s the main armature detective in this story. But she doesn’t do it alone. Like any good cozy, she has help from a cast of necessary characters. Fields adds a bit of a budding romance for Molly as well. But Molly is the one who discovers the murderer. And Fields doesn’t shy away from putting her characters in danger.
A Hopeless Ness takes place along Lach Mallaig, a large lake in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It’s October, the “Month of the Faeries.” [p-10, hardback ed.] Pranks are common. But the real mystery begins when a young college student is found dead during a library presentation about “water monsters or cryptids” put on by college Professor Emmaline Nordwich. [p-31]
If you are looking for a fun cozy with a spot of romance and danger, then A Hopeless Ness by Jan Fields is the mystery for you.
That wish aside, these cozy mysteries are logical and contain backstory for the characters. Backstory is why the character does what he does in the plot. A Hopeless Ness is Molly Ferris’ story. She’s the main armature detective in this story. But she doesn’t do it alone. Like any good cozy, she has help from a cast of necessary characters. Fields adds a bit of a budding romance for Molly as well. But Molly is the one who discovers the murderer. And Fields doesn’t shy away from putting her characters in danger.
A Hopeless Ness takes place along Lach Mallaig, a large lake in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It’s October, the “Month of the Faeries.” [p-10, hardback ed.] Pranks are common. But the real mystery begins when a young college student is found dead during a library presentation about “water monsters or cryptids” put on by college Professor Emmaline Nordwich. [p-31]
If you are looking for a fun cozy with a spot of romance and danger, then A Hopeless Ness by Jan Fields is the mystery for you.
Displaying 1 of 1 review