Vanilla Vices

Donut Shop Mysteries #22

by Jessica Beck

Donut Mystery #22, Vanilla Vices, From New York Times Bestselling Author, Jessica Beck When Crazy Dan the junk man, is found murdered in his shop, Aunt Teeks, at first no one has any idea who might want to see the old man dead, but as Suzanne and Grace begin to dig into his life, they discover that there was much more to the man than they first thought, including several motives for murder.

Genres: Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Cozy, Ebooks, Romance

195 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 3, 2015

About the author

Jessica Beck is a pseudonym used by
Tim Myers.
Jessica Beck is the penname of an author who has been nominated for the Agatha Award and named an Independent Mystery Booksellers Association national bestseller nearly a dozen times.

Jessica Beck loves donuts, and has the figure to prove it. It's amazing what people can convince themselves is all in the name of research! For each recipe featured in the donut mysteries, a dozen more are tried and tested.

When not concocting delicious treats, Beck enjoys the rare snowfalls near her home in the foothills of North Carolina.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/jessic...

Reviews

[Luffy Sempai · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I reward this book with a 5 star rating, I ask myself why I'm doing so with a book that looks it's been written by a lackadaisical author. Going through the motions can, sometimes result in a very good book.

I have a soft spot for this series. Re-reading some of the 2 star books that I rated bring nice pleasures that I didn't know was in those albeit disappointing books.

Here, the opening chapters themselves were different from the norm. As soon as the murder occured, I was back in familiar territory. Suzanne Hart is now sleuthing on her own schedule. She and her friend Grace team up to produce familiar, feel-good adventures. Long may that continue.

PS - there are no spoilers in my review.

[Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was fine as far as the donut shop mysteries go - at the rate Beck churns them you really can't expect much. But there were too many errors and glaring oversights that left me wondering if an editor was involved at all. Emma Blake's mother's name is Sharon, not Cheryl as she's called in Vanilla Vices. There were several places where details were inconsistent from page to page, especially near the end. The whole thing felt very rushed and sloppy and had the feel of an amateur self published work. I think this will be my last from Beck, they simply aren't worth the money.

[Jennifer Oberth · Rating 2 out of 5]

It would have been nice if we were told that Emma’s mother, Sharon, went down to the old courthouse to change her name to Cheryl. That would be far more interesting than thinking the author literally cares so little about his series that he gets a recurring character’s name wrong.
Though with all the other glaring errors and outright sloppy work and inexcusable mistakes, I guess I just have to remain disappointed.
Seriously, author? You have a character report that Character A made up a random story about an item, then state Characters B and C were interested in something but had no idea what.
On the very next page, Suzanne states Character B fought with Character C about the item Character A had made up on the spot which had nothing to do with anything.
It’s awful. The end was weird and unsatisfying.
Why do I read this series?

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

this wasn't too bad.....since self publishing, I think the author doesn't use a "proof-reader" cuz when Suzanne talks about her assistant Emmy and her mother in this book she calls her-Cheryl and having verified with past books I rightly remember her mother's name IS SHARON!

[Anastasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vanilla Vices by Jessica Beck is the 22nd book in the Donut Shop Mysteries series. A junk shop owner is found murdered in his shop and it is thought to be the result of a series of burglaries in the area, but Suzanne and Grace are unconvinced and investigate further. This time Suzanne is taking a break from donut making and I miss the donuts. Suzanne continues to alienate everyone with her investigation which mainly takes the fom of questions and accusations. Interesting but rather formulaic.

[Alabama Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suzanne had a regular customer who may not have been much to look at but who really loved her vanilla donuts.
During a series of robberies and thefts at several thrift shops and junk store Suzanne suddenly found herself in the junk business. Could Suzanne and Grace find who the murderer was before the State Police locked them up for obstruction or interference with the crime?
Sometimes money isn’t everything.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one had a different kind of twist on it that you will like.
Suzanne is an executrix and she has to deal with a junk shop.
She also needs to find the owner's killer.
Enjoy!

[Jennifer Widmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once again, it's a decent storyline and while I realize that this isn't award-winning fiction or the most intellectual genre, this book's inconsistencies and sloppy writing was off-putting.
Can someone please remind the author and editor that Emma's mom's name is Sharon, not Cheryl? There's also a screw up with the paper weight as a clue in the last chapters.
Overall, a disappointment.

[Sheri Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Donut Mysteries story. As usual Suzanne and Grace are on the hunt to find out who committed the most recent murder. It was nice to see George play a part again. This was a quick, easy, enjoyable read and the recipes at the end are an added bonus.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

Another entertaining book in this series.! Starting the next one! Wishing I had one of her donuts to eat right now