Ready, Set, READ. . .July 2012

 Jenny from Jessie Street Designs and Kadie from Seven Alive are running a fun series each month called Ready, Set, Read. . . !  Each person who participates links up and shares a book they have read that month.  For July I chose a nice, light summer read called A Deadly Grind by Victoria Hamilton.  This is the first in a new series of Cozy Vintage Kitchen Mysteries.

This book is the first in a series of Vintage Kitchen Mysteries.  Jaymie Leighton is the vintage cookware and cookbook loving collector who ends up trying to solve the mystery of the man who is murdered on her summer porch following her purchase of an antique Hoosier cabinet at auction.  Despite her older sister Rebecca's lack of confidence in her, Jaymie manages to move on from a broken heart over an ex-boyfriend, help out several neighbors in need and find time to pursuer her dream of having her cookbook published, all the time trying to figure out why the murder that took place on her porch happened and who the victim is!

This is a delightful story, with well written characters and a good plot.  If you happen to like vintage kitchen items you will love Jaymie, who collects all things vintage.  But even if you aren't a collector, you will be drawn in by the author's writing and her development of each of the characters, even the lesser ones.  Ms. Hamilton creates a wonderful small town that makes you wish you could visit and get to know all the locals.  As you progress further into the story you genuinely care about the people involved and want to know more.  Most importantly for a mystery, you are truly guessing right up until the end as to the identity of the murderer and the reason for the crime!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am eagerly awaiting the next installment.  I am interested to see what happens with the budding relationship between Jaymie and her new love interest Daniel, as well as to hear more exploits of Jaymie's trusty three-legged Yorkie-Poo, Hopalong.

I always enjoy finding an author who can create characters that make me care about them and want to return to their world and see what happens next. Ms. Hamilton has done just that, in a vastly entertaining story that had me staying up each night wanting to see what happened next!

If you enjoy good writing, funny, interesting and quirky characters, and a good dose of whodunit mystery, you will love this first book in the Vintage Kitchen Mystery Series.