Eat, Drink and Drop Dead

MARVELOUS DEBUT

Dollycas's ThoughtsÃ?

Welcome to Branson, Georgia. Hometown of chef turned food blogger and critic Tiffany Austin. She left a big job in the city and has been working on a trial basis for Southern Style magazine for the past 6 months and her efforts have been well received. With her trial period coming to an end she hopes she will be hired on as a regular employee but she has heard that the powers that be are deciding between her column or another penned by Jenny Lee Plumm.

When the decision is made, Tiffany is in and Jenny is out and she isn't going quietly. She stops by Tiffany's office for a very loud verbal communication with some choice words thrown around by both columnists before Jenny storms out of the building still voicing her threats and opinions. But the last thing Tiffany expected was having the police at her door questioning her about the untimely death of Jenny Lee Plumm.

In an effort to clear her name, she enlists the help of gal pal Hilary to uncover any clues to find out who could have killed the Society N Style maven. Who knew there could be so many suspects? Many have means and motives so she needs to pare them down and strain out who had the opportunity to take the woman out and tried to frame her for the crime.

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Oh, these new characters are fun! Tiffany knows her stuff but was done wrong. Strong woman that she is she didn't let it get her down. She came home and found a job that still allowed her to eat for a living and she is darn good at it. She is creative with great ideas and she has talents that also come in handy for sleuthing. Two being organization and curiosity. Best friend Hilary Hanson also works at the magazine and helped Tiffany get the job. Friends since the 5th grade she has Tiffany's back but she also gives Tiff a push whenever needed and sometimes when she doesn't. LOL She also reunites with former classmate Dale Swenson who is now the editor of Southern Style. The friendships feel genuine and their dialogues are true to life especially the final one Tiff had with Jenny. Seriously, we have all been there.

Ms. LoTempio has put forth a very well-plotted mystery with an abundance of suspects. The victim was a real piece of work so Tiffany has a huge task ahead of her and she wasn't backing down no matter how many warnings she received from the cops to butt out. I appreciated her zeal but worried about some of her actions. I was able to focus on the right suspect early but kept second-guessing myself. Actually, I was pretty surprised when everything came to a head. The ending was very exciting.

I love the food blogger theme and the fact that readers tag along with Tiffany as she tries everything from empanadas, to tacos, tartlets, and cheesecakes. My stomach was growling just reading the words and descriptions. I also enjoy the behind-the-scenes look at the magazine industry today, both print and digital. It takes creative ideas like Tiffany comes up with to keep readers engaged. That is so important even for me and my blog and at times it is really a struggle. While I don't critique food I may pick up a few tips from Tiffany.

Eat, Drink and Drop Dead is a marvelous debut for this series. I really enjoyed the way Ms. LoTempio told this story. She gave us interesting characters and mixed them up in an entertaining mystery. I hope we don't have to wait too long for the next Tiffany Austin Food Blogger Mystery. I am excited to visit these characters again.