Murder by Mushroom

Murder in the Bluegreass

by Virginia Smith

Old ladies like to talk. But someone should remind them that gossip is a sin. A deadly sin. Kitchen klutz Jackie Hoffner decides to impress everyone by bringing something other than potato chips to the church potluck. She is certain her spiral noodle casserole will be the hit of the day...until someone plants poisonous mushrooms in her casserole to kill a gossipy old lady. Determined to clear her name and prove she's not a complete culinary catastrophe, Jackie sets out to track down the killer. But mushrooms aren't the murder's only weapon, and her bumbling efforts place her in the dead center of the killer's cross-hairs.

Genres: Mystery, Christian, Love Inspired Suspense, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Mystery Thriller

306 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2007

About the author

USA Today bestselling author Virginia Smith has written over fifty books with sales exceeding 1 million copies worldwide. Her book, Guilty Secrets, was recently produced as a movie now streaming on Lifetime. She lives in Kentucky with her husband, 27 chickens, a barn kitty, and a barky Maltese named Max. Learn more about Ginny and her books at www.virginiasmith.org

Reviews

[A.E. Chandler]

I wish more of the characters had died.

[Sheila]

Jackie is socially awkward, but she is a good character.

[Suzanne Williams]

I enjoyed the pace of this story. The romance portion unfolds slowly and has some conflicts along the way, which I liked. The descriptions of Jackie's cat became a quirky bonus to the story, adding to her own character. The plot itself moved along well with the final outcome completely a surprise to me when it came. I like that Jackie learned something about love and the damaging power of gossip. The minor character of Margaret was a bonus, though I wondered why a Pastor's wife would indulge Jackie so much in her snooping. Overall, this is an enjoyable murder mystery well worth reading. It seems worth a sequel because I liked the couple, Jackie Hoffner and Dennis Walsh.

[Jodi]

When someone kills old Mrs. Farmer using Jackie's potluck casserole, she's determined to beat police to the answers. Unfortunately, she manages to irritate nearly everyone in the process and has to decide if clearing her name - when no one believes her guilty, is more important than being a real part of the community. Smith deftly captures place with quick descriptions that make the reader feel as though they should visit these places. The characters were all characters without being stereotypes so you never knew exactly how they'd react. A cute cozy.

[Jane]

You will never think of a church potluck or mushrooms the same after reading this book. Everytime you see a mushroom you will chuckle. Church potlucks will seem so different as you look at people and friendships.

[Jenny]

I loved this book I it was because I could relate to Jackie in so many different ways. I actually found myself laughing out loud at times. I recommend this book to everyone!!!

[Heather]

I really enjoyed the easy nature of this book. It was a good mystery with a little love interest thrown in. Just a quick fun read.

[Jan]

This is a really good book. I enjoyed all the characters involved in this cozy murder mystery. The good and bad examples of Christian living. Who killed Alice and who is next?

[Lisa]

The first time Jackie Hoffner actually cooks for the church potluck instead of bringing a bag of chips, she learns that one of the church members who took home leftovers of her casserole died of poisoning...from her leftovers! She's number one on the detective's suspect list for that reason, but then again, no one else who ate her casserole got sick, so maybe there's foul play. Jackie ends up taking a week off work to try to solve the mystery, and she makes friends with some of the church members along the way, including the pastor's wife.

Took most of the book for Jackie Hoffner to grow on me, but in the end, it was OK. Not sure I'd read another book where she's the protagonist, but who knows.

[Mariella Esquivel Tello]

Yeah I'll be blunt on this. True, Alice Farmer was a fussy and judgemental old biddy criticizing everyone an everything and looking like Mr. Bone from Doug.

But let my inner Daria point out: one of the suspects Sharon Carlson came off just as haugthy and judgemental as the small town folks tbh - and an allegedly critical parent too from the look of it. And her words were suspiciously threatening.

However the true culprit caught me surprise.

[Mandy]

This was a cozy murder mystery set in a small American town. Kept you guessing who the culprit was until the end.

[Stephanie]

I won Murder By Mushroom in a mystery challenge the author had on her website. I've had Virginia Smith on my tbr list for awhile, but truthfully the religious aspects of her books had me choosing others to read first. :)

I enjoyed how the author portrayed the characters in Murder By Mushroom. You really get a sense of who they are. About half way through the book I realized, I really don't like the main character, which as I read further was probably how I was suppose to feel. However, as she "grew" and "learned" I was probably suppose to forgive her earlier transgressions but I had a problem with that and even by the end I still held some of that dislike.

Even though I didn't like the main character, I still enjoyed reading this book. It's good cozy mystery, the religion was not over the topped as I feared, the writing was easy to read and the story made sense.

I will keep Virginia Smith on my TBR list!!

[Louise Pledge]

After reading "Days of Noah", I just had to find more by the author. Yes, I liked it that much! I started by buying this book. While I don't, usually, care much for the "cozy mystery" genre, this one kept me reading, and it was hard to put down. In fact, I stayed up late reading in my bathroom one night to finish it! :)

At a church pot luck, one of the church ladies was killed by poisoned mushrooms added to a dish that Jackie had brought and was very proud of. However, Jackie hadn't put any mushrooms in it! I knew from that moment that I would be hooked on this book.

[Jenn Mattson]

A page-turner that mixes two of my favorite genres: mystery and romance (and I don't mean regular romance novels, but I like romantic tension plotlines). Lovely, fluid writing and fun dialogue! I laughed out loud and couldn't put it down until the end. I highly recommend this book and the very fine, talented author who wrote it.

[Amelia Urses]

This was a good book for relaxing, but it was a little cheesy. Just keep that in mind!!

[Joann]

Lightweight.

[Kristy]

Murder By Mushroom was a very cute book. It was slow reading at parts and sometimes would lose my interest. Other times I couldn't put it down.

[Cayenne]

A high quality book that I had fun reading.