DINERS, DRIVE-INS, AND LIES by Misty Simon

Fiction, Cozy Mystery

5*****

Blurb: Welcome to the Sunny Side Up Diner, where the pancakes are fluffy, the bacon is crisp, and murder should not be on the menu… Jax Tapman has lived in the same small town her whole life. On one hand, it’s helped her dream of buying the local diner with her best friend come true, and their newly opened business is hopping. On the other hand, it means everyone knows her, and she pretty much never gets away with anything. There are a lot of expectations that come along with being the town darling. So, when Jax finds a dead body behind her Aunt Hildy’s restaurant, surely no one will truly believe she did it, right? Wrong. The victim was strangled with swag from Jax’s diner, and suddenly every eye is squarely on her, town darling or not! Enter Eliot Taylor, Aunt Hildy’s new cook and a former cop who grudgingly agrees to help Jax clear her name and save the diner’s reputation. Only the deeper they dig, the more dirt they churn up, proving there’s far more happening in the small, innocent town than meets the eye. Together they’ll uncover more secrets than Jax can shake a spatula at and far more danger than she might be ready to handle. Can Jax save her reputation and solve a murder…or will this order be her last?

Thoughts: I loved this story. In typical Misty Simon cozy mystery fashion, there is a body and more suspects than you can count. In this one, Jax and her best friend Dani buy the diner where they both worked as teens. They remodel it into a circa 50s style and even have old-fashioned mini-juke boxes on the tables. To celebrate their six-month anniversary of opening, they go to Jax’s Aunt Hildy’s four-star restaurant where they meet Eliot, the new (hot) chef. In trying to help her aunt, Jax is sent outside to keep someone away from the restaurant. Instead of driving him off, she finds him dead. With one of her diner lanyards wrapped around his neck. And thus the trouble begins.

In addition to being an excellent chef, Eliot is an ex-cop. And Jax’s dad is the local cop. But that doesn’t help her as she becomes one of the suspects. In trying to solve the murder, they run across another mystery that the author leaves dangling so we know there are going to be more books in this series. Plus, Jax has other problems that need to be solved before the end of the book. But the main mystery has a good ending that will leave you satisfied.

There are a ton of suspects, several sub-mysteries, and just enough clues to keep you guessing. The characters are fun, the setting interesting and well-written so that you feel like you could walk into this town and know where everything is and who everyone is.

Definitely recommended.

Disclaimer: Disclosure of Material: I received a final and/or advanced reader copy of this book with the hope that I will leave my unbiased opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… My Opinions. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”