Trying to escape her overbearing mother, vintage kitchenware enthusiast and soon-to-be columnist Jaymie Leighton retreats to her family’s cottage on Heartbreak Island. While there she hopes to write an article about the Ice House restaurant, owned by good friends and neighbors, siblings Ruby and Garnet Redmond. Once an actual icehouse, the restaurant is charmingly decorated with antique tools of the trade, including a collection of ice picks.
One night, while working on her article, Jaymie overhears an argument and, ever the sleuth, sets out to explore. But when she stumbles upon a dead body her blood runs cold. It’s Urban Dobrinskie, whose feud with the Redmonds is no secret, and he’s got an ice pick through his heart. Now Jaymie’s got to sharpen her sleuthing skills to chip away at the mystery and prove her neighbors’ innocence—before someone else gets picked off…
My Thoughts :
Before I start this review I have to apologise to the lovely publishers who gave me this copy to review. It has been months since I got this one and it has been sitting on my to be read pile for so long because this wasn't the first in the series! I was so eager to try this one that I didn't realise that this was the third book and I have spent the months trying to get copies of the first two (not too hard but on a budget) and obviously reading (also not hard but too many books and not enough time!). I feel really bad about it but I am glad I took the time to read the previous two books because otherwise I wouldn't have understood the on-going story and of course it would have ruined the first two books if I had started with this third installment.
The story in this third installment in the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries was as wonderful and well thought out as the previous two. Jaymie's amateur sleuthing gets her deeper and deeper into the investigation and manages to get her into a lot of trouble. However it also opens up the character base and location with more people being introduced into Jaymie's life and more area being covered while she is living on the the island.
There were some interesting developments in Jaymie's life in this book. As she tries to solve the newest murder she manages to get herself involved with she is also juggling a few private matters. Her parent's being around causes some problems and Daniel's parents being around causes even more. Her run ins with Detective Zack are getting to be slightly awkward and her boyfriend Daniel starts to show his real colours. Meanwhile Jaymie is busy trying to make herself well known as a cookery writer and her neighbours are dealing with some health problems. So there is more than one mystery to read about in Freezer I'll Shoot and it is definitely a good idea to start this series at the beginning.
While it wasn't easy to solve the crime, Jaymie manages to get to the bottom of everything by the end of the book. I was there with her all the way and have to say it wasn't easy work. There were a few twists I saw coming but other than that the mystery was just that. A mystery. The gossip, snooping and general nosiness of all involved is a great way to get clues and this small community really has enough people willing to open up to Jaymie and help her solve the crime even if they don't realise it.
This time around I found myself annoyed by Daniel and obviously his parents. I am not sure that this is the right guy for Jaymie and I would love to see things advance between her and the lovely detective. Also something that keeps bugging me in these books is Jaymie's young naive attitude. She is supposed to be in her early thirties but she comes across as a girl in her early twenties or sometimes even a teenager. I hope she gets around to growing up some more and acting her age.
All in all I am really enjoying this series and I am definitely going to continue reading about Jaymie's adventures. Victoria Hamilton is a great cozy mystery writer who really builds up a great location filled with loads of interesting facts, people and history. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next and may even have to pre-order the next book. I am quite addicted.
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