A Doomful of Sugar is the first book in Catherine Bruns’ Maple Syrup Mysteries series. The storyline flows smoothly in this fast-paced cozy whodunit. The characters are three-dimensional, the well-plotted mystery is intriguing, and there’s a great mix of mystery, everyday life, and complicated family relationships. There’s no shortage of twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. I recommend this delightful series to readers who enjoy well-crafted cozy mysteries.

When Leila Khoury, a teacher living in Florida, her mother, Selma, and her younger brother and reporter for the Maple Messenger, Simon, gather in her father’s attorney’s, Theo Martin, office for the reading of her father’s will, she learns that he had recently made a new will. Victor Khoury, a well-loved and respected citizen of Sugar Ridge, Vermont, left the family farm, Sappy Endings, to Leila, stipulating that she run the business for one year, at which time she can sell the business if she so desires. In addition to the farm filled with maple trees, there’s a café, a gift shop, and the sugar shack where the maple syrup is processed for Leila to oversee. Leila’s mother provides maple-flavored baked goods for the café, Jessica Fowler cooks and takes care of the café, and Noah Rivers, a man Leigh doesn’t know or trust, manages the farm and maple syrup production. All Leila wants to do is return to Florida, but she decides to honor her father’s final wishes.

When her father’s good friend, Police Chief Alan Crosby, informs the family that he suspects Victor’s death was a premeditated murder, everyone is shocked. Simon becomes the prime suspect, but Leila immediately suspects Noah. Leila enlists her best friend, Heather Turcot, to help clear Simon’s name and find themselves in harm’s way.

This is a wonderful start to a series set in Vermont. Leila Khoury comes home for her father's funeral. Only to discover that he was murdered. There are no shortage of suspects. Leila begins to investigate and thereby places herself in harms way. The outcome of the book and the suspects totally floored me.

This was a new author and new series for me and I very much enjoyed it. Leila is back in Vermont at the death of her father and is stunned to find out he left the family business, Sappy Endings, a syrup making business, with a cafe and giftstore to her. She is deeply unsettled and even more so by the fact that her beloved father was murdered in the beautiful small town she had called home. She decided to give the business a year but more importantly needs to find out what really happened to her Dad. This is an interesting mystery, with several suspects, employees she doesn't know if she can trust, someone trying to frame her brother, and a murder that takes place right in front of her eyes. Best of all a guilty party I never saw coming. Definitely worth your time!

Good start to a new series! From the book blurb: "Leila Khoury has always believed that everyone loved her father as much as they loved his artisanal maple syrup. But when he's killed, and she returns to Sugar Ridge, Vermont to take over his business, she starts to realize how much of his life she's left untapped." Of course, Leila feels she needs to "help" the police to discover the killer, even though she is putting herself in danger by doing it.

It took me a while to warm up to Leila, who was her father's pet, but who has been at odds with her mother for years. It never really says how old she is, but she left VT when her fiancee broke off their engagement, and has spent the last 4 years in Fl, so that means she must be at least 26. But in the beginning of the book, she acts more like a spoiled teen than a 20 something. To give the author credit, Leila does show a good amount of growth throughout the book and I did end up liking her. Fingers crossed there is another in this series, coming soon!!

This is a new author and of course, a new series, for me. I took a chance on it because I live in Vermont and I always love cozy mysteries set in New England. This was of particular interest because of the added bonus that it takes place on a maple syrup farm.

The mystery itself was well written, with twists and turns along the way. As with most cozy mysteries, it is, however, completely implausible and downright silly to think that a woman who just inherited a supposedly thriving maple syrup business would have time to track down her father's murderder. But, we all know that when we pick up a cozy mystery and we still love them, right?

I'm not sure what it as that had me on the fence with this one. I read that the author lives in New York, though I don't know if she lives in upstate New York which is rural or in NYC from that bio. However, she's writing about Vermont, but it just didn't have a completely small town feel to me. It was stated the town was on the western side of Vermont with a view of the mountains. I guess I wanted a little more description. The Green Mountains run down sort of the center of Vermont and people live on one side "of the mountain" or the other. If one lived in the Champlain Valley or along the western border, you'd see the Green Mountains on one side and the Taconic Mountains in New York on the other side, but you wouldn't be on top of either one. I don't know really. I guess details like that don't bother most people. The description of the town perhaps needed a little more; it didn't sound all that "vermonty." We refer to our small towns as villages.

The other thing is that the owners of the maple syrup farm are Lebanese. I have no objection to the nationality--Vermont has a reputation for being welcoming to immigrants. There are 600+ sugarmakers in Vermont and while it is plausible for someone who is NOT a Vermonter to own one, I guess I'd need a little more information about how this family broke into what is a field that typically, generational Vermonters own and operate. It would probably add a little more background to the story as well. How did a Lebanese family come to own a maple syrup farm? Other than just saying her father purchased it---Typically, I think, maple syrup farms are like the lobster fishing industry--they are passed from generation to generation. Then to add to a Lebanese family owning the farm, Noah is supposedly from South Carolina. Sigh.

So, in the end, for me--this book really isn't very quintessential Vermont and that's certainly okay, but it's not what I was expecting when I was looking for a new cozy mystery "set in Vermont." However, the writing is good, the story keeps one guessing. It just doesn't feel at all like it's set in Vermont. I may or may not read the next one.

I've always enjoyed Catherine Bruns' books, but she hit it out of the park with this new series. I couldn't put it down. Her characters are well fleshed out and there are twists and turns all the way to the end. I loved her kitten, Toast. I can't wait for the next book to see where things go with her and Noah.

Catherine Bruns has another hit ! A Doomful of Sugar is wonderful. Well written with characters you would want as friends. Intriguing story that keeps you turning the pages.

This is an excellent book. A cozy mystery that grabbed my interest almost from the first page. The writing is witty and it kept me guessing right to the end. I highly recommend it

I really enjoyed this well-crafted cozy mystery. The setting, characters, and plot were all excellent. The little cat, name Toast, was a nice touch. The conclusion was satisfying particularly with the unexpected twist when I thought it was over. While I had some suspicion about the perpetrator early on, I was surprised by the actual revelation. I'm looking forward to read the next one.