Southern Sass and a Battered Bride

By: Kate Young

Publisher by: Kensington Publishing Corp. (April 27 2021)

Author, Kate Young is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Guppy Chapter. She is married and the mother of three. She lives in a small town in Georgia and when she is not writing her own books, she's reading or cooking.

Kate’s latest offering, Southern Sass and a Battered Bride, in the Marygene Brown mystery series, is a quintessential cozy mystery set on a cozy little island, Peach Cove, and comes complete with several delicious southern recipes including The Peach Diner’s Cheesy Potato Soup.

I won this book for my participation in a Cosy Mystery Village Author Takeover.

It is a well written, thoroughly good mystery with just the right mix of suspense, tension, twists and turns and a few red herrings for good measure.

The protagonist, Marygene Brown, returned to Peach Cove Island to help her sister, Jena Lynn, run the family diner, renowned for its homemade peach desserts. Be that as it may her deceased Mama has been warning her that the dead will seek her out to solve their murders, an idea Marygene is far from peachy keen on. I found her deceased mother’s ghost superfluous to the story and somewhat irritating.

She had always thought she’d marry her childhood sweetheart, Alex Meyers, not cater his wedding. The wedding reception was to include a murder mystery roll-playing game. However, the game turns serious when Marygene discovers the bride, Lucy, lying beside the wedding cake covered in batter. The suspense begins to build when she discovers the bride has no pulse and then inexplicably disappears.

Young creates distinct characters with clearly drawn personalities; some are singularly combative while others exhibit pugnacious impetuousness. There is murder and mayhem aplenty as Marygene struggles to unravel the mystery while trying to stay alive.

There’s more than malevolence pervading the atmosphere on Peach Cove Island; there’s a definite air of romance wafting gently on the ocean breeze.

I am someone that can’t tolerate crooked pictures and found the number of proofreading miscues; although not the worst I’ve seen, bothersome. Southern Sass and a Battered Bride could benefit from a Second Set of Eyes.

Discover for yourself how it all started pick up your copy of Kate Young’s first book in the Marygene Brown mystery series, Southern Sass and Killer Cravings. While you’re at it pick up your copy of Kate’s recently released: Southern Sass and a Battered Bride today!

James D. A. Terry