Juniper Bean Resorts to Murder by Gracie Ruth Mitchell
Author: Gracie Ruth Mitchell
Published: 2023
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Synopsis From Goodreads:
Juniper Bean has big plans for her writing career. Swoony kisses, sigh-inducing happily ever afters—she’s going to write them all.
There’s just one problem: she can’t seem to stop killing off her main characters.
After accepting that a genre change is in order, Juniper sets out to do some research. What’s the best way to carry a dead body? How exactly does one pick a lock? Juniper is going to find out—with the unwilling help of her new roommate, Aiden.
But Juniper’s plans go haywire when she stumbles across an actual, real-life dead body—and before she knows it, she and Aiden are thrust into the middle of a murder mystery that seems suspiciously tied to Juniper’s past.
Who killed the girl in the woods? Can Juniper ever get the hang of mystery writing? And, perhaps the biggest question of all: Why the heck does Aiden look so good in a tweed jacket?
My Take:
This seemed like it was going to be a fun, quirky romcom/murder mystery. And it was. Juniper is a unique character and some of her comments and thoughts made me laugh out loud. But what surprised me, was that it was so much more. There was a lot of depth added to this book that I was not expecting, dealing with people’s pasts, how to accept things you cannot change and forgive and move on. How the intersection of two people’s lives in one instance can change both of their lives forever. There is some darkness in this book, beyond the dead body. Contemplations about dealing with difficult truths, remembering those who have died, and heavy subjects like food insecurity, children living in bad home situations, and the disparity that can exist in one small town between the rich and the poor. But it is in Juniper’s reactions to these dark elements that you see the hope. The counterpoint of light against the dark. All of this is rather seamlessly threaded in with the development of Aiden and Juniper’s relationship as well as investigating the mystery of the girl’s murder and Juniper’s attempt at writing her first mystery novel. I appreciated that none of these areas seemed overly trite. Juniper and Aiden weren’t suddenly expert detectives, Juniper didn’t seamlessly write her mystery novel, and Juniper and Aiden both were flawed characters who needed to learn some things. In other words: it was rather like real life in many ways. Except that it is a cozy mystery novel, and so we know that all of its loose ends are tied up and it ends on a happy note.
Language:
None
Sexual Content:
There are some kisses, and a couple of near-kisses in this book. There is also one scene where one character licks food off of another character’s face, but it is written in an awkward “what is this person doing?!?” way. Also, there is reference to characters having relationships, and a teen/teacher relationship.
Drug/Alcohol Use:
There is mention of a character’s mother being drunk and passed out in memories as well as teen parties with drugs and alcohol.
Violence:
There is a dead body, and an attack, but it is not gruesome or overly descriptive.
Plot/Storytelling:
This is a plot-driven story, with a dual POV. It does seem to be slow in spots, and can be a little morbid when they visit the graveyard. Also, it does get wrapped up rather quickly at the end, but it didn’t go so quick it gave me whiplash.