Thursday Morning Breakfast (and Murder) Club

Title: The Thursday Morning Breakfast (and Murder) Club
Author: Liz Stauffer
Publisher:Sartoris Literary Group 
Publication Date: July 2, 2013
ASIN: B00DRN5EJ4
Number of Pages: 246
How I Got It: From the Author

Goodreads Summary: 

When Clare Ballard sports a new bruise on her right cheek the day after a contentious town meeting, the ladies of the Thursday Morning Breakfast Club suspect her husband Roger of abusing her. That same day Hester Franklin, another breakfast club lady, is called to rescue her grandson Patrick after he is arrested for transporting drugs. Proclaiming his innocence, Patrick threatens that those who set him up will pay. Roger Ballard is high on his list.

But it's when Lillie Mae Harris, the club's leader, discovers the body of the local drug dealer on the nearby hiking trail, that the community is upended. Roger Ballard, the primary suspect, goes missing, and when his body turns up in his own back yard, Clare Ballard confesses to his murder. No one believes she did it, but Clare insists she's guilty and mysteriously refuses to talk to her lawyer, the police, or her family and friends.

The Thursday Morning Breakfast Club ladies believe she's protecting someone, and they vow to find out who it is. Charlie Warren, the town's homegrown policeman, using unconventional means, collaborates with the breakfast club ladies to draw out the real criminal. But danger lurks.

Alice Portman, the matriarch of the breakfast club, is struck down in her own yard and is sent to the hospital. Then others in the small community start to disappear — one after the other. As the ladies get closer to the truth, they get closer to the danger. With no time to cry over spilled coffee, they form a plan to capture the true culprits before someone else is murdered.

My Review:

The quaint Appalachian town of Mount Penn is having some not so charming occurences. Drugs, dead bodies, and dirty police cause local busy body Lillie Mae Harris to channel her inner Angela Lansbury and get to the bottom of the crimes. Her sounding board and support system are her Thursday morning breakfast ladies. The close knit group of friends keep each other abreast of all the activities in the community. Or do they? What secrets do some of Lillie Mae's closest friends keep? 

Author Liz Stauffer transports readers to a small town with big problems. She gives us an unconventional amatuer detective with Lillie Mae and shows readers the dark secrets that even the most perfect small towns can hold. If I had to choose something I didn't like about the novel, I would say that I think an aggressive editor could have helped the author tighten up some of the prose. The repetition of names and phrases was a bit distracting but Stauffer still delivered a wonderful, quick reading, cozy mystery to cuddle up with as the weather is turning colder. 

*** I received this book in exchange for an honest review ***