Assault and Batter

Donut Shop Mysteries #11

by Jessica Beck

When Emily Hargraves tells Suzanne that she's marrying Max, her ex-husband, Suzanne is happy enough for her, but when Jude Williams, one of Emily's old flames, decides to light the ceremony up, someone decides to extinguish his flame before he can act. Was it Max, the groom-to-be; Peter, his best man; Lisa, the woman Jude had been dating; her jealous husband, Frank; or perhaps it was Reggie Nance, a man who had reasons of his own to want to see Jude dead? Suzanne and Grace must act quickly and solve the murder before someone else ends up missing the reception, permanently.

Genres: Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Cozy, Mystery Thriller, Romance, Ebooks

196 pages, Paperback

First published October 19, 2013

About the author

Jessica Beck is a pseudonym used by
Tim Myers.
Jessica Beck is the penname of an author who has been nominated for the Agatha Award and named an Independent Mystery Booksellers Association national bestseller nearly a dozen times.

Jessica Beck loves donuts, and has the figure to prove it. It's amazing what people can convince themselves is all in the name of research! For each recipe featured in the donut mysteries, a dozen more are tried and tested.

When not concocting delicious treats, Beck enjoys the rare snowfalls near her home in the foothills of North Carolina.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/jessic...

Reviews

[Anastasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Assault and Batter by Jessica Beck is book 11 in the Donut mysteries series.Emily and Max are getting married but the procedings are put on hold when Emily's ex boyfriend turns up dead. A typical cozy mystery although Suzanne comes across as meddlesome with a high opinion of her sleuthing abilities and inconsiderate of the danger she puts on others. The donuts sound awesome though and recipes are included.

[Nicholas George · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay mystery, enjoyable characters, nice romantic subplot. Easy-going, nothing special.

[Luffy Sempai · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series is on its last legs. Parts of the decision making of the amateur sleuths here read like an unfunny rigmarole or a madlib. The events that the author tried to foist on us readers to shake us up never took off and were never going to fly. Ugh! I'm happy I'm taking a big break from cozy mysteries. This genre behaves just like the Young Adult genre, insomuch that sequels depreciate exponentially. Just for the record, if only the author had ceased trying to tug at our heartstrings and tried to be lighthearted I would have bought into the premise. The shortest book of this series is also quite the weakest. The heroine , Suzanne, displayed quite a mean streak, which I noticed and believe the author never did. Avoid at all costs.

[Gale Penton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

Another great cozy with great characters and plot. I love Suzanne and Jake and Grace. Love this series. Will continue reading it

[Jennifer Oberth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 11th Donut Mystery. What can I say? If you've read any of the others (or my reviews of them), you know what to expect. Doughnuts, ridiculousness, eye rolls, irritation, and I'll admit it - a little bit of fun.

[Mary (Biblophile) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series is getting old. Suzanne has never been one of my favorite characters, but she really gets on my nerves anymore with her know-it-all bullying attitude. She talks about how that "isn't the way I run my investigation." Did she forget she makes donuts for a living? The little remorse she shows for some of the fallout from her "investigations" didn't last too long. The mystery wasn't all that hard to solve. Time to wind this series up.

[Deb Sharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Assault and Batter (Donut Shop Mysteries Book 11 )

As I'm such a big donut lover, I always enjoy reading books in this wonderful series. I was surprised by the outcome of the book, I had suspected this person, then I had changed my mind. I will be starting the next book in the series tonight.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly, I think I'm finished with this series. I've always though that Suzanne was a bit on the "holier than thou" side, a bit of a know-it-all, and this book put heavy emphasis on those traits, in my opinion. I couldn't stand the way she berated her best friend Grace, as if she were a small child!

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has been a few years since I checked in with this series, but I had no problem remembering the characters and jumping right back into their storylines. This is definitely considered an incredibly light, mindless cozy. It’s a short book. The chapters are only a few pages long so it was the perfect quick story to keep in my car this past month. I slowly read through it each afternoon while sitting in the school pickup line.

I’ve always enjoyed the activity at this quaint donut shop. Watching Suzanne wake up early to start her workday, brainstorming interesting new flavors and handing out unsold donuts as a way to interrogate people for clues makes for a great themed setting. I appreciate the fact that she is an amateur sleuth, yet she also works very hard at her business and doesn’t just dump her responsibilities on others. The descriptions will surely leave you craving a sweet treat. The book even includes a couple recipes.

My favorite character is Suzanne’s bestie, Grace. The pair had some fun encounters as they tried to solve a local murder. I was a tad bummed with the ending involving Jake. It would have been interesting to see Suzanne leave town, at least for one book.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 11th book in the series. Suzanne’s friend Emily is getting married to Suzanne’s ex and has asked her to be her maid of honor. Although she agrees to do it, she feels awkward, especially when she finds out that Jude, a mischief maker, is going to be Max’s best man. When a dead body turns up, Suzanne cannot resist investigating, even though it may cause trouble. On a personal side, her relationship with Jake seems to be in trouble and she is not sure what to do. The book contains several recipes at the back.

[Alabama Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weddings tend to bring out the best and worst of things in people.
Two of Suzanne’s close acquaintances decide rather quickly to get married and she gets dragged into the middle of the ceremony. The only thing quicker than trying to organize this unexpected wedding is the speed in which someone returns to town and then is suddenly found dead and Suzanne is forced to consider which is more important; her friendships or finding who the real killer is- no matter whose feeling get hurt along the way.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boy, I wasn't sure if I was going to like what happened in this one, but it all worked out in the end.
Suzanne and Grace, along with help from Momma's great cooking, are a great team!
Enjoy!
The author tells about using less recipes and shortening the story and why. I think she chose well. The book is very well written and I don't miss the extra recipes.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh the donut mysteries. Quick, mindless, and fun. You know what I like most about them? They are easy on the mind. They don’t require much thought. Don't require any heavy theme interpretation. The writing is not earth shattering, but having come off a streak of some pretty heavy themed 800-1000 page epics: This is just a nice refreshing change of pace.

[Jeanie Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had me thoroughly engrossed in the story.

Like Jake says to Suzanne = everyone is capable of murder - depends on the circumstances.

Suzanne finds this out when confronted by a killer who has her Momma hostage.

Very good read, villian totally unsuspected.

[Nancy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Number 11 in the Donut Mysteries, this cozy is good, quick, and easy to read, and of course, makes you want to eat donuts while you are reading!

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the format changes

[Libby]

(E-Lib) I guess this series is growing on me. Maybe I like it better since the author made the changes she outlined at the end. Good for her for listening to her readers.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of the best. Suzanne was being kind of a bully in this one. A lot of mistakes in the book.

[Jan Sjostrand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series and the characters.

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love each of these books! Another mystery to solve.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author noted in the back that readers commented that her books were too long so she cut a bunch out. If that's the case, it didn't affect the story. Another quick read that I enjoyed.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suzanne has been asked to be maid of honor in her ex-husband's wedding, to one of her friends. The plans for the wedding are moving very fast and people are showing up in town that Suzanne does not view favorably. One is Jude, Gabe's nephew, her last living relative. He starts trouble and someone decides to finish it, but who could that be. There are many suspects and she sets a goal of finding the killer before the wedding, so there aren't any clouds over it.

[Lauren D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this was a good Jessica Beck book by far. I like the fact that they changed up Suzanne's relationship a little bit where Jake had to basically move across country for his job all in the mist of her trying to solve a murder. A murder that involved one of her good friends and her ex-husband who was going to marry that friend. I thought that they were getting married too fast but I'm glad that the author thought that as well. I was also surprised to see killer was because I actually thought she was being blackmailed by the killer but in the end she was just someone that was a scorned woman. Since this book is much older I can pretty much just say you did or did not do it but I'm not sure how much more of the Jessica Beck books I can read because the relationship with Suzanne and Jake is progressing way too slow and the character is not developing enough for me. It also seems to that they're making one of the characters Gabby almost like a bully in a way where is Suzanne feels that she can just go ahead and vest and investigate murders without having a bad. It's almost like she's getting too confident and now the police chief even though he's dating her mother is fine with her investigating these murders. It's basically like you saying I can't stop her because she's going to do it anyway so I might as well work with her and share some information. I don't know this is only book 11 I'm going to start Book 12 tonight but we'll see how it goes.

[Kelly Rudich · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like this book who change the lives of several characters and move the town along. But in the end, nope. The relationships still drag on as though they are in high school. The murder plot was ok. I felt a lot of emphasis was placed on Suzanne disciplining her friend Grace every time they talked to a murder suspect. Suzanne often comes across as stern, judgmental, and a bully. I like the series and will continue to read them, but I read them for the mystery, not to connect with the main character.

[Cindy Friend · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would rate this book a 2.5 (I still haven't figured out how to rate a half-star on GoodReads).

While a cozy donut shop mystery is always a pleasant diversion, Jessica Beck's books are simply too predictable to hold my interest. I find my mind wandering while I am reading her books. However, since I bought this series I feel compelled to finish reading them. I may have to take a break between books to read something meatier though.

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

2013-11-05. I enjoyed this although do struggle a bit by her inconsistencies, such as being so loyal to her friends and wanting to solve it before the wedding then turning around and essentially accusing a friend of murder. Motive was a surprise although suspect not so much. Good read.

[Kristie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this was one of the best books in the series. I have to wonder if Suzanne is close to giving up sleuthing. She was worried about something happening to someone she loves during her investigations and in this book, it came close to happening. I am looking forward to reading the next book!

[Jaimie O'Dell · Rating 3 out of 5]

not my favorite of the series bit I enjoyed it. can't wait for the next one!

[Glenn Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fine entry in the Donut Shop mystery series. This time Suzanne and Grace must find a murderer in order to save a wedding.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series and even though she has scaled back the size of the book, he suspense still remains. This was a good book and I was somewhat surprised with the end.