Devil's Kiss is the first book in a new cozy series by Michelle Bennington. Released 31st May 2022 by Level Best Books, it's 278 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is a small-town cozy mystery with a young ex-adjunct professor of English who has turned her back (at least temporarily) on academia to find a more lucrative job and expand her possibilities. She has a good support network including her maternal grandmother, friends, and a cordial relationship with her ex-husband. Her network also includes her best friend who helps her land a job at a local craft boutique distillery. Unfortunately, said friend dies under suspicious circumstances during her first day on the job.
The plot is a bit trope-y: main character Rook starts out jobless, broke, downtrodden, rudderless, and still emotionally dependent on her ex. She is, frankly, a bit of a doormat and is alternately browbeaten and run over by everyone she meets. The secondary characters are eccentric small town archetypes, including the requisite incompetent corpulent lazy small town sheriff who is eye-wateringly unprofessional and stubborn/stupid.
The climax, denouement, and resolution are all self-contained in this book. The plotting is occasionally meandering, but not egregiously so. Some of the descriptive prose is a bit overblown and especially the passages dealing with the male characters ogling some of the female characters left me a bit cold. It's not over the top, but it was on the "bodice ripper" side of the spectrum.
The unabridged audiobook format has a run time of 8 hours and 46 minutes and is capably narrated by Courtney Patterson. She does a good job with characters of a range of ages and both male and female. The story is set in Kentucky and she does a decent approximation of the local accents. Recording and production quality are high throughout the book.
Three and a half stars. Fans of Ellery Adams, Vicki Delany, and Kate Carlisle will likely enjoy this one.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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