BOOK REVIEW: Rosemary and Crime, by Gail Oust

I'll admit I picked up this cozy for the title. It's a hell of a title. Like many cozy mystery titles, it's pun-based, and after binge watching all three seasons of Rosemary and Thyme (an absolutely delightful British mystery series that has nothing to do with this book), it was a pun I was particularly susceptible to. Plus, I had a vague recollection of reading a review and/or giveaway for this book on another book blog some time ago, though I couldn't remember if the review had been positive. No matter. I figured I'd pick it up and decide for myself.

I wouldn't say I was over the moon for this book or its characters. There was something unconvincing about the whole thing right from the beginning.



The premise is that our heroine--not that I found myself rooting for her much--runs a spice shop in a small town in Georgia. A spice shop. As in, one that only sells spices. I'm not sure how she'll manage to stay in business! Granted, I'm sure these shops do exist, but the author has the spice shop owner doing such "radical things" as putting curry in mayonnaise (shocking, I know!), only to have the people in the town revolt over such exotic spiciness. Yeahhh...that's not a town that can support a spice shop.



But I decided to ignore it. After all, Gail Oust is hardly the first author to create an amateur detective who runs a shop that couldn't possibly make enough money to stay afloat (*ahem* Joan Hess).

Beyond the premise, though, it's the little things that kept taking me out of the story. Our "heroine," Piper, discovers the body (of course) and panics (okay) and thinks to herself that she should contact the authorities to "report the crime" (good). But then when the police arrive and spend most of their time being excessively rude and snappish (why?) and tell her they have a murder to investigate, she freaks the hell out. Murder! She never considered it might be murder! She's beyond shocked! Except that no, she can't be, because she just called it a crime scene two pages ago!

It's just those kinds of little things that annoyed me throughout this book. I believe the technical term is "bad writing."



Even if I had been willing to overlook the flaws in the storyline, it's not like I was enjoying following the characters around or being immersed in the setting. The town is dull and unpleasant, all of the characters are irritating, and Piper Prescott the spice shop lady only has two settings: shock and rage. She goes from being shocked to outraged and back again so frequently throughout the book that her resting face must be a deep scowl. If she used Twitter her favourite hashtag would be #whyInever. In short, she's unpleasant.



I can't say I'd recommend this book. I would, however, recommend a lot of OTHER books with similar themes that have been better writing and more likeable characters. Maybe some of those Laura Childs Southern tea mysteries, for instance. Or the new Maine Clambake series by Barbara Ross (soooo good!). Or the particularly on point Penn Dutch series by Tamar Myers that includes this title. Or...well you're spoiled for choice really. No need to settle for one that doesn't suit. And for me, this one just didn't measure up.




BOOK DETAILS:
Rosemary and Crime
by Gail Oust
Publisher: Minotaur
Publication Date: December 17, 2013
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Source: local library