If Mashed Potatoes Could Dance by Paige Shelton

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Diana Bulls

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Check out details on how to win a copy of this book at the end of this review.

Isabelle "Betts" Winston and her grandmother, Missouri "Miz," run a "country" cooking school in Broken Rope, Missouri. This is the second book in the country cooking school series, following If Fried Chicken Could Fly.

Broken Rope prides itself on its history of legendary murders and has developed quite a tourist industry based on this history. To make things more interesting, ghosts from Broken Rope's sordid past tend to appear at the most inconvenient times. Ghosts who can only be seen by Betts and Miz, and who come to them seeking "help."

Image source: Berkley

Miz and Betts are getting ready for their next round of classes based on everything you might want to know about mashed potatoes, when Sally Swarthmore makes her appearance. Sally was accused of hacking up her parents with an ax (loosely based on the story of Lizzie Borden) and is trying to find her diary to prove she was the victim. It's not long before a tourist is murdered and two others are missing, and Betts is trying to solve two mysteries without getting herself "chopped!"

It's a cute story, but predictable and the action moved along a little slow for my taste. I also thought that there wasn't enough background information on Broken Rope or some of the characters. This was probably covered in the first book. I think potential readers should definitely read If Fried Chicken Could Fly first. If they can build a rapport with the characters in that book, then go on and read If Mashed Potatoes Could Dance. This is something I am going to have to do myself.

To enter to win a copy of If Mashed Potatoes Could Dance, simply email KRL at life@kingsriverlife[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Mashed”, or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen November 3, 2012. U.S. residents only.

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If Mashed Potatoes Could Dance

Diana Bulls is an ongoing contributor to our
Hometown History section, having collected vintage kitchen utensils for over 40 years; she is also actively involved with the Reedley Historical Society.