Hello Friends :)
I hope you're all doing well, and I want to thank you all for joining me for another book review here on The Preppy Book Princess.
If you've read my blog in the past, then you probably know that I'm a huge fan of cozy mysteries, and that my all time favorite cozy mystery author is Julie Anne Lindsey writing under her real name or her various pen names like Bree Baker and Jacqueline Frost.
March 2022 will see the release of the seventh and final book of one of my favorite mystery series by her, and today I'm here to share my review of that book with you all.
You can check out my reviews of all of the previous books in the series below:
Pleading the Fish by Bree Baker:
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: April 29th, 2022
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: Seaside Café Mystery
Synopsis:
In the seventh and final book of Bree Baker's critically acclaimed Seaside Café Mystery series, Pleading the Fish, Everly Swan's wedding plans are upended by a dead body. She'll have to run her teashop, find a dress, and catch a murderer all before she can walk down the aisle!
Café owner and amateur sleuth Everly Swan, like every Swan woman before her, is cursed in love. The only problem? Her fiancé Detective Grady Hayes has something to say about it—he doesn't believe in magic and is determined to prove the curse wrong so they can spend their lives together. Everly wishes it could be so simple!
It feels like a sign when a historian looking into Swan history is found dead in an antique wishing well, and Everly fears the curse is spreading. Grady takes the case, looking to find justice and prove the curse wrong, while Everly does a bit of investigating on her own. Big change is coming for Everly and her friends, but with mysterious strangers lurking about and someone leaving increasingly threatening messages for the happy couple, Everly's not sure she'll get her happily-ever-after!
(synopsis from goodreads)
My Review:
This review is honestly so bittersweet to write, as I'm sad to see Bree Baker's beloved Seaside Café Mystery series come to an end. This series has been one of my favorite cozy mystery series right from reading the first title, and I'm not sure I'm truly read to say goodbye to these beloved characters. However, I will say that the author truly delivers an emotional and heartfelt final installment, and definitely gives each character the ending they deserve.
In Pleading the Fish, the reader is treated to two separate mysteries. Everly and Grady are finally preparing to take the big leap and get married, but Everly is hesitant based on her family's strange history. When Grady comes up with the idea of researching the family history to try and find the truth behind the "curse" that Everly's grown up believing, they end up enlisting the help of a local historian. Things turn sinister when that local historian is found dead at the town's historic property, and Everly takes it as a sign that maybe her family's curse is true after all. However, something much more sinister is about to emerge, and soon Everly is worried about not just her safety but the safety of all the people she's come to care about. It'll take everyone working together to get to the bottom of the family's curse and solve the gruesome murder that someone went to great lengths to try and hide.
In true Bree Baker fashion, I never wanted to see this one come to an end, and I loved getting to investigate everything going on right along with Everly. We see relationships change, friendships grow stronger and new ones emerge, changes happening for all of Everly's beloved friends and family, and both mysteries wrap up in ways that the reader will not be able to see coming.
All in all, Pleading the Fish was the perfect send off to this delightful cozy mystery series, and I was very pleased with how the author chose to wrap everything up. I've never been the biggest fan of the curses and whatnot that have played a big part of this series, and I personally really enjoyed the way that all of those parts of the story are concluded here in ways I wasn't expecting. Without spoiling anything, I also have to state how much I loved the epilogues as not only did they provide a heartwarming finale, they also gave us a peak into some of the other characters POV's.
Final Rating: 4/5.
I definitely look forward to reading more from this author in the future.
Thanks so much to Poisoned Pen Press for allowing me to advance read and review this one!
I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher (Poisoned Pen Press) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)
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