The Crêpes of Wrath by Sarah Fox is the first book in the NEW “Pancake House” mystery series. Publisher: Alibi/Random House, August 2016

In the debut of a delightful cozy mystery series, Sarah Fox introduces a charming new heroine who finds herself in a sticky situation: stacking pancakes, pouring coffee, and investigating murder.

When Marley McKinney’s aging cousin, Jimmy, is hospitalized with pneumonia, she agrees to help run his pancake house while he recovers. With its rustic interior and syrupy scent, the Flip Side Pancake House is just as she pictured it—and the surly chef is a wizard with crêpes. Marley expects to spend a leisurely week or two in Wildwood Cove, the quaint, coastal community where she used to spend her summers, but then Cousin Jimmy is found murdered, sprawled on the rocks beneath a nearby cliff.

After she stumbles across evidence of stolen goods in Jimmy’s workshop, Marley is determined to find out what’s really going on in the not-so-quiet town of Wildwood Cove. With help from her childhood crush and her adopted cat, Flapjack, Marley sinks her teeth into the investigation. But if she’s not careful, she’s going to get burned by a killer who’s only interested in serving up trouble.

Bonus content: includes original recipes inspired by the Flip Side Pancake House menu!

I enjoyed this debut novel from Sarah Fox. Marley gets involved in a murder investigation when her cousin Jimmy is found dead and one of her employees becomes a prime suspect. Little things get noticed by Marley when she questions what is around her and soon her life is threatened as her inquisitiveness puts her in the crosshairs of the killer.

I like the comfortable tone and the pacing in how this light whodunit was told. The mystery grabbed my attention immediately and I couldn’t put this book down until it was all over. The narrative gave me enough to visually place myself in the middle of all the action as Marley seeks clues from the various suspects introduced in this multi-plot story. From Marley’s running the Pancake House to finding disappearing artwork to suspicion about nefarious doings to finding new and old friends created an entertaining read. With a lovable cast of characters, engaging dialogue and a nice backdrop of a small town, I look forward to the next book in this friendly and likable new series.