Felony Fruitcake

When the Fat Ladies Sing, Book 5

By: Linda Kozar

Narrated by: Michelle Babb

Length: 1 hr and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

When Sue Jan and the gals at the Crown of Glory Beauty Salon and Boutique set out the egg nog and fruitcake at their annual Christmas soiree, they have no idea the town's senior citizen playboy, Bubba Bustalet, will be hit on the noggin with the fruitcake before the night is over.

Sue Jan goes solo solving the mystery. She is soon at her wit's end between Wachita's know-it-all new sheriff, Bubba's senior-rita fan club, and all the tempting holiday food threatening to ruin her diet. Will Sue Jan find the felonious fruitcake felon before the church choir sings the last fa-la-la?

©2014 Linda Kozar (P)2015 Linda Kozar

A short cozy mystery

I received a copy of this book in audio format from the narrator in exchange for an honest review.

This is a short Christmas story. Lovita is abroad with Hudson, and Sue Jan is in charge of organizing the Christmas get together at the salon. But things cannot be too quiet in Wachita, and just after leaving the party, Bubba Bustalet, the senior citizen playboy of town, is suddenly attacked. Sue Jan finds him laying on the ground beside the weapon thrown at Bubba's head, a fruitcake.

We face again an uncanny mystery in the small town of Wachita. In this case Sue Jan will not have the assistance of Lovita, but she will count with Sharla and some of her clients. I missed Lovita, but Sue Jan's personality is enough to sustain the story, and it is also nice to have a story told from her point of view. There are a lot of hilarious moments and out of place comments from Sue Jan, as usual, and even though the book is very short, there is a generous amount of diverse characters, all well defined, and with great lines.

And the best part is the narration of the book. Michelle Babb is great at impersonating characters and helping the author at making them unique. She captures really well the humor in the book and delivers it to the listener multiplied by ten. She is a top notch narrator, one of the best I had the pleasure of listening to.

If there is something I should complain about is the length of this book. Lovita and Sue Jan's stories are among my favorites to listen to and relax, and I never seem to get enough of them. This book is just under an hour and a half, so it makes for a very quick listen. It just left me hungry for more.

A good Novella

Have you listened to any of Michelle Babb’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes and I love this narrators style.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes due to it being so short I had no problem.

Any additional comments?

I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.

Good but short

This was a great storyline and should have been lengthened to completely tell the story. Sue Jan should have waited on Lovetta or corralled Jolene to be a forensic female.

Who Stole the Fruit Cake?

Oh man be ready to laugh with this one. Who stole thee fruitcake is the main question and to find out who Lovita and Sue Jan jump through hoops to find out. They will have you laughing and then crying and then laughing again. These Ladies will become like best friends to you!

A Truly Funny and Entertaining Listen

Any additional comments?

Felony Fruitcake is a very funny novella by Linda Kozar. In this installment of The Fat Ladies Sing series, the story is told from the viewpoint of Sue Jan Madsen, as her partner Lovita is visiting her husband Hudson's family in England. I enjoyed the change in point of view as Sue Jan has a no-holds-bar type persona and absolutely speaks her mind, often outrageously and frequently to my amusement. Much of the action is centered around the "Christmas soirée" that Lovita and Sue Jan hold for their customers at the Crown of Glory. The description of the different food items contributed by friends and acquaintances just cracked me up. I had a good time trying to picture a "pineapple, jalapeño jelly, bologna roll." Some of the other offerings also proved to be amusing and/or disgusting. I played the description of the food back twice because I was amazed at the author's ingenuity in inventing the potluck offerings.

The story is basically fluff, but I mean that in a good way. It is light, extremely entertaining and well worth listening to. Since this is a short novella, the plotting isn't as intricate as previous Fat Ladies Sing books, but it just might be the funniest.

As usual, Michelle Babb does a vey nice job with the narration. The characters have their own distinct voices and the characters featued in previous books still sound the same.

I highly recommend this book for a short, fun read.

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions stated are entirely my own.

LOL funny!

I am a northerner living in south Alabama. This authored and narrator nailed the southern ethos in this short, charming cozy LOL mystery.

Favorite lines:
"ancient spinster sisters and cousins, don't ask..."
"I need deliverance from the chip demon"
"Cake...yeah! Fruit..yeah! Fruitcake..Blah!"
"Ever seen fruitcake on a restaurant menu? 'Noughsaid."
"Let me heat some coffee for you. I just made it this week."

This book is available as of June 22, 2022 as a free audiobook for reviewers.

Fruitcake.... Gross!

Would you consider the audio edition of Felony Fruitcake to be better than the print version?

I don't know, i haven't read the print version

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

I don't know about the edge of my seat, but i didn't know who did it until the end. It was very interesting to not have all the normal characters in the book, made for a nice change of pace.

What does Michelle Babb bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Love the accent, and the voices that she does for the Characters makes it very nice to listen to and easy to distinguish between them.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I had an "oh gross' moment at the end of the book.... that poor fruitcake... yuch!

Any additional comments?

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast."

Light cozy holiday mystery novella

Felony Fruitcake by Linda P. Kozar is the 5th book in the When the Fat Ladies Sing cozy mystery series, and it is a short holiday novella. Lovita is off on her honeymoon, and Sue Jan and the girls at the beauty salon are throwing their annual Christmas get-together. Sue Jan is on her own to solve the mystery of who tried to kill Bubba Bustalet with a deadly fruitcake brick.

I enjoyed this short holiday mystery. I think that you do need to have read at least one other book in the series to really understand and enjoy this novella. Sue Jan hunts down a few viable suspects at the local senior living facility. It seems that Bubba tends to be a bit of a flirt and a ladies' man, even at his advanced age. ;)

The mystery is quickly solved and Sue Jan, though she misses Lovita, is happy that she was able to solve a mystery on her own. There were quite a few suspects and the concept of the story was fun and light. This is a great, light cozy to listen to this time of year. If you have read or listened to other books in this series, you will enjoy this short mystery.

The narration really does a lot for the story. Michelle Babb has a talent for getting all the voices in Wachita just right. Her narration elevates the enjoyment in the story. It is easy to listen to and you know who is who without any difficulty.

I received a copy of this audiobook from the narrator for an honest review. This did not influence my opinion of the book in any way.

Fruit cake!

Loved it! A great story of a fruit cake mystery! I enjoyed the way the Narrator did the voices! Would you believe a fruit cake could do damage! Listen and find out! 😊

Book 5

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

A cute Christmas short read with a few laugh out loud parts. The characters were original but the narration was better than the story.