Dying for Dinner Rolls

Chubby Chicks Club #1

by Lois Lavrisa

She's been held at gunpoint, stuck in a burning dumpster, chased out of a grocery store, caught impersonating a police officer and almost run over by a wayward vehicle. How is that for a first day on the job as an amateur sleuth? Along with her friend Annie Mae, Cat investigates the brick-paved, oak-lined streets of Savannah to find their friend's murderer.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Humor, Cozy, Amazon, Ebooks

158 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 2, 2013

About the author

Lois Lavrisa, recognized as a finalist in the 2013 Eric Hoffer Award, writes Mystery with a Twist. Her first mystery LIQUID LIES was an Amazon top 100 bestseller. Her new cozy mystery series, THE CHUBBY CHICKS CLUB is about sassy southern sleuths, set in Savannah, Georgia. DYING FOR DINNER ROLLS, book #1, became an Amazon Kindle top 100 bestseller, and was a 2104 Georgia Author of the year Fiction novel nominee. DYING FOR DINNER ROLLS was awarded a silver medal in the 2014 Readers' Favorite award. Book #2 MURDEROUS MUFFINS, a 2015 Georgia Author of the Year nominee and a 2015 Readers' Favorite Finalist. HOMICIDE BY HAMLET, book #3 a Readers' Favorite and nominee for Georgia Author of the Year. The final two books in the series, KILLING WITH KINGS book #4 and PUZZLED BY PURPLE book #5 will be released in 2017 and 2018.

Growing up on the south-side of Chicago provided her with an abundance of story ideas. Earning her Master and Bachelor of Science in journalism and Communication with minor in Public Relations-provided ample opportunity to get a ton of writing experience. After college she wrote training programs for a Fortune 500 Company and taught many years as an adjunct professor. Her 15 minutes of "fame" came when she was Professional cheerleader for the NBA Chicago Bulls. She's been married to her aerospace husband Tom for over 25 years and they have four children- two sons and two daughters (and two cats who think they are her kids.) While juggling her packed schedule, she often daydreams about escaping to the beach with a glass (or two or three) of Riesling, a great book, fantastic friends, and loads of laughter.


Connect to her at her Website: www.loislavrisa.com. Facebook: Author, Lois Lavrisa or Twitter: @loislavrisa.

She's been married to her aerospace husband Tom for over 22 years and they have four children- two boys and two girls. She's a member of several writing organizations including: Mystery Writers of America (MWA), Romance Writers of America (RWA) and Sisters in Crime (SIC). She served as vice president of the Low Country RWA (LRWA). For the past several years she's been a member of the Savannah Pen & Ink writers group. She's written for a local newspaper, a magazine and newsletters. Additionally, Lois has worked as an adjunct instructor at several universities as well as a technical writer.

You can connect with her at www.liquidlies.com or www.loislavrisa.com or on twitter @loislavrisa.

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

After the police rule Lucy Valentine's death a suicide, Cat Thompson and her friend Annie Mae Maple feel the authorities have made a mistake and decide to investigate. Of course, Lucy's flirtatious husband Bert is their first suspect. And the number two suspect is Bert's mistress. So starts this delightful amateur sleuth mystery. What follows is a quick-paced, humorous romp through the streets of Savannah. I can't count how many times I laughed at the antics of this duo.

Cat and Annie Mae are well-fleshed out, utterly charming characters with enough quirks to make them real. The Southern setting is vividly portrayed. The straight-forward storyline is captivating.

Recommended for readers of cozy mysteries and for readers of light Southern fiction.

[Shaun · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cozies by nature are rather simplistic, light, and formulaic, which may or may not appeal to every reader. Personally, I can enjoy a cozy for what it is, particularly if it is well-written and the characters are engaging.

This particular cozy reminded me of a low-budget production I might find myself watching on Nickelodeon with my kids. The characters were cliche, the plot unsophisticated, and the writing only so-so. Too many times, the story and the characters were just downright silly. This book was also about 75% dialogue, which might not have been a bad thing if the dialogue had been better.

That said, the book had a few redeeming qualities. For one, I liked the main character Cat, mother of four, and her sidekick, Annie Mae, sassy widower with a PhD. They are fun and relateable. I also thought the parallel mysteries, Lucy's murder and Cat's father's murder, were adequately done.

It wasn't awful, but it could have been so much better. At times the writing came awfully close to sounding amateurish. Things like "I wiped tears with the back of my hand. My taste buds wretched with sour bile. I tensed with raw nerves as a chill ran down my spine. And yet, I felt numb," or "I darted my eyes around..." There was lots of looking, shrugging, and deep breathing kind of thing as well.

Overall, not impressive, though enough to make you care about the main characters, even if they do behave outrageously.

[Nola Arganbright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plenty of red herrings

A fun and entertaining story. It is one calamity after the other with these two sleuths. A strong plot and smooth flow.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I take no pleasure in writing this review, just as I take no pleasure thinking about the money that I wasted buying this book, or the time I spent reading this disjointed mess. The plot was as thin as onion paper, and meandered all over the place. One of the main plots lines was not even completed.
The book read like a poorly written Nancy Drew mystery. The racial stereotypes that the author perpetuates in this book are just mind-numbingly bad.
I do not know if it was the editing of the book or the writing, but in the end, I was left with the thought that the entire book was a chopped up story devoid of any heart that you need to make a book a cozy mystery.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story. The characters were okay as well. Cat and Annie Mae were a fun detecting team and some of the situations they got themselves into were funny.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun loving cozy mystery.

[Tammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started out ok. The overall banter and solidarity of the friends was charming and endearing. I liked the characters, they were fleshed out and fresh and fun. Then when one friend is murdered, well now the hunt for a killer is on! For a bit it was funny, suspenseful and highly entertaining. Then the story went downhill. The ridiculous behavior of the two armature sleuths started out as silly but fun, but dissolved into something painful to continue reading. The last quarter of this book didn’t even feel like the same person was writing it. The goofy antics and total disregard for their own safety as well as the lack of concern for the JOB of a friend...well this was inconsistent with the kind of women we had originally been lead to believe they were. A major pet peeve of mine personally is a “mom character” who will put her life at stake with silly reckless abandon. Oh, its ok if the character is actually in some form of law enforcement. This nonsense though would have us believe a store clerk reeling from her own fathers murder in the recent past would even CONSIDER putting her life at stake and making her 4 children motherless…. Well no. .. As a mom I am not buying it. Sadly what started out as a promising little cozy mystery dissolved into a disaster.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Lois Lavrisa's Dying for Dinner Rolls, the first installment in the Chubby Chicks Club culinary cozy series, she introduced us to a group of friends with this new cozy series debut. When Cat Thompson's friend Lucy was found murdered in her home, she didn't believe it was suicide. It was up to her and her friend Annie to figure it out for themselves. When they re-evaluated her life for clues, Cat also wondered more about who wanted to murder her father and searched for answers with a sedoku crossword puzzle. When they get closer to the truth, they figured out who it was and get caught into an embroiled mess.

[Kylie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dying for Dinner Rolls was a very light, quick read. It falls into the chick lit/detective genre, but to be honest the story was a bit thin. Whilst the basic premise was okay, there was no real depth and the story moved to quickly for the reader to get any real empathy for the cast of characters, who initially seemed quite interesting and quirky.

The book ended with a good solid lead in to the next one in the series, but whether or not I would actually but it is debatable. I would, however, borrow it from the library if I was in need of something light to read one day.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good start to a series. I liked the main characters and the club seems fun. There were two mysteries that appeared to be one, but then, it turned out they were separate. It probably had to do with how personal both mysteries were to Cat. One was solved, but one wasn't. Maybe in the next one, which I would definitely read. :)

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Chubby Chicks Club reminds me a lot of my friends, so it was really easy to get sucked into their world. When one of their own is found dead of an apparent suicide, the rest of the Club springs into action, often with hilarious results! An intriguing start to a great series.

[Julesy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is not often that I feel compelled to write a review, but I felt I needed to for this book. I listened to this on audio. The narrator was good. However, this book was so over the top with cliches. It seems like the author tried her hardest to find the most stereotyped characters possible, an Asian American as the main sleuth, an African-American "curvy" woman as her sidekick, a Hispanic man, and a Southern belle as part of the Chubby Chicks Club (yes, a man is part of this Chubby Chicks Club). In addition, there was profanity in this cozy, which I did not appreciate. The reason why I gave this cozy 2 stars was because there was absolutely no resolution to the mysterious death of the main character's father. This was the most interesting part of the book to me! Ugh. Thankfully, the audio as only 4.5 hours long. If it as any longer, I would have made it a DNF. Instead I sped up the narration to 1.5X so I could be done with it sooner. Do not waste your time reading this book.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun murder mystery with just the right amount of humor. The main heroine, Cat, is still grieving over the murder of her father, a case that remains unsolved. She is also a member of the Chubby Chicks Club - a source of friends & support for her. However, tragedy strikes within this group. Cat wonders if it might be related to her father's murder. So, she and Annie Mae set out to solve the case. Annie Mae is the hilarious side-kick to Cat's more serious and sensible side. You can't help but love them both and laugh as they get themselves in situation after situation.

The mystery part of it is well done and keeps you guessing until almost the end. Plus, it leaves you wanting to read Book #2. A fast but most enjoyable read.

[Nospin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable little cozy read through Whispersync/Immersion reading. The narrator does a great job of voicing all the different characters.

The book is populated by zany, quirky characters with the main ones being members of the Chubby Chicks Club. One of their members die and two members, Cat and Anna Mae, work together to prove it wasn't a suicide and to solve the murder. The Quirky and appealing nature of these characters makes it possible to overlook the few implausible parts of the story while some of the situations they find themselves in are truly funny.

I received a free Audible version of this book in exchange for a review but purchased the Kindle version. All opinions are my own.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story on my Kindle, only 156 pages long. Cat's dad has been murdered, and a crossword puzzle, done with purple ink warns of the killing. Now, one of her friends has also been murdered, and again, a purple crossword spells out a warning. Cat and a member of her Chubby Chicks Club blunder their way through an investigation, and somehow figure out who murdered their friend. In the meantime, it seems that other men who once had a connection to her dad are dying. Can Cat figure out what is going on? Although one story is closed, Cat's wanting to know what happened to her dad will apparently carry on to the second book.

[Mande · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not going to lie - I just couldn't get into this book from the start. We are immediately thrown into two months after the main characters father dies, so it feels detached. And then she out of the blue calls up the investigating detective, who in some weird world apparently closes an open murder case after two months, and he agrees to reopen it?

And don't get me started on the racial stereotypes.

I couldn't get past a weird situations, a detached female lead and nothing that says anything about her personality.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first it really took me a while to get into but by the end I found myself very interested to see hoe it ended. It has a great cliff hanger and I will definitely read the next book! I loved the character of Annie Mae and hope she's in the next one!

[Amanda Kendall · Rating 1 out of 5]

.

1 Star.

There’s a lot to unpack here. There was a lot to unpack here, but most of my issues come from the mystery being flat and the author having zero concept of police procedures. More importantly, all the characters were racist stereotypes.

[Sybil Cody · Rating 1 out of 5]

Waste of my time😢

Didn't like the book. It was boring. I kept reading hoping it would get better. Won't be reading any more of these books.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stumbled on to Dying for Dinner Rolls when it was advertised as a free kindle selection thanks to one of the deals daily emails I receive. Guess what, Mrs. Lavrisa? If you were wondering if there was any useful advantage to offering a free selection for Kindle and/or allowing deals emails to alert their readers, there is! I’m proof! And I’ll get to how, later.

If chaotic good were a mystery book, this would be the book. This story contains some interesting sleuthing done by two women who are completely random and not lawful at all, but at the same time, they are good and have good intentions. And I mean *completely* random. If you are a fan of such books as Shroedinger’s Cat or 2001: A Space Odyssey, then you are a fan of the kind of randomness you will receive here. If you are unfamiliar with those other titles, just ask yourself if you can handle the grilling of a suspect interrupted with one of the characters deciding that suddenly, in this moment and at this time, she must have a plant but not just any plant, a plant with specific needs, and she will name the plant but has to choose between two different names; meanwhile the suspect is just hanging around not the least bit put off by the sudden topic change. If this is something that delights you: get this book. If this makes you believe the characters are air-headed nitwits and you start to question whether the author is a secret misogynist incapable of writing women who are whole people: go the other way, and quickly.

This book is said to be a cozy mystery. Perhaps I am misunderstanding what cozy mystery means. I thought it was what happens when a mystery novel and a romance novel have a baby: a mystery is solved and flirting takes place but neither are focused on enough to raise anyone’s heart rate. This book lacks the romance element. I don’t think that is a slight against this book, more that I think it is miscategorized as a cozy mystery… at least insofar as I understand cozy mysteries. I’d have called this a light chick-lit mystery, myself.

This book does manage to avoid any and all tension until the big climax/conclusion. The author jumps from the setup to the resolution without taking you on the emotional journey in between. It is very sanitized and almost Disney in the Happiest Place On Earth quality that it gives to actual life-or-death situations that are resolved in the blink of an eye with no lasting trauma. I had almost started to wonder if the author was capable of writing conflict, and then the final life-threatening situation arrives and I did get to see the author’s performance in that arena. Yet, I am subtracting a star for all the other missed opportunities to show that skill elsewhere in the novel.

I also have to note that this book could use a content-editor. A few times I found the characters rediscovering a piece of evidence they had discovered just a page earlier as if the thought had never just occurred to them just a moment ago and was completely brand new Dory just keep swimming. It jarred me out of the narrative and would have been caught by a professional. (minus another star)

That said, I thought the writing improved tremendously to the end of the novel as if the author finally was trusting herself and picking up steam, so I will stick around and pick up Chubby Chick’s Club #2. See, the marketing does pay off!

[Stephanie Dagg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dying for Dinner Rolls by Lois Lavrisa
Other genres, such as mismem and griplit, come and go in popularity, but cosy mysteries remain constantly popular. These require creativity, ingenuity and humour on the part of the author, which make for a winning formula for readings. You find some really excellent writing.
Dying for Dinner Rolls by Lois Lavrisa is no exception. This is a short, delightful read. Our heroine Cat works in the family organic food store. She’s recovering from the recent violent death of her father, but her supportive husband and lively children have kept her going. Also she’s making an effort to be there for her Korean mother, Yunni. When Lucy is found dead after nipping home to fetch dinner rolls for Cat and the other members of the Chubby Chicks Club, a group of friends who get together for pot luck suppers and chats, a chilling clue seems to link her death with Cat’s father’s. The police consider it to be a suicide but Cat is convinced otherwise. Annie Mae, the chubbiest of the chicks, joins Cat for a day’s eventful sleuthing which threatens to land them both in jail. Handsome cop José keeps a nervous eye on proceedings and rushes in to rescue the crimebusting pair when the difficult situations they get themselves into threaten to get out of control. They do get a little carried away at times! However, they also get the murderer, but Cat is still determined to track down her father’s killer, whatever the cost.
Once you start this novella it’s hard to put it down. The characters are quirky, diverse and fascinating. Cat is a lively, likeable heroine with strengths and flaws that make her so utterly identifiable with. Annie Mae, twenty years her senior and, by the sounds of it, twenty times her weight, makes for the perfect sidekick for her. The plot twists and turns, just as it should, and the result is a clever, original cosy that has you gasping in horror and chuckling in delight in equal measure. I highly recommend it, and I’m now off to read the next two books in the series.

[Julie Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I recognised the picture and sort of remembered reading it or it was still sat on my kindle to be read so I got the audio book version. So glad I did because I had read it and it was on my list to find out what happens in the rest of the series but never got around to, now I will finally find out what happens because the whole series is on audible. It is a light hearted, humorous mystery that had me chuckling. I liked the characters because they were quirky and very entertaining and I enjoyed the mystery with all the twists it took while questioning the suspects. The main murder did get solved but I think it might take all four books to get to the bottom of the crossword killer can't wait to find out.
Cat a mother of two sets of twins is drawn into playing amateur sleuths when attending a dinner party for her group the chubby chicks club. One of the members returns home for some bread rolls and never comes back. The rest of the club members find her dead of an apparent suicide and despite one of the members being a cop it is Cat and her friend Anne Mae that find themselves looking for the killer and impersonating a police officer to get to the bottom of it. The victim had just brought a vase in a mystery box and it was packaged in a news paper where the crossword was filled in with purple ink and the words your next, just like the paper found at Cat's fathers crime scene. Could the same killer be involved?
I liked the narrator she used a variety of very good voices to bring the characters to life.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute, but short. Could have been cuter.

To open the story months after her father had been killed is okay, but there's no investigation and the case is closed? With nobody in custody? Wouldn't that just become a cold case? But after two months? I doubt it.

Police who don't pay attention to clues, nobody looks for suspects, the whole books is outrageous. We meet the characters and we think they're friends, but in the end it's just not written that way. Lucy is clearly murdered, but the police and a few of her friends don't even give a rat's behind. Nobody but these to incompetent women thought to question the neighbor she was having trouble with? DOUBTFUL.

These two women put themselves in danger, they lie about their situation and just don't seem to care that on of their best friends could lose his job for what they're doing. Just outrageous. A mom to 4 kids wouldn't put her life in this much jeopardy period, never mind so soon after losing her own father to a senseless death. And her husband and mom are okay with it?? I think not.

This could have been so much more.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book for free. I'm just starting to get into cozy mysteries! This book was fun, fast paced and a quick easy read. An unusual group of friends in Savannah and get together for pot luck meals. When one leaves to get dinner rolls and doesn't come back. They go to see why. When they find her murdered even though the police ruled it a suicide they start their own investigation. As 2 characters stumble around one day they discover a lot of information. Despite being threatened with trespassing and harassment and fraud charges by the widow, his mistress and pretty much everyone they encounter. Their fellow club member who is with the police tried to keep them out of trouble and jail as they solve the murder. It's funny and cleverly written book. I look forward to more books by this author. Highly recommend if u r looking for a quick and fast paced read!

[Argum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doesn't quite feel like a first in the series as there is a preexisting crime that it seems like you should know about, but otherwise fun. The narrator is a mother to sets of twins and owner of a family organic grocery store. Her father was murdered/robbed? something a few months prior in the store. She has a group of friends that are an interesting mix of people who met in a self defense class taught by the gay handsome bomb squad cop in the group. At a meeting, the bread doesn't turn out and one pops home to get some of her own, but never returns. The group goes to investigate and finds Lucy dead - by suicide. The cop on duty hates the cop in the group for unclear reasons and closes with no investigation. But our group doesn't take that easy and partly because it may be linked to the fathers death. It is a little convoluted but fun.

[Marty · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a typically light-read murder mystery. It’s a very quick read and certainly not worth the money I spent to buy it digitally. The characters were rather stock. The book was light and silly, which sometimes doesn’t fit with a murder mystery. My biggest complaint was that the protagonist’s father (and subsequent business associates) had all been murdered within a month. The protagonists weren’t trying to solve those murders. They found another one to work on - albeit friend. And after the final murder at the end of the book, there’s a description of the next book in the series. Did the protagonist try to solve her dad’s murder in it? Nope. Off on another tangent of a working mom trying to be an amateur detective with a case unrelated to dead dad and his murdered buddies. Sorry. It just wasn’t for me.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
The writing wasn't great, especially the dialogue which felt very stiff. However, the story line was pretty interesting and I liked how you weren't sure if it was about the main mystery or the secondary one or if they were entwined the whole time. I liked the story enough to want to finish the series though I probably won't buy them. One of the worst parts was the main character's mom's accent. She was Korean (though lived in America for a long time) and the dialogue she spoke was like a bad caricature of someone with an accent, something I'd expect from a trashy Comedy Central show, not a book. Better editing would've shown that that was a bad idea though.
Also the main twist was pretty obvious about 70% through so that made it a bit boring.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dying for Dinner Rolls is one of the many unread books I have on the Nook app. Since it is impossibly hard to get books from the library right now I am randomly choosing previous books I have downloaded. Most are older Free Friday books.

Cat is horrified when she goes to check on her friend and finds her dead with a slit wrist. Obviously the police are not used to murders since it is deemed a suicide despite a large bash in the back of the victim's head. Lots of slapstick moments and it was pretty easy to figure out what the answer to the mystery was.

Just a basic cozy mystery. I felt like the humor was forced too much and that the characters were a big generic. Despite the larger mystery ending on a cliff hanger I will not be continuing with the series.

[SANDYE · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, not many plot twists

Cat is still grieving the death of her father who was recently murdered. In the meantime, while waiting for a dead friend to return to the latest gathering of their Chubby Chicks Club, they soon sorry when retrieving a package of dinner rolls takes longer than expected. They are shocked to find their friend dead on her back porch. Can Annie Mae and Cat find the killer without ending up murdered themselves?!
The story kept me interested enough to finish reading it. While the plot pointed to a few different suspects, it didn't have that air of suspense. However, I still enjoyed it overall, and their was even some laugh-out-loud funny parts.

[Avigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dying for Dinner Rolls is the first book of cozy mystery series. I got the book for free through the e-mail deals that I get every day. It was an ok read for me; it is a cozy-mystery packed. I felt it had too many issues in a short book. Yes, it is two mysteries that I believe will take through the series, and each edition of the series will have a murder that will be solved by the end of the books.
It is a 2.5-stars for me. I don't think I will continue with the series. I felt that the two sleuths were very immature, even though they are adults.
The diversity of this book is the main character is Korean-American, one member of the Chubby Chicks Club is gay but hasn't come out yet.