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Batman: Detective Comics, Volume 2: The Victim Syndicate by James Tynion IV, et. al.
Bird & Squirrel All or Nothing by James Burks
Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely and Lisa Reneé Pitts (Narrator)
The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman and George Guidall (Narrator) (re-read)
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman and Emily Rankin (Narrator)
Candy Slain Murder by Maddie Day and Laural Merlington (Narrator)
The Dachshund Wears Prada by Stefanie London
Ellen Outside the Lines by A.J. Sass
Endangered Species by Nevada Barr and Cindy Williams (Narrator)
Final Sentence by Daryl Wood Gerber
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Harlem Sunset by Nekesa Afia and Shayna Small (Narrator)
Heartstopper: Volume Four by Alice Oseman
Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed
Huda F Are You? by Huda Fahmy
Into the Woods by J. Torres and Faith Erin Hicks (Illustrator)
The Marvelous by Claire Kann
Murder Is No Picnic by Amy Pershing and Patti Murin (Narrator)
My Dress-Up Darling, Volume 3 by Shinichi Fukuda
Noragami: Stray God, Volume 14 by Adachitoka
Osmo Unknown and the Eightpenny Woods by Catherynne M. Valente
Our Tragic Universe by Scarlett Thomas
Pint of No Return by Dana Mentink and Stephanie Nemeth-Parker (narrator)
Poultrygeist by Eric Geron and Pete Oswald (Illustrator)
The Sacred Bridge by Anne Hillerman
The Secret Staircase by Sheila Connolly and Emily Durante (Narrator)
Spy x Family, Volume 6 by Tatsuya Endo
The Suite Spot by Trish Doller
This Is a Book for People Who Love Birds by Danielle Belleny and Stephanie D Singleton (Illustrator)
Yokohama Station SF National by Yuba Isukari, Tatsuyuki Tanaka (Illustrator), and Stephen Paul (Translator)

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Final Sentence: 10/17/22

Final Sentence

Final Sentence by Daryl Wood Gerber is the start of the Cookbook Nook mystery series. Jenna Hart has left a high stress job in San Francisco to move south to Crystal Cove where she will help her aunt run a culinary bookshop and café. The celebrity chef (and long time frenemy) invited for the grand opening is murdered, her body left on the beach as part of a mermaid sand sculpture.

Crystal Cove is the second fictionalized Santa Cruz I've read featured in a mystery series. The other one is Santa Sofia, featured in the Bread Shop mystery series by Winnie Archer. Despite the similar location, this novel reminds me most of the Fixer-Upper mysteries by Kate Carlisle.

Jenna has come to Crystal Cove as a recent widow. In this regard she's like Anna Pigeon (written by Nevada Barr) or Merry Wynter (written by Victoria Hamilton). The question for me, is how well will she move on? Will she continue to mourn for volumes and volumes like Anna or will she continue to live her life like Merry?

Like many first volumes this one suffers from trying to do too much at one time. There's setting up the characters, the main character's new life and business, introducing the new town, creating an ensemble cast, and finally setting the basic tone of the series. Final Sentence didn't gel for me as well as it could have. The pacing seemed off and Jenna doesn't seem well suited for her new life running a cookbook shop.

The second volume is Inherit the Wind. I have it on hand and will be reading it. Then I'll decide if I want to continue with the series. There are eleven books in total, so far.

Three stars

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