Poisoned Petit Fours

Dark and Stormy Night Mystery #1

by Sara Bourgeois

Matthew Ellersby had made a mistake - a colossal mistake. But it wasn’t right that he should die. It wasn’t even right that he called himself Matthew Ellersby.
But none of that was known on the beautiful Maine morning when his body was discovered on the beach in front of The Elusive Cat Bed and Breakfast.

When Jan Cathcart is forced out of her life by a series of unfortunate events, she lands at her sister’s popular bed and breakfast. Little does she know that her move will place her right in the middle of a murder mystery.

The local police make the wrong call about the crime, but Jan knows in her heart that the man was murdered. Can she solve the crime before the small-town rumor mill destroys her sister’s beloved business?

Genres: Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Contemporary

167 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 14, 2020

About the author

Sara Bourgeois is a Midwesterner through and through. She spends her time writing, reading, herding cats, and standing in her driveway during tornado warnings. (You can't see them from the basement.)

Reviews

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was not badly written and there were some strong points in the dropping of clues for the who and the how of the murder. Even the why had some decent clues to it.

My issues with the story had little to do with the mystery aspect (though the mystery gets solved by the completely untrained civilian while the small town Sheriff overlooks/turns away potential evidence is a trope I find both annoying and overdone). My issues had more to do with Jan herself. I felt like there was this bit build-up to why she left her previous home to stay with her sister (going from California to Maine is a bit jump even if you do have family there). When we got to what actually happened, it was a complete let-down. I don't want to dismiss that break-ups are hard and there were some underlying issues, but there was so much that either wasn't addressed or seemed blown completely out of proportion.

I'm still trying to figure out how she was with a guy long enough to that he wanted to propose, but they didn't have a conversation about what they each wanted. She evidently didn't want kids, that is something you should definitely talk about earlier on in a relationship. She mentions years when thinking about the relationship, so honestly you would think somewhere along the way there would have been some discussion of the future.

She talks/thinks about pushing against people because she wants to do things on her own, but then goes on about not knowing who she is because she's trying to fit into the roles she's been assigned. It was very contradictory.

She also seems to think her sister was happy with the "role" of wife and mother that she was assigned, but there is nothing saying that wasn't the "role" she chose or that it isn't a "role" at all, but rather part of who her sister is. She was almost obsessed with this idea of "roles" that people play that it got bizarre for me. I get trying to figure things out when your own life implodes and having a murder victim going by an assumed name would lead to some deep thoughts on the topic, but it was like she was projecting on her sister at times.

Honestly I could have enjoyed the story more if it was just the mystery portion versus the weird self-reflection thing that Jan had going.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have enjoyed other books by this author so I gave this one a try. It's a little odd as Jan doesn't share much with her sister but that gets better. It was an interesting and entertaining book. I will get the next one.

Amazon synopsis:
Matthew Ellersby had made a mistake - a colossal mistake. But it wasn’t right that he should die. It wasn’t even right that he called himself Matthew Ellersby.
But none of that was known on the beautiful Maine morning when his body was discovered on the beach in front of The Elusive Cat Bed and Breakfast.

When Jan Cathcart is forced out of her life by a series of unfortunate events, she lands at her sister’s popular bed and breakfast. Little does she know that her move will place her right in the middle of a murder mystery.

The local police make the wrong call about the crime, but Jan knows in her heart that the man was murdered. Can she solve the crime before the small-town rumor mill destroys her sister’s beloved business?

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well plotted and paced. I read books one and two of this series in one day. As they become available I will continue the series. I found the sister, Jan, quite interesting. She arrives heart-broken, and needs to reflect on her life and to heal. She loves puzzles and treats the murders in the two books as such, unable to leave them to law enforcement. The cats are incidental and have no great part in the solving of the mysteries.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel I must rate this 3 stars as it contained all the aspects that a cozy mystery ought; they do tend to be rather cookie-cutter in their sameness. As for my enjoyment of the book, definitely a 2. I could not finish. I kept waiting for there to be more; some witty banter, some appealing characters, maybe a little bit of romance...something to brighten up what became increasingly tedious interactions between the sisters and the guests. I finally gave up.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little hard to get into for me at first. Not sure why. Jan is smart and I think that there could be a pretty great dynamic between her and her sister in future and I look forward to seeing if that will be so. I found Kitty Jr. to be intriguing. Looks like there's more to him than just a regular ol' stray cat. The beginning of this series has promise and I look forward to seeing where it will go.

[Anne-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A clean cozy mystery
Usually Sara Bourgeois writes her cozy mysteries with a witch involved...this one wasn't paranormal.
It is a good ole' whodunit...
The characters were good.
I found the book lacking something and it felt rushed...I found myself skimming some of the content.
I love Sara Bourgeois books because of the paranormal aspects (she writes a great witch cozy mystery) and they have a great story to them...
I'm sorry to Sara but this wasn't a favourite...

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arc review I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. Jan Cathcart is visiting her sister lolinda at her b&b The Elusive Cat. When there is a body found at beach in front of the b&b because Jan is a teacher and loves puzzles she can't help herself to figure out the clues. Awesome

[Patricia H. Phelps · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Elusive Cat B&B

Lois is a widow who owns the B&B in Maine. Jan is her younger sister who has come to stay due to a bad breakup with a fellow teacher in California. When a twelve year old boy, son of a guest family, finds another guest dead on the beach, Jan helps him deal with it and then sets out to solve it. An excellent mystery.

[Jodi Sweet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good story, but not what I was expecting. I’m so used to witchy cozies from her that I was just waiting through the whole thing for Kitty, Jr. to end up being a familiar! lol! But it was still a good cozy and I’ll be reading the rest of the series!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Sharie Breihan-Groot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very different, great characters and story with lots of powerful life lessons

I've never had a cozy with so much soul searching, and right on at that. Lots of keen insights. Great storytelling and build up with good character development. Jan and Lois seem very real as do the other people and cats. Can't wait for the next one. And only found one grammar mistake!

[Neena Christianson Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A listening kitten.

Jan is staying with her sister Lois who owns a bed and breakfast in Maine. It started slow for me and the storyline didn't pick up till the second half of the book. After that I read straight through until the end.

[Sharon Laughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful mystery story!

Sara Bourgeois definitely knows how to write a murder mystery that keeps you in suspense! This story and the characters in it are both well written. I am looking forward to the future books in this series.

[April Weiser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it.

This book kept me guessing until the end. It has well developed characters and they seem to work so well together. The cat in the book reminds me of my first cat. I can't wait to read the next book.

[Christine.Darrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poisoned Petition Fpurs

Another brilliant book from Samantha Silver. She is a philosopher. I learned a lot about life that helped me to come to terms with problems in my own life. Thank you Samantha xxx

[Debra Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Enjoyable

I couldn't put this book down...I really liked the characters and the premise... Who wouldn't love a B&B in Maine? The storyline moved quickly. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

[Lorilyn Andrus · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent!!

It engaged me from the start through the last page. The characters are real and relatable. Solving the mystery involved a cat as a sounding board, totally toand come to conclusions.

[Lee Brothers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really great book and I enjoyed reading it so much!! I think I'm really gonna like this author!! She did a lot of research for this book and mostly on the relationships that people have with other people and themselves it was really interesting.

[Ann Marie Augustino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great mystery

A really good story.line. I love how all of the individual stories were told and the.manner in which the story concluded.

[lisa langford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

I was nice night I have the paranormal elements to the mystery and to have a non snarky non talking cat for a change I look forward to more books in this series

[Bonnie Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reasoning

First time author but not last time reading. Enjoyed the story line and loved the throwing in with the kitten

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seemed a little slow and draggy at points but I did like the storoyline.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good cozy mystery

I love a good mystery especially one that gives you all the clues but keeps you guessing til the end.

[Darlena D Doak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

I love the game of Clue and it is mentioned a few times as the major characters favorite. This book reminds me of some figuring out the game of Clue. Pretty good book.

[Stephen Levesque · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written and has well developed/loveable characters. Very well told story and with the strong characters makes for a very enjoyable read. Great Reading Everyone!

[Charles P. Chandler, jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicely done.

Entertaining. Well written and enjoyable to read. Looking forward to the next story in the series. A book to read just for the fun of it.

[Jan Sjostrand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good mystery

The characters were very believable and likable. The mystery kept me guessing till the end. Loved the kitten and the setting I highly recommend this book.

[Katie Storer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still 5 stars.

This is my third time around for reading this book. Unfortunately, I accidentally erased the original review.

Suffice it to say that Book 1 of The Dark and Stormy Night Mystery series still holds my same rating. The Elusive Cat Bed and Breakfast is owned by widower, Lois, and her sister, Jan. This successful B&B is doing just fine until a dead body is found on the beach. Lois is worried that this death will hurt her business. Jan is determined that this will not happen.

The characters, plot, world-building, and banter are all delightful. Each reread just keep getting better. Highly recommend.