I didn't know what to expect when I began reading this novel. Ricki Fontaine, a true New Yorker, inherits a bar in the Midwest (Waterton, Ohio) after her uncle dies and leaves it to her in his will. She'd decently been divorced by a man who'd left her for another man, so, it seems, she figured, what the heck, I'll go manage this bar and see what happens.
She feels like she doesn't quite fit in when she changes some things on the menu--craft beer instead of the old cheap stuff, for example--but she retains much of the old staff, including Victor, the cook, and Ginny the waitress.
Written in first person, this novel gets right down to the nitty-gritty of Ricki's thoughts. She's snarky and witty, revealing her true New York City self. She lives in an apartment over the bar with her cat, Jasper. One day, she goes downstairs to open the place (Ricki's Top Shelf), only to discover that her ex-husband, who's now married to a man, is dead, stabbed to death with one of the knives that belongs to the bar. Readers hear her many internal questions as she calls 9-1-1, and as she has her first encounter with two Waterton detectives, one of whom she finds very attractive, the other she finds useless. She gives them each a nickname; conversely, one of them leaves looking at her as a suspect, the other knowing she's not a suspect at all.
The owner of the local newspaper jumps into the scene. He wants a scoop. He starts snooping around, asking strange questions about her late uncle. Her late ex-husband's husband from New York City comes to Waterton to be questioned about the murder. He's an attractive gay man who fits right into the bar scene and helps Ricki and her employees as they do their day-to-day business. Business booms as the locals want to visit the bar where the murder took place.
The plot takes many more turns, and I don't want to reveal where the novel goes. Suffice it to say that many surprises jump out as I read it, and the sarcastic remarks from Ricki's internal monologues enhance every incident. She continues flirting not only with one detective, Gabriel Russell (whom she's nicknamed "Eyebrows," based on his sexy eyebrows), but also with the owner of the newspaper, Logan Russell. Tension arises between the two of them throughout the novel, not only over Ricki, but over several other things that occur.
I'm not usually a big mystery fan; however, I immediately loved Ricki the character and her sarcastic wit, her inner monologues about what was happening around her, her ability to handle people and guess (not always successfully) what would happen next. She's a fighter, a survivor, a bold, intense woman, but someone with a sense of humor when things don't go her way. Whether confronting New York City mobsters, running out of liquor in the bar, dealing with conspiracy theories, or sorting out matters of the heart, Ricki's got it under control. She may not believe it all the time, but she's got it.
This is a fun, unpredictable book, and I simply love this writer's style. Go, Ricki, go!
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Lots of action and some laughs along with some twists and turns.
Once again I read the second in the series before the first. At least I can honestly say that either can be read as stand alone! Of course it is always wise to read any series in order since you will understand more fully what is happening with the recurring characters. Ricki left her hum drum life in New York when her uncle died and left her a bar in a small town. When he ran the bar it was notorious--she was turning it around and wasn't doing too badly. Then she found her ex-husband dead on one of the bar stools--The doors had been been locked--so how had he gotten in--and who killed him? And would it hurt her business? Much more happens--and lots of action and some laughs along with some twists and turns. You will have to read this book this find out!
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- Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2020
- Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2018
Top reviews from other countries
- Mags GoodenReviewed in Canada on February 11, 2019
A perfectly cozy murder mystery for a cold winters day
