Still Life in Brunswick Stew, the second book in the Cherry Tucker Mysteries, opens with, "They should've kept the mud pit." Author Larissa Reinhart hooked me with that sentence. She kept reeling me in, as she put Cherry through one hilarious adventure after another, until the very last sentence, and left me eager to read her third book, Hijack in Abstract.

The events in Still Life in Brunswick Stew take place a few months after those in Portrait of a Dead Guy, (read my Five-Star review here) and are, at times, of a more serious nature. The first murder victim in Portrait was a high school nemesis of Cherry, and his death didn't really upset her personally. In contrast, the first victim in Brunswick Stew, Eloise Parker, was Cherry's lifelong friend, ever since they were both in third grade together. [There's a funny story about how they met, involving theft and a unicorn. Read the book, for the details!] Eloise's death really hits Cherry hard.

Another more serious tone in the book comes from Crohn's Disease. Reinhart dedicates this book to her own sister-in-law, "for putting up with Crohn's." Her character Eloise has suffered from Crohn's for years. The reader learns a little, through Eloise, about how the lives of Crohn's sufferers are affected by their disease. Crohn's Disease even plays a part in Eloise's death. [Read the book for the details]

On a lighter note.... Eloise is a fellow artist. As our story begins, Eloise and Cherry are sharing a booth at an art festival. Eloise is selling exquisite Japanese-style black and white Raku pottery. Cherry has "quality art" for sale - her "Cherry Tucker still life oil paintings." But no one's buying Cherry's paintings of beach scenes, bowls of peaches, and bulldogs — in fact, no one's bought anything in several months — and so she's broke. Could "paintbrush leprosy" be the reason? [Find out what that is, and if it's the cause of her lack of sales, when you read the book.]

I enjoyed reading Still Life in Brunswick Stew (twice!) for many reasons. One reason why I like Brunswick Stew (as well as the other Cherry Tucker Mysteries) so much is that I like Cherry herself so much. Why? Here are some examples.

~Cherry is generous with her friends. If she has only enough money to buy one take-out meal at a restaurant, she'll take that meal to a friend. [As a bribe, in return for information or other help, but that's irrelevant.]

~Cherry is such a good friend to those she cares about, that she would probably even give you the shirt off her back — and it would most likely be a shirt Cherry had fancied up in some way.

~That's another thing I like about Cherry. She seems to be constitutionally unable to wear clothing that she hasn't embellished in some way. Some examples given in Brunswick Stew are the Georgia Bulldogs tank that she adorned with tiny bulldog buttons (and added bulldog buttons to her flip-flops "for continuity"), and her church ensemble of a white sundress with large black polka dots, to which she hot-glued crimson flower heads (along with more flowers on her black flip-flops "for extra pizzazz to look her best at church"). Also, there's the funeral dress she decorated as a tribute to Eloise, with black and white sequins glued on — in the shape of a Raku pot, but everyone at the funeral thinks it looks like ###### [a highly entertaining story, but a spoiler, so read the book].

Another reason I like Still Life with Brunswick Stew so much is that Author Larissa Reinhart has written some great laugh-out-loud lines for, and about, Cherry. Here are just a few examples.

~ "Good Lord, stop that jumping," I yelled. "You're going to hurt yourself." [said to a man in a Speedo]

~ Sometimes it takes a person a few minutes to adjust to my creative ingenuity.

~ "You're no bigger than a flea and you keep biting pit bulls." [said to Cherry]

~ "You're looking real pretty in that dress. It's nice to see you in something normal-looking." [said by someone who clearly doesn't appreciate Cherry's efforts at embellishment]

~ "You're a commitment-phobic, relationship self-sabotager. Which, oddly enough, attracts men like sugar ants to peanut butter." [said to Cherry]

~ ???: "You call yourself a detective? Can't you put two and two together?"
Cherry: "I call myself an artist"....

~ Cherry: "I'm not trashy," I said, "I'm colorful."


I have still more reasons why I like Cherry and the Cherry Tucker Mysteries so much, but I am saving them for my next review. Stay tuned for my Hijack in Abstract blog post, coming soon!


I wholeheartedly recommend Larissa Reinhart's Still Life in Brunswick Stew, part of her Cherry Tucker Mysteries, to all cozy mystery lovers, and rate it a full Five out of Five Stars!


Originally published at Jane Reads
( )

I got the first two books in this series free or very cheap, and the descriptions and reviews made them sound like fun reading. I read them both, don't know why... because I had them, because I thought they had to get better.. don't know. At any rate, the character grated on me from the start. Mystery readers deplore the character that is too stupid to live, and Cherry Tucker not only lives up to it, she seems to revel in it. Why she has the friends and lovers she does astounds me. Nor does bother to learn from her mistakes. My comment if I knew her would be grow up. We'll, those are hours out of my life I'll never get back. ( )

Still Life in Brunswick Stew, the second book in the Cherry Tucker Mysteries, opens with, "They should've kept the mud pit." Author Larissa Reinhart hooked me with that sentence. She kept reeling me in, as she put Cherry through one hilarious adventure after another, until the very last sentence, and left me eager to read her third book, Hijack in Abstract.

The events in Still Life in Brunswick Stew take place a few months after those in Portrait of a Dead Guy, (read my Five-Star review here) and are, at times, of a more serious nature. The first murder victim in Portrait was a high school nemesis of Cherry, and his death didn't really upset her personally. In contrast, the first victim in Brunswick Stew, Eloise Parker, was Cherry's lifelong friend, ever since they were both in third grade together. [There's a funny story about how they met, involving theft and a unicorn. Read the book, for the details!] Eloise's death really hits Cherry hard.

Another more serious tone in the book comes from Crohn's Disease. Reinhart dedicates this book to her own sister-in-law, "for putting up with Crohn's." Her character Eloise has suffered from Crohn's for years. The reader learns a little, through Eloise, about how the lives of Crohn's sufferers are affected by their disease. Crohn's Disease even plays a part in Eloise's death. [Read the book for the details]

On a lighter note.... Eloise is a fellow artist. As our story begins, Eloise and Cherry are sharing a booth at an art festival. Eloise is selling exquisite Japanese-style black and white Raku pottery. Cherry has "quality art" for sale - her "Cherry Tucker still life oil paintings." But no one's buying Cherry's paintings of beach scenes, bowls of peaches, and bulldogs — in fact, no one's bought anything in several months — and so she's broke. Could "paintbrush leprosy" be the reason? [Find out what that is, and if it's the cause of her lack of sales, when you read the book.]

I enjoyed reading Still Life in Brunswick Stew (twice!) for many reasons. One reason why I like Brunswick Stew (as well as the other Cherry Tucker Mysteries) so much is that I like Cherry herself so much. Why? Here are some examples.

~Cherry is generous with her friends. If she has only enough money to buy one take-out meal at a restaurant, she'll take that meal to a friend. [As a bribe, in return for information or other help, but that's irrelevant.]

~Cherry is such a good friend to those she cares about, that she would probably even give you the shirt off her back — and it would most likely be a shirt Cherry had fancied up in some way.

~That's another thing I like about Cherry. She seems to be constitutionally unable to wear clothing that she hasn't embellished in some way. Some examples given in Brunswick Stew are the Georgia Bulldogs tank that she adorned with tiny bulldog buttons (and added bulldog buttons to her flip-flops "for continuity"), and her church ensemble of a white sundress with large black polka dots, to which she hot-glued crimson flower heads (along with more flowers on her black flip-flops "for extra pizzazz to look her best at church"). Also, there's the funeral dress she decorated as a tribute to Eloise, with black and white sequins glued on — in the shape of a Raku pot, but everyone at the funeral thinks it looks like ###### [a highly entertaining story, but a spoiler, so read the book].

Another reason I like Still Life with Brunswick Stew so much is that Author Larissa Reinhart has written some great laugh-out-loud lines for, and about, Cherry. Here are just a few examples.

~ "Good Lord, stop that jumping," I yelled. "You're going to hurt yourself." [said to a man in a Speedo]

~ Sometimes it takes a person a few minutes to adjust to my creative ingenuity.

~ "You're no bigger than a flea and you keep biting pit bulls." [said to Cherry]

~ "You're looking real pretty in that dress. It's nice to see you in something normal-looking." [said by someone who clearly doesn't appreciate Cherry's efforts at embellishment]

~ "You're a commitment-phobic, relationship self-sabotager. Which, oddly enough, attracts men like sugar ants to peanut butter." [said to Cherry]

~ ???: "You call yourself a detective? Can't you put two and two together?"
Cherry: "I call myself an artist"....

~ Cherry: "I'm not trashy," I said, "I'm colorful."

I have still more reasons why I like Cherry and the Cherry Tucker Mysteries so much, but I am saving them for my next review. Stay tuned for my Hijack in Abstract blog post, coming soon!

I wholeheartedly recommend Larissa Reinhart's Still Life in Brunswick Stew, part of her Cherry Tucker Mysteries, to all cozy mystery lovers, and rate it a full Five out of Five Stars!

Originally published at http://janereads2.blogspot.com/2014/05/still-life-in-brunswick-stew-by-larissa.h... ( )

Our Review, by LITERAL ADDICTION's Pack Alpha - Michelle L. Olson:

Still Life in Brunswick Stew is the second book in Larissa's Cherry Tucker Mystery Series, and our super lovable Cherry is back and getting into more and more trouble! The poor girl just can't help it.

Like book 1, Still Life in Brunswick Stew is a delightful, light-hearted Southern mystery with lovable characters, fantastic dialogue and a truly fun story; the characters simply come to life on the page, and light up the picture of these quaint Southern towns vividly in the mind's eye.

Beyond the new mystery of book 2, it was fun to enter Cherry's quirky mind and mull over the issues of her current relationship with Deputy Luke, while entertaining paranoia that her simple, stupid, and loyal as a Labrador ex Todd may actually be a genius in disguise, and master manipulator as well, all while acknowledging that she's inherited a disease from her mother - a weakness & stupidity for handsome men.

This installment wasn't quite as fast-paced as the debut novel of the series, but there were enough twists and turns to keep it interesting (especially at the end - I honestly didn't see the final outcome coming!).

My only complaint about the book was that I felt like there wasn't enough emotion displayed with regards to her friend's death. Yes, Cherry was hell-bent on finding Eloise's killer, but I didn't feel like she grieved...

Still Life in Brunswick Stew is still a very good book & I would recommend it and its predecessor Portrait of a Dead Guy. - it's a solid 4 Skull read! :) ( )

I've always enjoyed reading a cozy mystery that is set in the South and has humor and romance intertwined within the storyline, and author Larissa Reinhart did not disappoint me with her entertaining novel Still Life in Brunswick Stew!

Still Life in Brunswick Stew is the second book in the Cherry Tucker Mystery Series. This fun whodunit story is written in the first person narrative, set in the small Southern town of Halo, Georgia, and it engages the reader to follow the latest investigative adventure of struggling artist Cherry Tucker.

Cherry Tucker and childhood friend Eloise Parker set up a tent to sell their art work at the Sidewinder Annual Brunswick Stew Cook-Off. But slow sales and an outbreak of food poisoning leads to tragedy when Eloise dies after consuming the bad stew. The medical examiner proclaims that Eloise has died from a combination of accidental food poisoning and health related issues due to having Crohn's disease. But Eloise's family does not believe that her death was accidental, they think someone has poisoned Eloise, and they ask Cherry to investigate the real cause of her friend's untimely death. What starts out as a quest to find the cause of her friend's death turns into a zany adventure that causes all kinds of trouble for our sassy amateur sleuth!

This was such a fun read that had a great mixture of mystery, romance and humor. Even though I did not read the first book in the series, Portrait of a Dead Guy, I easily found myself entertained by Cherry's craziness that I now want to go back and read the first book. From Cherry's dysfunctional family, to her ongoing romantic issues, to her amateur sleuthing skills, this sassy southern lady's antics kept me entertained and laughing as I followed her quest to solve Eloise's murder.

With a zany cast of characters (many who return from Portrait of a Dead Guy) who keep the reader in stitches with their witty dialogue and hilarious interactions; a storyline filled with enough drama, suspense and twist and turns that keeps the reader guessing; and a richly detailed setting that transports the reader to a quirky Southern small town for some down home sweet tea and brunswick stew; Still Life in Brunswick Stew is an entertaining cozy mystery interwoven with Southern charm and humor that leaves you wanting to go on more crazy adventures with sassy Cherry Tucker!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours.

http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2013/06/still-life-in-brunswick-stew-b... ( )