The Rocky Road to Ruin by Meri Allen
Series Name: Ice Cream Shop Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: July 27, 2021
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Justice will be swirled by amateur sleuth Riley Rhodes in the first in Meri Allen’s brand-new mystery series, The Rocky Road to Ruin!

Riley Rhodes, travel food blogger and librarian at the CIA, makes a bittersweet return to her childhood home of Penniman, Connecticut – land of dairy farms and covered bridges – for a funeral. Despite the circumstances, Riley’s trip home is sprinkled with reunions with old friends, visits to her father’s cozy bookshop on the town green, and joyful hours behind the counter at the beloved Udderly Delicious Ice Cream Shop. It feels like a time to help her friend Caroline rebuild after her mother’s death, and for Riley to do a bit of her own reflecting after a botched undercover mission in Italy. After all, it’s always good to be home.

But Caroline and her brother Mike have to decide what to do with the assets they’ve inherited – the ice cream shop as well as the farm they grew up on – and they’ve never seen eye to eye. Trouble begins to swirl as Riley is spooked by reports of a stranger camping behind the farm and by the odd behavior of the shop’s mascot, Caroline’s snooty Persian, Sprinkles. When Mike turns up dead in the barn the morning after the funeral, the peace and quiet of Penniman seems upended for good. Can Riley find the killer before another body gets scooped?

Dru’s Short Musing:
This was an adorable fast-paced and well-written debut with a comfortable tone making it easy to follow along with what the author intended. The mystery was nicely executed with bits and pieces everywhere, secrets exposed, and the search for a killer that kept me engrossed in all that was happening. Meeting the eccentric cast of characters whose idiosyncrasies lent itself to the story being told catered to what I love in a cozy. The small-town atmosphere was the perfect backdrop in this multi-plot drama. A snooty feline made her presence known and it was fun to see how she ruled her humans. This was a deliciously entertaining new series and I look forward to more adventures with Riley and her friends.

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.