Friday 20 September 2013

The Biscuit Witch by Deborah Smith

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“‘Biscuit Witches,’ Mama called them. She’d heard the old Appalachian term as a girl. She’d inherited that talent. My mother could cast spells on total strangers simply by setting a plate of her biscuits in front of them.”
Published by Bell Bridge Books in May 2013
Pages – 130
Goodreads Summary
Welcome back to the Crossroads Cove where new loves, old feuds, and poignant mysteries will challenge siblings Tal, Gabby, and Gus MacBride to fight for the home they lost and to discover just how important their family once was, and still is, to the proud people of the Appalachian highlands. Tallulah MacBride hasn’t been back to North Carolina since their parents’ tragic deaths, twenty years ago. But now, Tal heads to cousin Delta Whittlespoon’s famous Crossroads Café in the mountains above Asheville, hoping to find a safe hiding place for her young daughter, Eve. What she finds is Cousin Delta gone, the café in a biscuit crisis, and a Scotsman, who refuses to believe she’s passing through instead of “running from.” He believes she needs a knight in shining flannel.When a pair of sinister private eyes show up, Tal’s troubles are just beginning. For Tal’s brother and sister—Gabby, the Pickle Queen, and Gus, the Kitchen Charmer—the next part of the journey will lead down forgotten roads and into beautiful but haunted legacies.
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AAARRRGGGHHH!
This book makes me crazy! Never have I loved and hated a book more and been left so desperate for the next one.
This book is oozing with Southern hospitality in the style of authors such as Fannie Flagg and Beth Hoffman.  I found myself desperate to visit the Crossroads Cafe which would definitely give the Whistlestop Cafe a run for it’s money. I fell in love with the quirky, yet vibrant characters who could easily have stepped out of Northern Exposure. The MacBride’s have dug their way into my heart and I can’t wait to find out what happens to Tal’s brother and sister in the future publications.
However I had a couple of really big issues with this book.
Firstly there was far too much information dumped in the first couple of chapters. I really didn’t need to know so much about the characters so soon into the story, especially characters who were barely featured in the story. I can understand that this book is a connected to another and the author wanted to tell us all about the characters, other readers might have already met, but it was too much for me.
Secondly, I actually felt the story could’ve started further in. There is an extremely hilarious incident with a grizzly bear in the car eating cupcakes and I’m convinced the book should’ve started there.
Lastly, it took me far too long to work out who was actually telling the story. I didn’t realise the POV was alternating between Tal and the Scottish Doctor until a quarter of the way through the book.
Having whinged and moaned about all that – I really really did love this story when I got into it. It was descriptive to the point where you mouth watered every time they mentioned food. It was exciting and fast paced at times as Tal confronts her past, to create a new future. And it was full of warmth – family and friendship bonds that no one could ever break, leaving you feeling happy and content by the end of the book.
This is the kind of book that you want to read snuggled up on the sofa in winter.

3 comments:

  1. Oh, I hate it when books start too early as well - it's very annoying! I'm glad you still enjoyed this though, and I will keep an eye out for it at the library as it sounds good. And 'The Biscuit Witch' is quite possibly the best title for a book I've ever heard! Great review :)

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  2. I'm tempted by the name and that description sounds intrigunig! :)

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