Pudding and Poison

Detective Pudding's Cozy Mystery

De: Dana Sharp

Narrado por: Danielle Karlik

In the quaint town of Willowbrook, where smiles are as sweet as the pies in the local café, darkness lurks beneath the surface.

Amelia Brooks thought she knew her neighbors, but when tragedy strikes, she discovers that every friendly face hides a secret, and every kind word might conceal a lie.

As the community she loves begins to crumble, Amelia finds herself at the center of a mystery generations in the making. With unlikely allies by her side, she must uncover the truth hidden in Willowbrook's shadowy past. But in a town where trust is a currency and secrets are the true measure of wealth, asking questions can be deadly. And the answers? They might just change everything.

Will Amelia find the key to Willowbrook's mysteries, or will she become another secret buried in its fertile soil?

©2024 Dana Sharp (P)2024 Dana Sharp

Small town secrets

I enjoyed the story and the plot. But too many repetitive phrases and thoughts. Then after the mystery was solved it went on and on for many more chapters.

I was gifted an Audible version of this book from the author through Story Origin. The narrator does a decent job presenting the story. She could have used a little more expression in the tense moments. 4 stars for her.

Mediocre

The book is ok, but fully of redundancy and unnecessary description and conspiracies. I don’t think I’ll read more by this author or series. Narrator is very good.

A bit cheesy and disappointing

I really want to rate this story a higher star rating but it’s too difficult to do so as that would feel like a lie. There are just too many issues with this book. In the audiobook, the prelogue and prologue you can’t hear because the music is way too loud. The narrator isn’t that good and has next to no voice influxes—this makes it difficult to follow the story. There are too many instances where the author has a difficult time staying in first person point of view, even when it’s still Amelia’s perspective. It’s just sloppy. A good editor would have at least caught these issues before being published or voice recorded. The story moves way too fast and it’s like the author threw multiple books into one. More towards the end, you think the novel is finished but another chapter pops up and it feels out of place. There’s also no character development which makes the budding relationship of Amelia and Mason seem odd and out of place. Sadly, this novel needs to go back to the drawing board and refreshed.

A Charming Place

I was entertained by this story. I delighted in the small-town setting, and the quirky individuals which inhabited it. I liked Mason, Amelia, and her cat. I enjoyed the mystery. I didn't care for the multiple repetitions of the same phrases. I thought Danielle Karlik's narration was grand, and her performance enhanced my enjoyment of the story. I was given a copy of the audiobook. I volunteered, without financial gain, to post this review which reflected my honest opinions regarding this audiobook.

Don't waste your time.

This book sounds like the author vomited on the page using every trope she could think of and never went back to re-read any of what she wrote. She interchanges voice from first person to third person in the same sentence numerous times. Chapters do not flow into one another. Her main characters come across the same photo three times, but each incident is written as though it is the only time the photo has been seen. The main male character is first referenced as new to town but is then treated as though he grew up in town and knows the area. He comments at one point about what a vacation he's having. The book seems to end numerous times and the author then adds another chapter with yet another trope. There is a great deal of repetitive word and expression usage. There is also incorrect word usage e.g. "superstitiously" where surreptitiously belongs.
The reader mispronounces words throughout e.g. "acrost" for across.
Don't waste your time on this story's 40 convoluted, unedited, unrefined chapters. This was approximately 5 hours of time I can never get back.
I received a free copy of this and give my review freely.