Sweet Ginger Poison

Ginger Lightley Mystery #1

by Robert Burton Robinson

Sweet Ginger Poison is the first book of the Ginger Lightley Mystery Series. It is a "whodunit" murder mystery by the author of the Greg Tenorly Suspense Series of four Bicycle Shop Murder, Hideaway Hospital Murders, Illusion of Luck, and Fly the Rain.

SYNOPSIS
Virginia Ginger Lightley is the owner of Coreyville Coffee Cakes, a popular bakery in East Texas. Customers drive from miles away to visit the little shop for a taste of her original creations.

It's a shock to the whole community when a young man drops dead across town after eating one of her famous cakes.

The newly appointed police chief promises to solve the case quickly. And Ginger wants to help him - until he accuses one of her employees of murder.

She rejects the crime scenario laid out by the young police chief and secretly determines to solve the crime herself.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Contemporary, Mystery Thriller, Ebooks, Suspense

182 pages

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Robert Burton Robinson is the author of eleven novels and novellas, a children's picture book, a comic strip book, and fifty-four short stories.

Robert's Complete Bibliography:

Sir Liam the Brave - Liam's Wondering World series, #2 (children's picture book)

The Problem with The Three - Liam's Wondering World series, #1 (children's picture book)

Mimi & Iffy Comic Strip Collection - Vol. 1

GINGER LIGHTLEY COZY MYSTERY SERIES
Sweet Ginger Poison
Ginger Dead House
Cold Ground Ginger

Nightmares of a Novelist (Four Short Stories)
Four Steps Under (Psychological Suspense)
Deadly Commitment (Thriller)
Dream Tunnel (Kids Sci-Fi)
Rebecca Ranghorn - Texas P.I. (Mystery)

GREG TENORLY SUSPENSE SERIES
Bicycle Shop Murder
Hideaway Hospital Murders
Illusion of Luck
Fly the Rain

Robert has two bachelor's degrees (music and computer science), and has held a wide variety of jobs over the years, including fourteen years as a software engineer developing applications for Mission Control Center at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

He and his wife live in the Houston area. He enjoys spending time with family, watching movies and TV, and playing guitar, bass, and ukulele.

Reviews

[Quenya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I apologize but this will be a very small review. The reason for that is there isn’t a whole lot to say when you have a standard cozy. A senior baker sleuth, a group of eccentric friends and a drive to solve the case to save an innocent person. That sums up Sweet Ginger Poison. I liked the characters but didn’t like the supporting town characters. This book was very much a story where if the character wasn’t in the main character’s social character they were truly horrible people. I don’t mean that the writer wrote them that way but their actions were terrible so as a listener I was left not really having to root for in the book. So a standard cozy with unlikable characters pretty much sums it up. The narrator was good but some of the voices were very similar.

[Dick Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet Ginger Poison has a persistent magnetic pull rather than an urgent tractor beam. I can more often be found reading books with the latter but am glad I gave this one a chance. It is an easy and thoroughly enjoyable read. Robinson's style and content remind me somewhat of Mary Kay Andrews, whose books are also a diversionary path for me. This won't be the last of his books that I'll read.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to agree with the other reviews that there was nothing impressive in this book, but it worked will for a quick weekend read on a camping trip. Sometimes I think it is okay to read a book that does not require any additional brain power. I will say that the statement on the front cover calling this story a "murder mystery" is a bit of a strech, as a mystery actually implies some suspense and empathy for the characters. All in all, it was not a great book, but I am not too upset with wasting the couple of hours it took to read.

[Debbie "DJ" · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just couldn't finish this one. Happy I didn't get too far before I stopped. I didn't connect with any of the characters and wondered where the author was trying to go with this story.

[Shel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look out Jessica Fletcher, Ginger is on the case!

Cute and a bit comical. Ginger is a cake baking sleuth! All of the people are real characters and most everyone is a suspect.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable cozy mystery. The main character of Ginger, is a middle aged widow, who runs a bakery shop, when she becomes involved in a murder case she is determined to find out who the killer is.

[Joy Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light, fun read

This book was an easy read with comic relief. Conservative main character who owns a coffee shop and solves mysteries.

[YouKneeK · Rating 2 out of 5]

My biggest problem with this book was with the authenticity and likeability of the characters. The main character’s name is Ginger, a 61-year-old lady who owns a coffee cake shop. Ginger is, I believe, supposed to be the likeable character in the story. However, she annoyed me to no end. She reminded me of one of those people who haven’t had many life experiences of her own and who haven’t been around much diversity, but who have very definite ideas about how everybody should live their lives and are happy to tell them how to do so. It wasn’t even that I necessarily disagreed with many of her opinions, but the way she presented them made me cringe. Then I was annoyed with the characters who were on the receiving end of her advice, because they didn’t react to such poorly-presented advice in a realistic way. As far as the other characters went, it seemed like they were all stupid or evil or both.

Another smaller complaint would be the obligatory romance between Ginger and the reverend. There just wasn’t enough real interaction between them for the relationship to have any impact on me as the reader, and the attempt to create angst between them early on in the book seemed forced. This annoys me in many books, not just this one. It seems like most authors believe that every book they write must have some sort of a romance. If writing a romance isn’t their strong suit, or if it isn’t a natural progression of the story, I wish they would just leave it out and focus on the real story. A good romance can greatly enhance a good book, but a book doesn’t need a romance to be good. A poorly-done romance just drags the book down.

What about the story itself? Well, it wasn’t all that bad. It was a little contrived, but interesting enough for me to get through the book. I was always at least a little curious about what would happen next, and curious to see if any of my theories about what had happened would be proven true. Most of the information relevant to really understanding what had happened wasn’t revealed until much later in the book, which might be annoying to some, but that wasn’t really a sore point with me.

I have quite a backlog of books on my Kindle that I obtained for free back when it was “new and cool” to get free books for my Kindle and I wasn’t yet being very choosy. I believe this was one of those books. So, to offset my negative review, I would just like to add that this probably isn’t a book that I would have chosen to purchase to begin with. Nor, now that I’m being much choosier, is it one that I would have even chosen to download for free. So perhaps I just wasn’t the target audience. I like the occasional mystery, but I typically lean more toward the fantasy and science fiction genres. When it comes to mysteries, I prefer more realism and darkness.

Although it appears that this book is the first one in a series, this book stands completely on its own. So don’t be afraid to give it a try if it sounds interesting to you. You will get a complete story that does not leave you feeling obligated to continue the series if you don’t want to.

[Tricia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately I just couldn't finish this book. I didn't care about the characters and I found it ridiculous to be introduced to new people and plotlines about halfway through the book. The author is obviously trying to trick the reader, but not in an enjoyable way.

I'm not sure if it was because of reading it on a website rather than in another ebook format, but I couldn't get into the book, and ended up skipping to the end to find out who the killer was - not that I cared all that much anymore.

[Kylie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet Ginger Poison is another chick lit/detective book. A light read with likeable, but not necessarily loveable, characters, Sweet Ginger Poison is a nice time filler, but not something I would reach for again. Too short to develop any real sense of the main players, with quite a thin story line. It was an easy read, and well written, but a bit thin on the things that count.

I gave this 3 stars because I finished it without having to force myself, but I would be unlikely to pick up another book by this author.

[Lori Henrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ginger makes the best cakes in town. Everyone one loves them and a few would like to steal her recipe book. When the guy that delivers the left over cakes to the old folks home turns out to have been murdered after eating one of her cakes, Ginger decides to do some investigating on her own.

I like the characters and the story. It was entertaining and the characters were likable.

[Hillary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, honestly I did. And conceptually, I enjoyed it. But the writing, well - it didn't do it for me. I never got sucked in to the world of the characters, I was always outside looking in. Oh well. It was a satisfactory, if not truly enjoyable, diversion for an afternoon.

[Dami (Damiellar) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just couldn't connect with the events in this book. It felt a bit 'throw things in there with loose connections'. Maybe it'd firm up further down the track but I don't know if I'll explore further.

[Jeffrey Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled across this book one day and who says you can't judge a book by its cover? I loved this book! It was such a fun read with just enough mystery to keep you turning the pages until the exciting conclusion. It's the perfect book to curl up with on a cold winter evening or a lazy afternoon.

[Sandra Shanholtzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cozy mystery

Cozy mystery

cute cozy mystery. light reading, kept me guessing the motive until the end. editing was very well done. Will try to read more books by this author.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, light cozy mystery.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a little slow getting started but it kept me interested after that.

[Nancy Houston Fields · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short book about a sleepy town with a murderer on the loose.

[Norma · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book just wasn't that good.

[Kribu · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rather average "cozy" murder mystery, but the characters were engaging enough and the writing wasn't horrible.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good mystery---it took me awhile to finger out "whodunit." I'd like to read more of these mysteries.

[Theresa Sivelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick little read. A bit too predictable though and the end seemed kind of hurried. I liked the characters though. All in all it wasn't a bad book.

[Cindy Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quick read. I'm not sure the characters caught my interest enough to make me want to read future books in the series.

[Cheryl Winter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a plain Jane book. Not a mystery because you know who did it all alone just not why.

[Anne-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was on my kindle and I read it fast and furiously. Loved it, especially the description of the muffins that are the central "character" of the mystery.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're looking for a short, quick-read sort of mystery, look no further. Sweet Ginger Poison was enjoyable and easy to read, but I have to say that it didn't stand out for me as unforgettable.

[Sharon Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little old lady murder mystery, involving delicious cakes - who could want more?

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was easy reading and likeable characters. My only problem with the book is that unless you are elderly you are not too intelligent or of low morals.

[Norma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little cozy mystery. A bit predictable.

[Niki · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun quick day read