A Deadly Grind

Vintage Kitchen Mystery Series, # 1

By: Victoria Hamilton

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

When vintage cookware and cookbook collector Jaymie Leighton spies an original 1920s Hoosier brand kitchen cabinet at an estate auction, it's love at first sight. Despite the protests of her sister that the 19th-century yellow-brick house they share in Michigan is already too cluttered with Jaymie's "junk," she successfully outbids the other buyers and triumphantly takes home her Hoosier.

But that night on the summer porch where they've left the Hoosier to be cleaned up, a man is murdered, struck on the head with the steel meat grinder that is part of the cabinet. Who is this stranger - and what was he doing on their porch? Does his death have anything to do with the Hoosier?

As the police struggle to determine the man's identity, Jaymie can't help doing a little digging on her own, accompanied by her three-legged Yorkie Poo, Hopalong. But in her bid to uncover the truth about the hidden secrets of the Hoosier, Jaymie may be the one who ends up going, going...gone.

©2012 Donna Lea Simpson (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Smartly written and successfully plotted, the debut of this new cozy series . . . exudes authenticity." ( Library Journal)

History can be deadly in this cozy mystery!

A vintage Hoosier kitchen cabinet proves to be more than an interesting antique for Jamie Leighton. Against her sister's better judgment, Jamie really wanted that 1920's Hoosier to go along with all her old kitchen gadgets that she has collected in their old 19th century yellow brick house in Michigan, that she and her sister have inherited. She won the auction but she ended up getting a dead body on her back porch as well. Now she wants to find out what she has that others want before they kill her first.

The background story of the ownership connection between Canada and Michigan makes this story especially interesting. The Queen's Tea Celebration is fascinating, along with the description and history of the Hoosier Cabinet itself. The mystery starts out as purely a murder investigation and develops into a much more complicated quest for more parts of American history. A great start to this Vintage Kitchen Mystery Series.

A woman after my own heart!

If you could sum up A Deadly Grind in three words, what would they be?

Entertaining, enthralling, memorable

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Deadly Grind?

The first scene with Brett Delgado definitely had me anticipating his role in the story.

Which scene was your favorite?

The last scene with the perpetrator was my favorite. Jaymie used her brains to get herself out of the predicament instead of relying on dumb luck or someone else to save her.

Any additional comments?

So glad the main character is one who finally uses her brain and doesn't get herself into stupid situations by acting on her feelings.

The narration was a little annoying at first, but I got used to it. The dialogue between characters sounded forced.

Great start

I enjoyed this book very much. I loved the characters and how the story progressed. I will read the next book.

Glad this one was cheep

Unfortunately the story was to cliche. I kept wanting to stop but hoped it would get better if I stuck it out. Didn't happen.

Cabinets, Cups, Cookbooks and Crooks

I'm a sucker for old things . . . and a vintage kitchen cabinet, just like my own grandma had, is at the top of my list . . . with the flour sifter inside the cupboard door . . . and shame on all the reviewers that poo pooed all the "useless details" . . . that's what makes the story . . . boxes of antique cups that Jaymie's sister will go through and sell to her clients who only want to replace the pieces that have been broken to their heirloom sets left to them by their families . . . Jaymie's new venture of rewriting time tested recipes from their grandmother's old cookbook . . . if people are looking for a fast paced, modern murder mystery, well, this isn't it . . . and if they read the intro, they would know not to expect it to be . . . it's much more . . . its the tale of an over thirty, still single younger sister, who lives in the 19th century house that she and her sister inherited . . . she loves the house, her sister, who only visits occasionally, doesn't . . . having lived her life under the shadow of her older sister, Jaymie is reluctant to voice her opinions or stand her ground with Becca, but she's learning . . . and buying the Hoosier cabinet, against her sister's wishes is a start . . . but when a man is murdered on their summer porch after buying the cabinet, while they were obviously trying to break in to it, Jaymie questions her decision . . . still, little by little, she continues her new journey toward finding her new self . . . including setting the townspeople straight on her breakup with Joel, the previous year . . . no more pity party . . . I genuinely LIKE Jaymie, the way she helps her friends, thinks things through, and especially her love of all things vintage . . . this is a good, cozy listen . . . enjoy . . .

The main character is a...deadly grind

This book would have been more palatable if the main character wasn't so sicky-sweet *nice.* I like antiques, and the backstory to the vintage kitchen items is interesting. But the main character...gah! Grow a backbone already! One of my biggest pet peeves about protagonists - especially female protagonists - are those who are "perfect." News flash: Perfect People are booooring. I don't want a one-dimensional nicey-nicerton who is always understanding and forgiving and who "does the right thing." No thanks - I'll take an Agatha Raisin or Ruth Zardo any day. Add to this the narrator's sicky-sweet and always-kind voice, and I felt in need of an insulin shot. Yuck. If you like women who are always sweet and act like the nice little doormats everyone wants them to be, you'll be happy with this audiobook. If you like women who have a little more chutzpah, you might want to skip this title. As for the actual storyline, I couldn't tell you much about it - I was waiting for the main character to develop some personality. Nope.

Boring

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I found this book to be boring. It was very hard to listen to the entire book. I was not impressed with the performance.

Hours of my life I'll never get back

I gave it a 3 because that's probably the protagonist ' s IQ. The plot stretched the limits of credulity and a few hours could have been shaved off this story. If this is a series I won't be listening to it.....ugh.

annoying, full of useless details

it started out well, then it turned into a mumbled jumbled full of useless details. I gave it a good chance, but at one point I couldn't stand the idiocracy of absortudy... I can't even stand to finish this review. I would enjoyed spending the $3.95 on a good latte...

Fun!

I am realizing more and more that these quick little fun stories are more my style as of late, this one was very cute and fun. A good mystery I found challenging and enjoyable. A few spots were obvious with what was going on which was a little annoying since the main character was oblivious however it was still a good listen. Look forward to the rest of the series!