The Uninvited Corpse (A Food Blogger Mystery)

The Uninvited Corpse by Debra Sennefelder is the first novel in Food Blogger Mysteries. Hope Early lives in a lovely farmhouse in Jefferson, Connecticut where she writes her blog, Hope at Home. Hope is off to attend Audrey Bloom's book signing and garden tour. Claire, Hope's sister and a local real estate agent, insists on coming with her in the hopes that Peaches McCoy will be attendance. Claire is upset that Peaches, a rival real estate agent, stole another listing from her and this one was for the controversial new Whitcomb development. The event is to promote Audrey's new book. Hope, who just cannot help herself, is cleaning up after the guests. She goes into the study and finds it in a disarray with Peaches dead on the floor. Detective Sam Reid zeros in on Claire as the killer. With encouragement from her friends since she has always been good at solving mysteries, Hope delves into the case. The next night Hope receives a call from Vanessa stating she needs to talk to her right away. Hope arrives at Vanessa's house to find the door open and Vanessa dead. What did Vanessa know that got her killed? Hope needs to expose the killer before Claire ends up doing twenty to life. Someone is unhappy with Hope's snooping and attempts to put her out of commission. Can Hope reveal the killer before Claire is fitted for an orange jumpsuit?

The Uninvited Corpse is easy to read (I am starting with the positive aspects). I wish, though, that the author had taken the time to establish Hope's background. We are told what happened to her recently and why she has moved to Jefferson to start over (several times), but I wanted to know more about her. The Uninvited Corpse starts off with the author introducing us to a plethora of characters. There was just one after another and it was difficult to keep them all straight. My favorite character is Jane Merrifield, a mystery writer. I wish the author had made her the main character (I really liked her). The book seemed disjointed/choppy. It lacked an ease and flow. There is the cliché nasty detective that frequently reminds Hope to quit investigating. As an investigator, Hope is severely lacking. She was good as a teen in solving mysteries as a part of a library group (which we are told many times), but that was in theory (like me solving cozy mysteries). Hope asks bad questions and lacks subtlety. She goes around antagonizing people all around the town (she was relentless). I am curious if anyone else wondered why Claire never had dinner with her kids? There was a repetition of information. The same details are mentioned repeatedly. And let me not forget the love triangle. Why do author's keep putting love triangles in cozy mysteries? The mystery was simple and easily solved. The why takes longer to become apparent. When Hope is not out investigating, she is baking, painting, cooking, chatting, writing blog posts and cleaning (a bit obsessive about it). Since The Uninvited Corpse is the first book, I am hoping Debra Sennefelder will work out the kinks before the next Food Blogger Mystery. I am giving The Uninvited Corpse 3 out of 5 stars.