Still cute fluff but enjoyable ( )

This was a very entertaining cozy! Lots of characters and I do mean Characters! Josie is doing everything she can to help her uncle pull off sponsoring a chili cook off but when one of the entrants turns up dead right before the cook off begins she really has her hands full. There are a whole slew of suspects and it's fun watching Josie try to determine who really killed Lucky. Very good read!

I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
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It was a lot of fun to return to West Texas and the goings on in Broken Boot. Josie Callahan is in a good position to stick her nose in all kinds of things as a part time waitress and a part time crime reporter for the local paper, the Bugle. Even the local police, Detective Lightfoot, knows better than to freeze her out. Broken Boot is hosting their first Charity Chili Cook-Off, as part of its’ the Cinco de Mayo weekend festivities. Josie’s Uncle Eddie is hoping to make it an annual event with the International Chili Association’s attendance. When circuit regular Lucky Straw is found dead in his cooking tent the morning of the competition, foul play isn’t certain. The Big Bend area of Texas is beautiful and this story has great atmosphere and characters. Even Senora Mari shines through her rough spots to help Josie in the end. ( )

When Josie's Uncle Eddie is heading a chili cook-off, everything seems to be going well, aside from the fact that one of the entrants, Lucky Straw, has been causing dissension between entrants and even cornered Josie about his "special dietary needs" at the restaurant. The next day when Josie is checking water and electricity hookups to the entrants, she sees that a tent is covering those hookups, so finding it open, enters and discovers Lucky's body. After calling the police, Detective Lightfoot arrives and between Josie and her family he agrees to allow the cook-off to continue if they move everyone at least 100 feet away from the crime scene.

While the judges aren't happy - for some odd reason they're blaming Josie's family for the death, like if there's a death in your neighborhood, everyone in the neighborhood must be guilty of having something to do with it - but anyway, they continue on with the contest. After all is said and done, the winners are named and everyone continues with the rest of the festival, where there is a parade and vendors have set up along the street. Since it is Cinco de Mayo (coincidentally, so is the day I am writing this review) the restaurant is crowded and they are doing a great business.

But while the police think that Lucky merely died from natural causes - it seems his pacemaker had an interruption and that it sometimes happen - Josie is convinced that it was anything but natural - and proceeds to question several of the cook-off attendees to try and find out if any of them are guilty of the murder. What she does find out is that Lucky was in a position of power where he worked and laid several of them off and they haven't been able to find employment since. This gives them motive and the cook-off gives them opportunity, but which one of them hated him enough to see him dead?...

This is the third book in the series and it definitely has improved over the other two. The plot was well-done and the writing is good. However, I felt that there weren't enough clues to lead us to the killer (as we know there has been a murder) and therefore, in finding out the identity we weren't given a decent chance, so it was a complete surprise all around; actually, we didn't find out until the end the reason why this person wanted Lucky dead, and I did feel that it was rather a cheat, since we were given "red herrings" throughout that lead to someone else; Josie basically accidentally came upon the killer as there were no clues, either.

Also, this book was pretty much more about Josie's love life, and since in the previous book she was stating that she wasn't interested in men, in this book she did a complete 180. I also didn't like the fact that the author made Ryan a complete 'player' in this book as to 'disqualify' him from ever being her boyfriend again, leading us (none too gently) toward Lightfoot as the love interest. I know it's a personal thing, but I don't care for men with long hair at all, so he never appealed to me as a love interest anyway. (We sometimes project our feelings - heck, usually - onto the book we're reading and that's mine).

At the last, there was a nice nail-biting scene toward the end although I don't like the idea of using pets as bait. It's cruel and uncalled for, as I felt was done in this scene, and that's why I couldn't give it five stars. An easy cozy mystery that can be read in a few hours and has colorful scenes. ( )

Cinco de Murder by Rebecca Adler is the third book in A Taste of Texas Mystery series. Josie Callahan is busy rehearsing the folklorico dances for the Cinco de Mayo parade in Broken Boot, Texas. Her dog, Lenny (a long-haired Chihuahua) will also be participating in the dance wearing an adorable costume. Uncle Eddie is busy organizing the First Annual Broken Boot’s Charity Chili Cook-Off. He needs to ensure that this event goes off without a hitch or he could lose his seat on the town council. The next day Josie finds contestant Lucky Straw dead in his tent (this does not bode well for Uncle Eddie). Lucky was not well-liked on the cook-off circuit and had managed to anger several people since his arrival. Detective Quinton Lightfoot, Josie and Lenny work to find the killer and restore Uncle Eddie’s reputation.

Cinco de Murder is a fun cozy mystery with a small Texan town that is filled with unique characters. I felt the author captured the small town feel and the competitiveness of a cook-off. Cinco de Murder can be read alone. The cases from the other books are rehashed in Cinco de Murder along with Josie’s background. I did feel that the novel needed some work. There were several continuity issues that needed fixing (Lenny cannot be in two places at once). The beginning of the book is disjointed and stilted (it gets better after several chapters). There is also a great deal of repetition (I lost track of how many times Josie’s Prius is mentioned or that Hillary Sloan Rawlings is called a nemesis). Plus, do we really need to know every single time the dog has to use the restroom or about the horse poop in the road (not needed). The mystery felt incomplete (details are missing). Josie does ask questions (she is bad at it), but the solution lands in her lap. I was left with several unanswered questions at the end of the book. There are numerous quirky characters in Cinco de Murder along with plenty of activities (which dominate the book). It sounds like Broken Boot goes all out for Cinco de Mayo. Josie had a busy two and half days and I bet Lenny was ready for a nap (and to ditch the costume). Readers who enjoy light cozy mysteries (prefer more cozy than mystery) will delight in visiting Broken Boot for the Cinco de Mayo festival in Cinco de Murder. ( )