I was excited when I was offered the chance to review DEATH AT THE DAY LILY CAFE, the second book in the Rosalie Hart Mystery series, by Wendy Sand Eckel. I had not read the first book…but definitely plan to. However, this second book is easily read as a standalone and I had no problems getting to know the characters or figuring out the references from the first book.
Synopsis
After being blindsided by a divorce, Rosalie Hart moved to the small town of Cardigan and into an inherited 200-year-old farm house. She settles in and opens the Day Lily Cafe, serving fresh, organic food, some of it supplied from her own farm being managed by Tyler. Within minutes of her grand opening, one of her friends, Doris Bird, rushes in and begs Rosalie to help clear her sister, Lori, of murder. Lori’s husband of 31 years, Carl, has been shot to death and the local sheriff is determined to prove Lori guilty.
Rosalie feels obligated to Doris because of her past help, plus Rosalie doesn’t like how the sheriff is bullying Lori. As she begins asking questions around town, she finds Lori has secrets from her past that are better off left hidden. Lori’s husband was also keeping secrets and the more she searches for answers the more people she finds had motives for murdering Carl. Can she piece the puzzle together before the sheriff convicts Lori and still keep her inaugural cafe running? Or will the killer set their sights on her and her family before she solves the crime?
My Review
DEATH AT THE DAY LILY CAFE was a good mystery with a great protagonist. Rosalie Hart, in her forties, decides to grow and better herself instead of wallowing in self-pity after an unforeseen divorce. The book delves into relationships: between parents and children and between spouses, and Rosalie provides plenty of introspection. The author seemed to genuinely portray Rosalie’s relationship with her college-aged daughter and the difficulties of wanting to hang on but knowing you must let go and let them make their own decisions. It added to the appeal of the book and made Rosalie seem relatable.
Wendy also provides some humorous moments to break the tension. I loved some of the scenes between Rosalie and her want-to-be love interest, Tyler, and one scene in particular had me laughing out loud. The friends she has surrounding her also brought entertainment and thought-provoking enrichment to the story. The mystery itself had me guessing right along with Rosalie, as she sifted through all the suspects that paraded across the pages and the book had a satisfying conclusion.
Of course it wouldn’t be a cafe if there wasn’t food and the author provides plenty of mouthwatering descriptions and recipes! Since my eleven-year-old granddaughter, Emory, and her cousin, Alex, were spending the day with me recently, they voted to try Kevin’s Key Lime Bars. The recipe was easy enough for them to follow and make with minimal input from me. Kevin’s Key Lime Bars combines tart key lime filling with a flaky shortbread crust to create a dessert that will make you feel like you’re in the tropics and was the perfect dish to start the summer off with. Thank you to Wendy and Minotaur Books for allowing me to share the recipe with you!
A very special thank you to Minotaur Books for providing a hardcover copy of DEATH AT THE DAY LILY CAFE! (U.S. residents only.) Please use the Rafflecopter box located below the recipe to enter. Contest ends Monday, August 8, 2016 at 11:59 pm PST. Winners will be announced on this page and on Cinnamon & Sugar’s Facebook page, as well as notified by email (so check your spam folder!)
Kevin’s Key Lime Bars
Ingredients
Crust
6 tablespoons chilled butter
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 organic egg yolk (save the egg white for the filling)
1/2 teaspoon Mexican vanilla
1 cup flour
Filling
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour, packed
4 organic egg whites
Juice from 3 to 5 key limes (enough to make 6 tablespoons of juice)
Powdered sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
Crust
Blend the butter, sugar, and salt on low speed in a mixer until creamy.
Add the yolk and vanilla, and blend until combined.
Add the flour and mix again.
Spread into an 8″ x 8″ baking dish and tamp down with your fingers and the palm of your hand until it is evenly spread and firm.
Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until starting to brown a little around the edges.
Remove from oven and let cool completely.
Filling
Whisk flour and sugar together.
Add egg whites and lime juice and whisk for another minute or two.
Pour over crust and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool.
If filling isn’t quite set, refrigerate for up to 2 hours.
Sift the powdered sugar over the cooled filling and slice into squares.
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I was provided a copy in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
My granddaughters love for me to take them to the cute cafe, Polly’s Pies…for waffles 🙂
This sounds so good, thanks for the review
Penney
I don’t have a favorite cafe but I do have a diner I like to visit. Thank you for the giveaway!
I go to Deja Brew Coffee House to knit with friends. 🙂
Like to go to Appletree’s. They have the best cobb salad ever. Especially like their really super tasting blue cheese dressing with nice chunks of blue cheese in it. Kevin’s Key Lime bars look yummy. Hey! The book looks delish too!
My hubby loves Key Lime Pie and I can’t wait to make these for him.
We don’t have a cafe in our little town but we have a small restaurant in the next town over that’s our favorite for breakfast
Looks like a yummy treat and a great book.
I don’t have a small cafe to visit. I just love cozies that have little places like this to father friends and family in. I really would love to win this book so thank you for the opportunity.
Can’t wait to read this and try that wonderful recipe!!!
I just discovered this book the other day. It sounds great! I love key lime everything and that recipe looks great! Thanks for the chance to win!
No favorite cafe but you can’t beat our Culver’s for friendliness!
Thanks for a chance to win a copy! Haven’t read this author yet so adding to list,lol.
I just found one but haven’t had a chance to go there yet, it’s not exactly close by but I do want to get there.
A local cafe? There was one that my husband and I frequented…Jitters! It had the best cappuccinos, sandwiches, and homemade scones. We pop over and sit inside to enjoy a coffee and treat with a game of backgammon or sit outside with a croissant sandwich and iced coffee enjoying a cool noon breeze. Unfortunately, Starbucks around the corner affected their business. But, it was a marvelous place.
We have a little cafe called The Whistle Stop. It is a quaint little place where everything is homemade. Their desserts are amazing like Lemon Cream Cake and Coconut Cream Pie. They serve sandwiches from homemade bread , salads , homemade soup and of course sweet tea. Thsnk you for the review that helped me decide that I want to read the book. I love your blog and try to share things from it all the tine.
The closest we get to a little cafe is a McDonald’s where many of the old retirees sit and have bull sessions. It would be
wonderful to have a little cafe to kick back with a cup of coffee or glass of iced tea and a slice of the today’s dessert special.
The cover of this book is delightful. robeader53@yahoo.com
There is a local restaurant with home style cooking right outside of town. The Red Byrd has been a favorite of locals for many years.
Yes we have a coffee shop/café close by. I love going there.
I have a favorite café that makes the most amazing Reubin sandwiches with awesome fries on the side. At least once a month with friends. Plus they have a Little Library and there is a public library a block away from it. A book lovers dream.
Yes, we like to visit Marty’s Grill.
Those key lime bars look delicious. We have a small cafe called Pappa’s where the waitresses call the customers by their names. Great food too! Thanks!
Those bars look yummy! The book sounds good, too. I wish we had a local cafe.
We don’t have a cafe in our area. My sister lives in a small town and there is a cafe there that we like to have breakfast. We always order the hash brown omelet. Love the cover of “Death at the Day Lily Cafe” and I can’t wait to read the book.
Sissy’s in Seymour a cute little cafe that sells crafts.
I really enjoyed this book, I thought it was great. Thanks for posting your review and the food sounds delicious.
Yes we have one. Can’t afford to go very often. But they have good food
Yes, we do. I eat breakfast there on most mornings.
We don’t have a cozy little cafe in my town, it’s mostly fast food restaurants.
This recipe looks good. We don’t have a cozy little cafe in my town 🙁
We go to local place for sunday brunch
We have a little cafe that serves breakfast and lunch. It’s called Ginger’s Restaurant. Just good old home-cooking and not very big.
These sound delicious and they are so easy.
We have a grill that makes good burgers, but no good cafe type place.
No the town I live in doesn’t have any of the cafes left. I use to love going to them when we had them.
I love lime. Sounds so good. Thanks for the chance.
There are some cafés but I don’t get to frequent them due to mobility and transportation.
I, too, am a lime person. Looking forward to reading this new to me series and reporting to my book club.
I enjoy a good piece of key lime pie, a very summery dessert. This series sounds and looks great. We have Gina’s Cafe and the Whistle Stop Cafe. Both have really good food at prices. The fish tacos are to die for at the Whistle Stop, plus it makes me think of my favorite movie, Fried Green Tomatoes. Thanks for having the giveaway.
The Whistlestop. Your key lime bars look yummy!
Sounds good
So yummy! Love new books too ! Thank you!!
We have a café called Bud’s . Breakfast lunch and dinner and you can get about anything you want plus kids are welcomed.
The book sounds like lots of fun and I have just finished with a series, so am looking for something new.
My town has nothing but a fly market where you buy fishing supplies. Haha I eat at home. Thank you for the chance to win.
There is a cafe that has been around for 60 years. It is a local institution and a nostalgic throwback to when there were only 12,000 residents in my hometown; now there are about 160,000. Thank you for the chance to win.
Mama Jean’s and it has good country food…great lunches …and homemade desserts…thank you for the chance to win and enter the contest.
Marilyn ewatvess@yahoo.com
I love Key Lime Pie, and enjoy making it once or twice a year! We don’t have a small cafe in my town, but I try to go to the cafe at the bookstore (BAM or BN) when I go book shopping, and also enjoy looking for cafes when I travel. When we were on a trip with my son’s baseball team over Spring Break, we found a little cafe in South Carolina that made the best pastries and frappes! Thanks so much for sharing your review (and the recipe – yum!!!), it’s nice to read about a protagonist who’s close to my age! 😉
Nicole
Great review Kim, as always! I used to live in Garden Grove, CA & they have a diner in old town that was decorated 1950’s style. The food was awesome! Since the ownership changed I haven’t been back since I’m living out-of-the-county now. Hope the new owners kept it the same. Watson’s Drugstore in the city of Orange, CA was another place to eat where the “diner” part was out of the fifties as well. Loved there grilled cheese sandwiches & chocolate malts!
I don’t have a small cafe like this in my town. Thanks for the great review.
No, there are no cafes or coffee shops around here that I frequent.