Review: Magnolia Bluff is a small town in the Texas Hill Country. It’s a beautiful little place. Calm. Relaxing. And deadly.

Can lyrics from Jimmy Buffett’s songs help Bliss solve a month-old murder?

The Texas hill town of Magnolia Bluff looms as a mere distraction for Bliss Jager when the new-to-her motorcycle breaks down under a banner publicizing the annual persimmon festival. Her other thought at the time: What in the world is a persimmon?

Only in town an hour, she’s offered pizza-for-life and a job at Doyle’s General Store. The job comes with two perks: a yellow throat toucan, which is odd enough, but add to that the ghost of Merrick Doyle and life takes a vociferously strange turn.

The fatherly man is friendly and much loved, and related to most everyone in town. Trouble is, he’s been dead a month. Townspeople think he died of natural causes but he insists he was murdered.

Can Bliss expose the killer before people find out she’s been getting clues from a ghost, and um…a toucan? More important, can she find the killer before the killer finds her?

Review by Book Editor:

Cindy Davis is a master storyteller, and The Great Peanut Butter Conspiracy is an excellent example. Combine a small town where nothing out of the extraordinary happens with a Toucan, a murder, a stranger in town, and you have yourself a fun and fast-paced mystery.

The stranger in town happens to be a girl named Bliss whose motorcycle breaks down. While she waits to have it repaired, she encounters a ghost, the victim of a murder.

Just what she needs. Bliss is running from ghosts of her own, but can’t resist the pleas of the Magnolia Bluff ghost who wants his murderer to be found and justice done, a necessity for him to be able to move on.

You will definitely enjoy reading how Cindy deals with a spunky Toucan while she works to solve the murder. Time is short, and she must accomplish this goal by the time her motorcycle is repaired. You see?

She can’t stay in one place too long. Why? Is she, too, in danger? If so, from whom?

Review by Richard Schwindt:

What happens when we attempt to become a free spirit? Go ask Bliss Jager after her motorcycle breaks down under the sign advertising a persimmon festival. She has no idea what a persimmon even is, let alone what the festival entails. And, as luck would have it, she has arrived in one of the more interesting towns in Texas hill country – Magnolia Bluff.

It’s not long at all before she has a job, and is confidante of a ghost named Merrick Doyle, who now wants to tell her that he was murdered. The Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles are emerging as the series to watch; nine novels by nine authors, released over nine months.

Many of the characters overlap, and will soon become familiar to readers. The first two novels in the series, by CW Hawes and Caleb Pirtle, set a high bar.

Though tonally quite different, The Great Peanut Butter Conspiracy easily meets this level of excellence. Cindy Davis is an accomplished mystery writer, and Bliss Jager radiates the freshness and humor of someone to whom unusual things just happen.

Highly recommended with pizza and a milkshake.

Review by RoxB:

Author Cindy Davis adds the third book to the incredible Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles. Bliss loves riding her motorcycle, eating pizza, singing Jimmy Buffet songs, and learning new things.

She’s never met a stranger and proves it when her bike breaks down on the edge of Magnolia Bluff. This endearing girl gets someone to work on her bike, gets a job, and befriends a Toucan named Diablo.

Author Davis teases out the attributes of Bliss and all the characters with realistic interactions. When Merrick Doyle, father to her benefactors and owner of Diablo, appears in his ghostly embodiment, he is delighted that Bliss hears and sees him. They team up to find his murderer. The early conversation between them sets the tone of their relationship.

This is too freaky. “Okay, guy, we have to set some ground rules for this relationship. I need privacy.”

Understood. There is silence, and I close my eyes again, but he continues, By the way, I’m pretty sure you can talk to me from inside your head. You know, think at me. Then you won’t shock people.

The mystery grabs the reader from page one with unexpected twists and turns, flashes of whimsy, and characters you’ll want to meet next time you visit Magnolia Bluff. A fun element of this story is the clues come from the lyrics of Buffet songs into Bliss’s mind. Making the connections to identify the culprit takes input from the ghost, the toucan, and several town folks.

I highly recommend The Great Peanut Butter Conspiracy by Cindy Davis for lovers of murder mysteries with a distinctive flair. CW Hawes and Caleb Pirtle III delivered the two previous books in this series with their style and characters that you won’t want to miss.

This unique town has a penchant for crime, and the Underground Authors will share their stories, each as a stand-alone reading treasure.

Please click Here to find The Great Peanut Butter Conspiracy on Amazon.