Arya Winters & the Tiramisu of Death Book Review
Title: | Arya Winters and the Tiramisu of Death | |
Author: | Amita Murray | |
Published: | October 26, 2021, Agora Books | |
Cover Price: | $16.99 Paperback, $9.49 Kindle |
Touted as a cozy mystery, Arya Winters and the Tiramisu of Death by Anita Murray is anything but. Cozies are novels that contain everything that is in a good mystery such as suspense, misdirection, intrigue, criminality, and even murder without any graphic sex, violence, or profanity. Cozies are generally good reads for all ages. Murray’s new series, and this novel, starring Arya Winters doesn’t have any graphic violence, but has plenty of profanity and sex. Not only is this novel not suitable for younger readers, it shouldn’t be considered a cozy, since it doesn’t follow cozy guidelines.
The protagonist, Arya Winters, is a total nutcase, with deep psychological problems. She is not likeable, and says terrible things to her neighbors. She is not your traditional cozy protagonist. One thing she does, however, is run a successful baking business (macabre baked goods) and luckily bakes out of her home rather than interact with others. When one of Arya’s neighbors, Tobias Yards, is found murdered, Arya wants to find the murderer, and the more she learns, the more she sees that her neighbor’s murder has many things in common with the murder of her Auntie. Arya’s Auntie Meera left her the cottage she lives in presently and is the reason she lives in the neighborhood.
Unfortunately, this so-called-cozy (that isn’t) doesn’t even have recipes, which is expected of cozies that deal with cooks, bakers, caterers, etc., who are protagonists. Arya has the pushiness that it takes to solve a mystery, and makes readers feel a bit uncomfortable when she pushes her way into people’s lives and gets her information.
It might be a good idea for Murray to review the definition of a cozy and re-label the novels in this series.
Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.
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