[AVS]≡ Download On the Chopping Block A Callie Kitchen Cozy Mystery Book 1 edition by Jenny Kales Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks

On the Chopping Block A Callie Kitchen Cozy Mystery Book 1 edition by Jenny Kales Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks

Download As PDF : On the Chopping Block A Callie Kitchen Cozy Mystery Book 1 edition by Jenny Kales Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks

On the Chopping Block A Callie Kitchen Cozy Mystery Book 1 edition by Jenny Kales Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks

On The Chopping Block
A Callie’s Kitchen Mystery, Book #1
Jenny Kales
5 Stars

Synopsis:

Building a small business has been murder, but Callie Costas didn’t expect to be confronted with an actual body. The 36-year-old Greek-American proprietor of “Callie's Kitchen,” a meals-from-scratch business in an idyllic small town, has been busy creating a post-divorce life for herself, her young daughter and her Yorkie, Koukla. After a lot of hard work (including staving off her father’s continual advice), she’s got the locals and tourists clamoring for her delicious Mediterranean dishes and Midwest comfort food classics. Recently, she’s started a budding romance with a fellow foodie, the wealthy owner and chef of Crystal Bay’s most popular bistro.

However, success is as fleeting as one of Wisconsin’s glorious autumn days. As local businesses begin to shut down due to a slow economy, Callie is struggling not to become another statistic. A contest with a hefty cash prize seems like the perfect chance to fix her financial woes, until a shocking murder threatens not only her livelihood – but her life.

When she’s targeted as a prime suspect by an attractive expat British detective, Callie’s situation becomes more delicate than her Greek egg-lemon soup. She’s got to find the killer and fast if she wants to protect her daughter, save her business and stay alive. (Goodreads)

Review:

Callie Costas has finally achieved her dream of owning her own restaurant. After divorcing her husband she knows that she has to make a new life for her and her daughter and she takes a chance when she opens Callie’s Kitchen. But so far the chance has paid off and the restaurant is doing good, She has even found a new love interest and things are looking up. That is until she finds the body of her boyfriend dead on his kitchen floor. When she finds herself being the main person of interest, she knows she has to take things into her own hands. She has to find the killer herself so that her daughter does not lose her mother to a jail call.

The characters are well developed, well rounded and three dimensional. Callie is a hard worker and is not afraid of very much. Except her father!! She does not want to share her personal life with him and she does not tell her father about her new boyfriend. She does not want to get lectured by him. She has already defied him once when she open Callie’s Kitchen. She does not want to do anything else to upset him. I thought it was amusing she was scared of her father’s wrath. But you can tell they have a special relationship and that they love each other a lot.

I found it refreshing that Callie was older and had a child. In many of the cozies I read, the protagonist is younger with a core group of friends. In this book, Callie is more mature at the age of thirty six and does not take unnecessary chances with her safety.

The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an fast easy read. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and while reading the book I felt like I was right there in the middle of the action. The mystery is carried on well throughout the entire book. There were enough suspects and twists and turns that I was kept guessing the whole time I was reading.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy. I really enjoyed this first book in the series and thought it was a great start. I cannot wait to read the next book and see what happens next in Callie’s life.


Tags : On the Chopping Block (A Callie's Kitchen Cozy Mystery Book 1) - Kindle edition by Jenny Kales. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading On the Chopping Block (A Callie's Kitchen Cozy Mystery Book 1).,ebook,Jenny Kales,On the Chopping Block (A Callie's Kitchen Cozy Mystery Book 1),Fiction Mystery & Detective Cozy,Fiction Mystery & Detective Women Sleuths

On the Chopping Block A Callie Kitchen Cozy Mystery Book 1 edition by Jenny Kales Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks Reviews

Dollycas’s Thoughts

As soon as I saw this book was set in Wisconsin I added it to my reading list. I also love watching the show Chopped in all its forms on the Food Network, so knowing a Chopped type competition was a catalyst in this story didn’t hurt either. I wish the actual contest had been part of the story.

Callie Costas was raised by her father and was expected to take over his restaurant when he retired, but she decided to venture out on her own and open “Callie’s Kitchen”. Her business was doing o.k. but if she had won the local Chopped Challenge she would have been able to add more staff and upgrade a few things. Her divorce was amicable for the most part, and her daughter is growing up fast. She also has a little Yorkie to snuggle with, but maybe it was time to start dating and find a man to snuggle up with. Enter Drew, another restaurant owner, and winner of the Chopped contest. They finally have time for a real date – at his house – with him cooking her dinner – to celebrate his win. She never thought the night would be ruined by a murder and her being in a detective’s sights as a prime suspect. Before anyone else gets CHOPPED, including herself, she is going to start her own search for the killer.

This was a fun read for me on so many levels. My parents used to run a restaurant much like Callie’s and the first thing I noticed was that girl needs more staff, especially if she is going to leave so much on her “errands”. Max is a great worker but they are going to burn themselves out quickly. The food they make, especially the little coffee cakes, almost had me drooling all over my .

The characters were all very realistic. Even Detective Sands with his yummy British accent. Callie is surrounded by people that love her and want her to succeed even as her business dwindles because she is suspected of murder. I really like that she is a woman my age and following her dreams. All of the characters are very well developed and engaging but I know there is so much more to tell. I want to get to know them better.

Wisconsin is beautiful in the fall and fictional Crystal Bay, said to somewhere in the Lake Geneva area, is wonderfully portrayed. The leaves changing their color, the weather getting cooler, a time that is already getting to close to happening in real life here this year. I am a summer girl at heart.

The mystery went in a whole different direction that I had not expected and when I saw where it was headed I thought I had it pinned down to one or two individuals. It all came together for me before it did for Callie, but that big climatic scene when she figured it out had me on the edge of my seat. After that story ended by putting a huge smile on my face.

This series is off to an excellent start. While I hate to see the crime rate of Crystal Bay rise, I can’t wait to return there for another visit soon.
Sometimes a genre book pops up onto your Facebook by an author you follow and you see that their spanakopita recipe is in the book and it is FREE! I rushed to buy On the Chopping Block by Jenny Kales. I had a couple books before I started but seemingly big brother knew I had bought a Jenny Kales book and she was all over my social media and all I wanted was to visit Crystal Bay and meet Callie Costas.
As with all self published books I think that there is a certain level of is this edited and formatted correctly because we have all seen the doozy ones. Let me tell you this Jenny Kales is a fantastic author and everything looks amazing. This book was a breath of fresh air in the cozy scene. Not only was I in love with all of the characters at the beginning but this book starts with the murder and you are already sympathetic to the murdered victim. Jenny Kales thanks her cover artist at the end and if you look at the covers of her three books they are stunning and even look better then some of the covers coming out now. Also her printed copies are very affordable and look equally as gorgeous. I might just have to invest in them. I am so excited to continue this series and see what else Callie is capable of!
On The Chopping Block
A Callie’s Kitchen Mystery, Book #1
Jenny Kales
5 Stars

Synopsis

Building a small business has been murder, but Callie Costas didn’t expect to be confronted with an actual body. The 36-year-old Greek-American proprietor of “Callie's Kitchen,” a meals-from-scratch business in an idyllic small town, has been busy creating a post-divorce life for herself, her young daughter and her Yorkie, Koukla. After a lot of hard work (including staving off her father’s continual advice), she’s got the locals and tourists clamoring for her delicious Mediterranean dishes and Midwest comfort food classics. Recently, she’s started a budding romance with a fellow foodie, the wealthy owner and chef of Crystal Bay’s most popular bistro.

However, success is as fleeting as one of Wisconsin’s glorious autumn days. As local businesses begin to shut down due to a slow economy, Callie is struggling not to become another statistic. A contest with a hefty cash prize seems like the perfect chance to fix her financial woes, until a shocking murder threatens not only her livelihood – but her life.

When she’s targeted as a prime suspect by an attractive expat British detective, Callie’s situation becomes more delicate than her Greek egg-lemon soup. She’s got to find the killer and fast if she wants to protect her daughter, save her business and stay alive. (Goodreads)

Review

Callie Costas has finally achieved her dream of owning her own restaurant. After divorcing her husband she knows that she has to make a new life for her and her daughter and she takes a chance when she opens Callie’s Kitchen. But so far the chance has paid off and the restaurant is doing good, She has even found a new love interest and things are looking up. That is until she finds the body of her boyfriend dead on his kitchen floor. When she finds herself being the main person of interest, she knows she has to take things into her own hands. She has to find the killer herself so that her daughter does not lose her mother to a jail call.

The characters are well developed, well rounded and three dimensional. Callie is a hard worker and is not afraid of very much. Except her father!! She does not want to share her personal life with him and she does not tell her father about her new boyfriend. She does not want to get lectured by him. She has already defied him once when she open Callie’s Kitchen. She does not want to do anything else to upset him. I thought it was amusing she was scared of her father’s wrath. But you can tell they have a special relationship and that they love each other a lot.

I found it refreshing that Callie was older and had a child. In many of the cozies I read, the protagonist is younger with a core group of friends. In this book, Callie is more mature at the age of thirty six and does not take unnecessary chances with her safety.

The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an fast easy read. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and while reading the book I felt like I was right there in the middle of the action. The mystery is carried on well throughout the entire book. There were enough suspects and twists and turns that I was kept guessing the whole time I was reading.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy. I really enjoyed this first book in the series and thought it was a great start. I cannot wait to read the next book and see what happens next in Callie’s life.