Bed, Breakfast, and Bones: A Ravenwood Mystery
By: Carolyn L. Dean
Available on: Amazon, Audible, and Barnes and Noble.
Overview:
Blurb: The start of the Ravenwood Cove Mystery series kicks off with Amanda inheriting a derelict bed and breakfast only to find a dead man in the back garden.
There’s a fight with the frigid mayor, a cop with a very nice behind, and a chicken that just won’t shut up. I’ll leave it to you to read the rest.
Trigger Warnings:
Blood, Bullying, Drug Use (Non-Consensual, Poison), Food, Gun Violence, Murder, Sexism, Toxic Masculinity, Violence, Violent Imagery
Body Count: 2
***Spoiler***: the cat and the chicken live.
The Specs:
- Series
- Series Name: Ravenwood Cove Mystery Series
- Book Number: 1
- Genre
- Technical Genre: Financial Thriller, Cozy Craft & Hobby Mystery, Cozy Culinary Mystery
- Theo Genre: Cozy Mystery, Fluffy Mystery, Fluffy Murder, Bed and Breakfast Mystery
- POV: Limited 3rd
- Publication information:
- Paperback page count: 234
- Publisher: Freeform Publishing
- Language: English
- ISBN-13: 978-1548517267
- ASIN: B01JBFLIKK
Other Fun Stuff:
To Read or Not To Read (Again):
Bedside Bookshelf Donated Furniture Support
Rating out of five: 3.0 out of 5
Representation and Sexism Tests:
- Bechdel–Wallace Test: PASS
- Do two female characters talk about something than a male character? YES NO
- DuVernay Test: FAIL
- Are there fully actualized characters of color? YES NO
- Ellen Willis Test: PASS
- Would two related characters still work to carry the story if their genders were reversed? YES NO
- Mako Mori Test: PASS
- Is there a female character? YES NO
- Does she get her own arc? YES NO
- Does it do anything other than serve to support a man’s story? YES NO
- Sexy Lamp Test: PASS
- Would the plot fall apart if the female character was replaced by a sexy looking lamp? Absolutely Maybe? No.
- Vito Russo Test: FAIL
- Is there a character on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum? YES NO
- Are they a character beyond their orientation? YES NO
- Do they affect the plot? YES NO
Overall review:
Thoughts: This was a fun romp through the new world of Ravenwood Cove. There was a great sense of the struggle to breathe new life into an old town/hamlet and the whole ‘new girl in town’. It was a pleasant cozy read. Despite the murder, there’s no profanity. There is a hilariously obnoxious chicken. Can’t forget the cute cop and potential love interest, of course, who looks just as good coming towards you as he does leaving,
This is a great, readable whodonit and I certainly want to read more books in the series. As of this review being written in February 2019, there are a total of ten books. Maybe they will be a part of 2020’s readings!
Smutty moments/smut review: None in this volume, but hinted potential in future stories.
Was it engaging?
Yes No At times Room for improvement Had to fight through it.
Favorite Character:
Mrs. Granger, the feisty nonagenarian (ninety years old!) lady…close second is Oscar the cat that adopts Amanda and Dumb Cluck the rooster.
