Victoria Hamilton – Bowled Over

The second book in the Vintage Kitchen Mystery series, published March 5, 2013.
Genre: cozy mystery (with a recipe)
Cover: lovely



Stirring up trouble...
Vintage kitchenware and cookbook collector Jaymie Leighton has been estranged from her high school best friend Kathy Cooper since they were teenagers, but she never knew what turned Kathy against her. After fireworks at a Fourth of July picnic, Jaymie discovers the body of her former friend in the park. On the ground nearby is Jaymie's own Depression-era glass bowl, broken in two.
With her fingerprints all over the bowl and a troubled history with the victim, Jaymie suddenly finds herself at the top of the list of suspects. Did the killer intend to frame her for the murder? If so, she is ready to mix it up, because solving crimes is vintage Jaymie Leighton...


Jaymie is trying to find out what caused her best friend Katie to quit the friendship they had going for years, and to make amends. Become friends again if possible, but Katie won’t believe her when she says she has no idea what she has done. Nor will she give Jaymie a break, she will keep causing trouble when she can. Katie is taking care of her nephew Connor, but she is not really being nice to him, and when Jaymie tries to interfere, she sure gets her ear bended.
The next day is the fourth of July, which will be celebrated in Queensville with a sailboat race and of course fireworks. Jaymie is also excited to meet her sister’s new boyfriend who is coming over with the ferry from Canada. Will he be husband number three? It took Becca a long time to get financially over husband number two, and she has a successful internet business now, matching clients with pieces of precious china to complete their collections.

Jaymie is still not sure how she feels about her own friend Daniel, who clearly wants something more than just being friends. Even though everyone keeps telling her that he is really interested in her, and she should grab this opportunity with both hands. After all, he is handsome and a software millionaire. What is not to love? It has been 7 months since she has been dumped by her ex-boyfriend, but is she really ready for another relationship? And if she is, will that be Daniel? Or perhaps the hunky new detective in town?

Jaymie won’t have any more time to make amends with Katie, as that evening, she finds her body behind the washrooms. But now she is more than ever determined to find out what happened, and to find her killer. There are plenty of suspects, as Katie sure was not easy to get along with. She tried to get custody of her nephew; just now her sister is getting her act back together. The boys grandfather was also not a big fan, and how about her husband, and his business partner? Jaymie is determined to go to the bottom of this and luckily her best friends are willing and able to help out a bit. She even starts being friends with Heidi, the woman her ex left her for.


I did enjoy this cozy mystery, but not as much as I was hoping for. For this being Vintage Kitchen, there could have been more lovely details in it. Jaymie re-writing vintage recipes is only mentioned a few times, and I would have liked learning more about the vintage kitchen utensils she collects and uses. Other than the murder weapon. It played such a big part in the first book, I was just hoping for more details. Which does not mean this is not a good story!
Her two pets are great secondary characters, with the elusive cat Denver bringing solace this time when needed. Becca is still the bossy big sister who knows better, which is getting on Jaymie’s and my nerves.
I do like Jaymie, who is finally starting to find out what she wants out of life. And that does not mean she is not working at all, she works very hard at different kind of jobs. I am looking forward to reading more about her future.

The mystery totally threw me for a loop here, I did think something was fishy with a particular couple, but I did not dream about this at all. And when a mystery really surprises me, that is a good thing in my eyes.

8 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian