Wisconsin, amateur-sleuth, series, suspense, secrets, lies, recipes, murder-investigation, local-law-enforcement, state-detectives, widow, family-business, family, relatives, relationships, friendship, pet-cat, Northwoods, small-business, small-town*****

Emily is a widow of a LEO who runs the donut shop with her father-in-law (a retired LEO) and is engaged to another local law enforcement officer. This book can easily stand alone.
It wasn't difficult to vote for "most likely to be murdered", but solving the whodunit was another matter entirely and very well done with some very sneaky red herrings and surprising twists.
Not exactly an unbiased review because I'm from Wisconsin and the setting is a tourist town in Wisconsin near Duluth. Besides that, I Back the Badge.
I requested and received an EARC from Kensington Books/Kensington Cozies via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )

This 8th installment in the Deputy Donuts cozy series, set in northern Wisconsin, is another outstanding mystery.

Emily Westhill, the co-owner of the Deputy Donut Cafe, is getting ready for her wedding which is less than two weeks away and is spending a lot of time attending events at the local arts festival. Her parents are visiting and all seems well.

Of course, then there's a murder (Emily finds the body) and, of course, she gets involved in trying to solve it.

This series has clever plots, including this one, and a terrific cast of characters.

Love it and highly recommend it to cozy mystery fans.

(I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via Net Galley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.) ( )

Emily Westhill is half owner of Deputy Donut, along with her ex-father-in-law Tom. She's thriving and happy and about to marry her fiancé, Brent Fyne. The Fallingbrook Arts Festival is in town, and she's getting more business with the competitors moving from business to business with their acts. Life is good...or at least it was...

When she watches a bagpiper play, it's obvious he's very good and of course, wins one of the contests. But he's also annoying, playing the pipes up and down the street, during other's acts. After speaking with people, Emily finds out that he's not well-liked, either. The next morning tragedy strikes when Emily finds the piper dead, and calls the police. There's a list of suspects, and she's stunned to discover that both she and her parents are on the list. With less than two weeks until her wedding, Emily knows she needs to figure this out now or wedding bells won't be ringing for her...

This is the eighth book in the series and I have read them all. It's a delightful series, and the characters progress as it goes along; it's nice to see that things don't stay stagnant in the books. Emily is a great character; she's strong, intelligent, and smart; Brent admires these things and doesn't berate her when she finds clues for him. Her friends are interesting, as well as her employees, and we learn different things about them through the series.

In this one when the bagpiper dies, she doesn't know who the killer is, obviously, but she tries to find out (which is expected). Is it someone she already knows, or a stranger to her? And why was the piper killed? Also, why, and this is a big one, was a Deputy Donut mug found next to him? She's afraid it might implicate her parents in the murder, and she knows they didn't do it. But looking for a suspect with so many people in town isn't easy. Still, she manages to ask the right questions without antagonizing anyone, and that's a big plus in my eyes.

It isn't easy to write a review without giving away the plot line, mainly because this book has not been published yet, but I can tell you that Emily has a lot to do in this book, with the festival and wedding plans, and it might even be her cat Dep who gives her a clue, but you will have to read the book to find out. The clues are there, but watch for the red herrings that pepper the book.

When the ending comes, the climax is worth it all as Emily needs to use her wits to figure it all out and stay safe (as we know she will). It's practically the best part of the book and don't peek! I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did, and I look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review. ( )