Murder Made to Order
by Lena Gregory
If you have ever wondered what it would be like to move from cold, urban New York to small town Florida complete with snakes, alligators, and monkeys, try reading Murder Made to Order. In this cozy mystery, Gia’s diner, the All-Day Breakfast Café, is in danger of being shut down because of zoning regulations. When Gia finds the town council’s president dead, things get complicated.
Not even sure she wants to live in Florida, Gia finds herself in the middle of a forest fire, a tornado, and a murder investigation. On the plus side, however, are her supportive friend of ten years Savannah, her potential boyfriend Hunt, and a lot of encouraging townsfolk.
Author Lena Gregory draws the reader into Murder Made to Order with a good background, interesting characters, and surprising complications. Along the way you learn a lot of interesting things about life near the Ocala National Forest.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Lyrical Underground (Kensington Press) for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #2 in the All-Day Breakfast Café Mystery Series, but works as a standalone.
Publication: June 19, 2018 — Kensington Press (Lyrical Underground)
Memorable Lines:
Gia stood in the middle of the living room and stared out the window. Rain pounded against the house. Lightning flashed, bolt after bolt, illuminating the yard. Mesmerizing. The tall, thin palm tree outside her front window bent in half.
“Twenty-one years old, barely old enough to drink, and he struts in like he owns the place. Drunk as a skunk and dumber than a bag of rocks, carryin’ on about how his daddy was going to own the place.”
Gia watched them walk away, realizing nothing united a community the way tragedy did. It seemed the need to help others brought out the best in people.
education pathways 
I disagree on this book. I felt some of her animal characters were wrong. There is so much misinformation on animal behavior on the internet. It is one dislikes.
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I saw you only gave it a 3.5 rating, and I wondered why. I rethought my rating but decided to keep it as is. Now I understand your problem with the book. Your knowledge of plants and animals helps you pick up things as problems that I read right past.
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Mary Brown had a lot of comments on my rating. I think we sold books for between us. Mary Brown is my one of first Goodreads friends. We started about the same time. I have feeling she does not know a lot about electronic. She has a successful Facebook account. I wouldn’t hurt for anything. We usually agree on the books.
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You are giving me quite a reading list.
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Right now I am 3/4’s of the way through a nonfiction book, Unbroken, written by the author of Seabiscuit. It reads like fiction. If the last part is as good as the rest, you’ll want to move it to the top of your list. It is not a new release. One of my brothers loaned it to me last summer and I’m just getting around to reading it. I’m sorry I waited so long.
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Awesome. I will check it out.
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Snakes, alligators, and monkeys are precisely why I can’t move to Florida, although we do have our share of snakes here in NC.
Enjoyed your review. 😊
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