Review – Close Encounters of the Curd Kind: A Doyle Cozy Mystery by Kirsten Weiss

Close Encounters of the Curd Kind: A Doyle Cozy Mystery
(A Wits’ End Cozy Mystery) by Kirsten Weiss

The truth is out there…

Way out there.

Susan Witsend, owner of the best little UFO-themed B&B in the Sierras, is absolutely, positively, not going to get involved in another murder case. Not with her small-town sheriff threatening jail time if she interferes in one more investigation.

So when her neighbor is murdered, Susan exerts all her willpower to stay out of the sheriff’s business. But her neighbor’s daughter, Clare, needs Susan’s help. Clare’s been experiencing lost time, a sure sign of alien abduction. Helping Clare is only neighborly… and totally not interfering.
Right?

Worse, Clare’s not the only one with UFO issues. Weird lights in the sky, vanishing cows, and little green men are bringing the mountain town of Doyle to the edge of a panic. Can Susan unearth the truth before her town spirals into chaos?
If you like laugh-out-loud mysteries with complicated heroines (and breakfast recipes), you’ll love Close Encounters of the Curd Kind, book 3 in the Wits’ End series of cozy mystery novels. Read this twisty cozy caper today!

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My Thoughts:

Leo Review sm Susan Witsend finds herself drawn into another investigation when a retired Air Force Colonel formerly assigned to Area 51 is murdered and his daughter Claire asks for help. She fears she is being visited by aliens. Chaos ensues. How do the pieces all fit together? Missing cattle, a stolen lemon curd, an online medium (Wait, a medium in a UFO story?!?), and a public on the verge of panic with alien sightings and conspiracies. Doyle sounds like a fun place to visit, often. I am not quite sure I would want to live there. 😉

While I found the story a bit slow on the uptake, it soon picked up steam with a myriad of subplots and character arcs that came together in end, with just enough loose threads to draw me back in later. This is my first book in this series, but it read quite well with few gaps and I feel that I have gotten to know Susan and her inner circle quite well, almost like old friends. I am looking forward to more Doyle in the future.

I also found interesting the author’s note about a corresponding story in her Witches of Doyle series coming out next month. Just when you thought Doyle couldn’t get any more complicated. It is an intriguing concept and now, of course with the bit of tease in this story, I am invested.

Please come by next week when I will be hosting another stop on this tour, with a guest post titled “7 Things Every Cozy Reader Can Relate To. ” I am fairly certain just about every cozy reader will see something of themselves in this exploration of popular tropes. Don’t miss it.

About The Author:

Kirsten Weiss has never met a dessert she didn’t like, and her guilty pleasures are watching Ghost Whisperer re-runs and drinking red wine. The latter gives her heartburn, but she drinks it anyway.

Now based in San Mateo, CA, she writes genre-blending cozy mystery, supernatural and steampunk suspense, mixing her experiences and imagination to create vivid worlds of fun and enchantment.

If you like funny cozy mysteries, check out her Pie Town, Paranormal Museum and Wits’ End books. If you’re looking for some magic with your mystery, give the Witches of Doyle, Riga Hayworth, and Rocky Bridges books a try. And if you like steampunk, the Sensibility Grey series might be for you.

Kirsten sends out original short stories of mystery and magic to her mailing list. If you’d like to get them delivered straight to your inbox, make sure to sign up for her newsletter at kirstenweiss.com

Author Links – Twitter: @KirstenWeiss Facebook Blog

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