What do you serve when all you have in the freezer is an ice-cold corpse?
JJ MacGregor and her best friend Kitty Padgett struggle to hold the Pismawallops PTA together, and new volunteer Letitia LeMoine isn’t making it any easier. But when Letitia’s strangled corpse turns up where the ice cream bars should have been, things get a whole lot worse. JJ has to shoehorn in a search for the killer along with all her other problems: divorce, a 15-year-old son with his first girlfriend, a desperate race to complete the Yearbook on time, and her own tendency to get all wobbly-kneed around the Chief of Police. JJ just can’t help asking a few questions. But a loud mouth and insatiable curiosity can be a dangerous combination. Especially when someone wants her stopped.
Rebecca M. Douglass has lived in Idaho, Arizona, California, and Washington, and now lives and writes in the Seattle area. Her imagination resides where it pleases, in and out of this world. Her passions include backpacking, hiking, books, and moderately adventurous travel, especially when shared with good friends and family. Douglass is the author of the delightful Ninja Librarian books for children, and the Pismawallops PTA cozy mysteries for adults, and the new Seffi Wardwell Mystery series. After more than seventeen years working at the her local library and volunteering her time in the schools, she has retired to concentrate on reading, writing and travel.
"That woman was a plague on our island, phony as anything, and whatever she got I'm willing to bet she deserved it."
Oh, how I love it when someone despicable is murdered, someone that EVERYONE hates, and how EVERYONE is suddenly a potential suspect.
I gave up on cozy mysteries years ago, but I used to be a big fan of the genre. I read whodunnits where the sleuth was a hairdresser, a caterer, a home repair goddess, a dog groomer...all plucky gals who had no business solving crimes, yet that's exactly what they did in book after book after book. And after a while, they all started to seem a little stale. It took a story written by one of my favorite Goodreads friends to coax me into picking up a cozy again.
And I enjoyed this one. Rebecca's wonderful sense of humor helps distinguish this one from the others. Her main character, J.J., is a delight; she is slightly sarcastic and far from being a "perfect" person. In addition to sifting through the mile-long list of suspects, she also gets to deal with her teenage son's raging hormones and maybe a little hormone-action of her own when she enters into a budding romance. Or maybe I just like her because we had the same reaction when the body is discovered
This was a well written, deliciously fun tale that features likable characters, good pacing and an excellent payoff at the end.
The only drawback to this book?
The characters consume FAR TOO MANY espresso brownies. Now, I'm hooked.
Meetings of the High School PTA would have been as relaxed and enjoyable as life on the rest of Pismawallops Island, on Puget Sound, were it not for the shenanigans that follow Letitia LeMoine everywhere she goes. So when the JJ MacGregor’s son is one of the kids who find Letitia's dead body stuffed in the school freezer, everyone has a motive, but JJ has more than that – since the murder weapon appears to be her scarf.
One of the things I dislike about cosy mysteries is the way well-meaning civilians trample over police evidence and butt in when they should leave it to the pros. Rebecca Douglass has solved both those problems by providing a law officer in desperate need of help, and the evidence right in front of everyone’s noses with little need for trampling.
This is a well constructed mystery with plenty of pressure points: an estranged husband wanting a divorce, and the deadline for the school yearbook, necessarily abandoned by the deceased, who appears to have done nothing about it despite meddling in everybody else’s business. The kids are engaged to help sort it out which gives the adults suitable assistance when it comes to all matters computerised. I loved the way whole families got involved – a story not just of the protagonist but of a beautifully drawn community.
The reader is carried along with JJ MacGregor’s investigation, and is engrossed in the tour of the island and the tensions emerging as the story unfolds. There are delightful character sketches, believable teenagers, realistic confrontations – and a hot cop! The tension builds as still more problems are thrown at JJ, and this reader empathised with her all the way. The author cleverly reveals whodunnit to the canny reader just as JJ gets drawn into the trap, heightening the nerve-jangling finish!
It’s an excellent story, beautifully told. Full marks to Ms Douglass – more please!
I received an ARC from the author in return for my honest review.
This is a charming mystery read. The book follows the adventures of JJ a sarcastic and temperamental mother that has become one of the mainstays of the Pismawallops PTA. JJ tries to get to the bottom of the murder of Letitia LeMoine un-affectionately known as Ms. Loudmouth.
This is a delightful read, and answers important and pondering questions like: Who in a small town of well-known people would commit such an atrocity?
Why was Ms. Loudmouth such a b… bad person to deal with?
What kind of crazy hurdles does Ron have to do, to get JJ in a good mood?
What the heck did they do with all that ice-cream?
It also leaves one important question unanswered:
Where can I go to get an espresso brownie? Really, they sound great.
This was a fun read. The flow was very smooth and kept you on the page. This story was a well written, and worth checking out.
The cold-hearted pushy new PTA volunteer has been frozen out, having been found by some high school kids in the PTA's ice-cream freezer in place of the ice cream that should be there for the weekly fundraising sale at the Orcaville School on Pismawallops Island.
Since the Island can only be reached by a substantial ferry ride, the suspicion naturally falls first on all the local people whose dislike of the victim is well known. There are many plot shifts and plenty of people who might have had a motive for the murder. I never lost interest at any point in this book, and I read it in one sitting.
I liked the writing and the characters in this story, and I hope to see its sequel soon. The police investigator is an islander, but the focus is often more on the perspectives of the female lead, her friends, and their high school children, who all contribute to what the reader learns about this case.
I liked that the PTA leaders are women [and one man] in their mid-to-late forties and that most of their children are portrayed very positively. Saying any more might be a spoiler, which I hate reading in reviews.
I put this book on my "almost cozy" shelf, since there are very brief references to inappropriate sexual contact, and readers who prefer to avoid this topic at all costs should be aware.
For me, the quality of the writing and my own engagement with the major characters in this story provided a more than satsifactory mystery read. The author does not sensationalize any facet of the situations that arise in the course of the unfolding investigation; she writes about a murder with the appropriate horror of such an event happening at the local school.
Yet the book's focus is also on the living and the reader gets to see what is happening in various people's lives, including things that are not public knowledge, even to their friends. Nothing and no one is as uncomplicated as they seem. Some jump to conclusions without evidence, as they do and say things that they shouldn't. In other words, this book reads like a story about real people in a frightening situation.
I highly recommend this book, and I'm grateful to the author for providing me an advance copy [which I read on my Kindle] in exchange for my honest review.
JJ is outspoken and snarky, and her running commentary on her life is hilarious. But all is not well in this cozy whodunnit mystery when a dead body shows up in the school’s ice cream case, strangled with JJ’s scarf. JJ’s a suspect, a parent, and an amateur sleuth who can’t keep her nose out of the handsome sheriff’s investigation. She’s also a member of the PTA, suddenly saddled with getting the yearbook done… and all the photos are missing. Add to that, she’s a single mom negotiating a divorce who’s sworn off men… except that the sheriff has her imagination running on overdrive. And I should mention that someone wants her out of the picture.
This book has a lot going on, and JJ is in the thick of it. She’s a great character, extremely likable with a sharp wit, a wry perspective, and a big heart despite all the snarkiness. Secondary characters are equally engaging, with distinct personalities. JJ’s best friend Kitty is the perfect sidekick, and I loved the non-romance romance with the sheriff, Ron.
The pace moves quickly, clues are dropped along the way, and they tie up beautifully in the end, which I thoroughly enjoyed. There are plenty of threads to this mystery, and I didn’t know who the murderer was until the reveal. It wrapped up with a nice twist too. Highly recommended to readers who enjoy cozy murder mysteries with a high-energy main character, a tangled plot, and lots of wry humor.
Death By Ice Cream is a cozy mystery set on Pimsawallops Island, one of the many picturesque islands that make up the Puget Sound in Washington State. I've always imagined life on the islands as peaceful and bucolic, being a mainlander from parts southward, myself. And come on, how dangerous can it be to volunteer at the Orcaville High PTA? Well, think again. Within moments of opening Death By Ice Cream, I encountered a murder at the PTA. From there, Douglass took me on a classic whodunit mystery with a good dose of humor and hilarity thrown in. The story is told from JJ's point of view, a brassy red head with a temper to boot, and we go along for the ride as she and her best friend Kitty, another PTA volunteer, try to solve the mystery. Douglass weaves in a romance with Orcaville's one Sheriff, complicated by her impending divorce from a distant and troublesome husband. I really enjoyed Douglass' depiction of the close relationship between JJ and her only child, Brian, as well as her great friendship with Kitty. In fact, as the Yearbook deadline looms and the killer's identity is revealed, her son and best friend help save the day. By the time I finished the book, it was clear that I'd completely underestimated how dark and dangerous those islands can be.
The fact that Pismawallops PTA is even more fun to say than Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, is only one reason why I would recommend this fun who-dun-it. The characters are real and interesting even if not always, or because they are not always likable. The setting is unique and fun in that it is on an Island and ferry dependent and yet it is also mundane and familiar in that it is a small town school with its inherent gossip and rivalry and intrigue and friendship.
When JJ realizes that she is likely to be a murder suspect, after all she owns the very recognizable murder weapon, she also realizes that the marriage she has barely considered recently has long been dead, but her desires are not. Then she finds her son growing up in ways she isn't ready for. And while she tries to help everyone she ends up tangled in ever more thorny brambles.
This clever mystery captured my interest from the first snarky gossip and the dead body whom nobody mourned. I laughed and I got curious but I never predicted the outcome until the last. I hope the Pismawallops crew shows up again in further installments of mystery and mayhem.
This was a fun cozy mystery with lots of surprising twists and turns that had me guessing who dunnit and why right up until the end. I loved the idea of having the mystery center on the PTA of a remote island community off of the Washington coast. Who knew helping out at the local high school could be so dangerous?
I really enjoyed the fact that the main character, JJ MacGregor, isn't perfect. She has some rough edges and is going through some rough times, all while trying to solve the murder of a fellow PTA member and look out for her teen-aged son. The other characters in the community are multi-dimensional and interesting in their own right and I look forward to seeing them develop and learning more about their back stories, as well as life on the “Island” in general, in future books in the series.
I always love a good whodunnit, and Death By Ice Cream does not disappoint. There are plenty of suspects to round up (including the main character. whose scarf inconveniently shows up around the victim's neck), and clever twists to keep readers turning the page. Douglas throws in a dash of romance and a good dose of humor to round out this well-paced plot. Hope to visit Pismawallops again soon!
Oh I do love my cozy mysteries! Although if you're a dedicated cozy reader I'm sure you're aware that most are similar. They usually take place in a small town where there's a small shop, bakery, café or bookshop owner who discovers a dead body and then must help solve the crime, but in Death By Ice Cream by Rebecca M. Douglass we're thrown into the Pismawallops PTA. If you've ever had the pleasure of being involved with or dealt with a PTA you will love this book! I was laughing out loud at the antics of these women. The various personalities of the members was spot on and having been a member of the PTA for years it really hit home for me.
JJ MacGregor and best friend Kitty Padgett are busy trying to make sure the Pismawallops PTA keeps afloat. Getting people to volunteer isn't always easy, so when Letitia LeMoine joined they were happy. That is until Letitia started and began taking over! No one liked the brash woman and her ways were irritating EVERYONE. JJ had to do something and decided to have a talk with Letitia hoping to settle the unrest. However, before she could do that Letitia showed up dead in the freezer where the PTA stored all the ice cream for their weekly ice cream sale. Shocked JJ called in the police and the hunt for a killer began.
The list of suspects is long, no one really liked the woman and her daughter isn't talking, in fact she's fled to the mainland to stay with her aunt. The school principal's only concern is how the school will look because of all this and the kids are mad they're missing their ice cream for the week. Since it was JJ's scarf found around Letitia's neck, she's not going to sit around and wait to be arrested. She grabs Kitty for some help and off they go to solve this crime of death in the freezer!
This was a super fun book to read. I love the whole PTA aspect of it all. Having been a part of a school PTA for many years it was hysterical at times thinking back on some of the personalities I encountered and comparing them to these women here. It was a perfect description and Ms. Douglass must also be a current or former member of a PTA to be able to nail them like she did. I've already bought the next couple in the series and can't wait to get to them. All cozy readers know when you find a great series, you grab them all and go! This qualifies as a great one for me! Loved the characters and JJ isn't your typical mom, she's a tough cookie who isn't going to stand by and let anyone walk on her. I liked her spunk! For my cozy reader fans, I say this is a winner! Happy Reading!
A LOL funny cosy mystery set in a small town on an island off the coast of Seattle (as that is the big city on the mainland). JJ is this bigger-than-life mama bear who would do anything for her fifteen-year-old son – even volunteer on the PTA where the work is as much fun as a root canal. Especially with one woman out to rule them all.
Only, this woman turns up dead. Not only does JJ and her best friend Kitty, along with the other members of the PTA look like suspects, everyone on the island disliked this woman enough to kill her.
Though it’s hilarious as JJ works out she has a dysfunctional marriage and starts divorce proceedings, figures out the police chief is kind of hot, realises that friendship can and should be deeper than just having children the same age, and that doing a yearbook from scratch in less than a week is a tough call – all while trying to solve the murder herself as accusations are made that she did it – the truth behind the murder is a dark subject with lots of ramifications.
A well-written mystery with enough relationship drama, sleuthing, romance and laughs to keep you hooked until the end.
What a fun mystery! The location is in the San Juan islands of Washington state, which is one of the most fascinating places on earth. Put in the midst of that a struggling PTA, politics that go with any school, and a feisty leading lady, you have a winner. I figured out who did it, but there were still some surprises as the tale came to its conclusion.
I won this in a goodreads giveaway. It was a fun quick read and I will read the next in the series. Since moving the the island at the beginning of the school year, Letitia Lemoine has made many enemies by pushing her opinions on everyone. So, when her body is found in the freezer at school, there's no lack of suspects. To protect her friends' reputation, J.J. MacGregor decides to do some investigating of her own, bringing her closer to attractive police chief. While I liked the book and would read more in the series, I did find some parts of the plot that didn't ring true. For example, these parents seem overly involved in the running of the the school. It's odd that the parents would be in charge of the yearbook and have such freedom within the building. Also, J.J. seems totally oblivious to the horrid state of her marriage. I would still recommend it to cozy readers though.
Death By Ice Cream This is a new series and a new author for me. Her characters caught my attention in the first chapter. I found I didn't wanted to put the book down. The Pismawallop's PTA board is meeting to decide what to do about an unwanted commenters, Litita. She is causing a lot of trouble and they are looking other volunteers. The next at the Ice Cream sale her body is found in the freezer. An effort is made to frame the protagonist, JJ.IN realizes that she has not seen or heard from husband in a long time. Allencalls her and tells her he wants a divorce and custody of their 15 year old son. More problems when JJ and Kitty find that the computer has been reformatted leaving a week to get ready to print. The island has only two police to solve the case.I looking forward to the next adventure. Full Disclosure: I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway
I thought this was a good start to a new series set on an island off the coast of Washington (think Seattle area).
The cast of characters is rather small so I had a hard time figuring out who might have killed Leticia and why (other than the fact that she was pushy!). There are some interesting twists and some that might have you say "ewwww" but all in all a good book and this sets it up nicely for the next book.
I did suspect the killer but not for any strong obvious reason, just that this person seemed the most likely....perhaps it was little clues that gave it away to me but I wasn't even sure until it was revealed at the end.
A little bit of a love story for JJ so can't wait to see how that progresses in the next book.