Mystery on Ice: Exploring 'A Deadly Inside Scoop'| BLK Girl Reads Book Club Podcast Ep. 9

Episode Transcript
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Jann (00:01):
Recent M B A grad, Bronwyn Cruz has just taken over her
family's ice cream shop inChagrin Falls, Ohio.
And she's going back to basicsWyn is renovating crew's
creamery to restore its formerglory and filling the menu with
delicious, homemade ice creamflavors.
Many from her grandmother'soriginal recipes, but unexpected
construction delays mean.

(00:23):
She misses the summer season andthe shop has a literal cold
opening the day she opens herdoors and early snow descends on
the village and keeps thecustomers away.
To make matters worse, thatevening wind finds a body in the
snow and it turns out the deadman was a grifter from an old
feud With a cruise family, soonwind's father is implicated in

(00:44):
his death.
It's not easy to juggle a new toher business while solving a
crime, but Wyn is determined todo it.
With the help of her quirky bestfriends and her tight-knit
family, she'll catch the icecold killer before she has a
meltdown.
Okay, welcome back to Black GirlReeds.
I'm your host, Jan,

Joi (01:02):
And I your co-host Joy?

Jann (01:05):
and this is episode 10, I believe.
So this time we're reviewing aDeadly Inside scoop by Abby
Collette, and we're gonna startoff as usual with ratings.
So Joy, what would you rate thisone?

Joi (01:19):
I think I'll rate this one.
Um, a three and a half, 3.5.
It's like a cozy murder mystery.
It's perfect for like, for um, astormy day, kind of, you know,
you're reading, got some hotcocoa and it's perfect because
it's like winter themed, so it'slike, oh, I am gonna actually a
little cold, you know?
So got a little blanket, so,yeah.

(01:41):
What about you?

Jann (01:44):
Um, I'm going to, I was gonna say a three, but I feel
like that's a bit of a cop out,but I'm still gonna say a three
actually for the same reasons.
Like, I like mystery books, butthis one for some, I've never,
when I read mystery is normallylike a thriller mystery and I'm
not used to like cozy mystery,which may be a good or a bad

(02:07):
thing'cause I love cozy stuff,but I feel like this is
something I would read when itis cold outside and I'm under a
blanket and like doing somethinglike that, like cozy activities.
So there's a time and a place.
I feel like this is a free forthat reason.

Joi (02:22):
I think so too.
Like is, I don't, I don't hateit.
I don't love like love, love it.
But it's a good story to read,you know?
It was fun to read.
Yeah.

Jann (02:32):
it was a fun read.
Yeah.

Joi (02:34):
Mm-hmm.

Jann (02:35):
okay, well we're gonna get into the discussion here.
I have some questions prepared.
and for anyone who doesn't wantspoilers, just a heads up that
there will be spoilers ahead.

Joi (02:45):
And make sure you come back after you read it.

Jann (02:48):
Yeah, if you wanna log off and read, then make sure you
come back.
All right, joy, let's start withthe discussion questions and
we're gonna start pretty ongenerics.
What was your favorite characterand why?

Joi (03:00):
I think my favorite character is hard to say.
So her Bronwyn's mom, I see.
S me.
I would love to just like, shewas really sweet and she helped
her out at her shop andeverything, but she's also like,
I did my time doing 40 hour workweeks.

(03:21):
I'll come and help, but usuallyI'm doing yoga, I'm hanging out
at home.

Jann (03:27):
Okay, so she was relatable to you.

Joi (03:29):
yeah.
But I really like riff cut too.
The grandmother, um, well what'sher name?
Re's grandmother?
Is it R'S Grand Maisie'sGrandmom who lived above the
shop, I think it was, that hadthe cat.
She was sweet.
So I did the most relatablecharacter is the mom.
And then my favorite characterwas Ika.

Jann (03:49):
I like that she was always feeding them,

Joi (03:52):
Yeah.

Jann (03:52):
like they took it almost as a threat, like, here, eat
this.
At least before she comes overand demands that we eat a bunch.

Joi (03:59):
But I mean, that's grandma, you know, that's grandma.
And she gave them gloves, Ibelieve too.
At one point she goes, yourhands like, need some gloves.
And then she turned up the heatin the ice cream shop.
She's like, it's a ice creamshop.
It doesn't need to be that hot.
What about you?
Who was your favorite?

Jann (04:18):
let's talk about your least favorite first.

Joi (04:21):
Okay.
Um, shoot, who was my leastfavorite?
Honestly, I say it was the cop.
And it is not like political oranything.
It was just like he didn't dohis job at all.
And then like when he's likequestioning the first night when
the bodies vow and he let Ren,um, question, uh, what was her

(04:47):
name?
Um, the kid's mom.
Jasper's Mom, Glenys.
She's like, well, he was downthere.
I saw him.
What else were you doing?
She was questioning, he was justlooking like, yeah, what?
What was he doing down there?
You know?
And I'm just like, no, thiscan't happen.
This is a murder going on.
You know, like you're supposed.
She's like, yeah, I saw her andhow mad would you be being
Brinn?

(05:07):
Like, yeah, I saw that kid.
He's over there.
And then they bring them to you.
Like they said that you saw themthere, you know, so

Jann (05:15):
Yeah, you really just out me as a snitch.
That's a good point.
Like if they are the murderer,now they know who to come to as
like, who the witness was.
Uh, I didn't like the copeither.
He seemed very incompetent andarrogant at the same time,

Joi (05:28):
like, how could he be incompetent in areas like
arrogant, like

Jann (05:31):
Yeah.
I thought Maisie was dead onwhen she kept calling him the
stupid cop or something.
What did she keep calling him?

Joi (05:40):
Oh

Jann (05:40):
Macy was funny.
I, she annoyed me a lot, but shewas funny at times.

Joi (05:44):
yeah.
I feel like we all have a Maisiein our lives.
Andria, honestly.

Jann (05:50):
Ria was insane.

Joi (05:52):
Sometimes

Jann (05:52):
Like, it, it was so confusing to me.
What.

Joi (05:57):
I said sometimes I'm afraid I'm the Maisie in my friends
group.

Jann (06:02):
Why is that something to be afraid of?

Joi (06:04):
I dunno.
She was kind of annoying, butlike she was cool though too,
like at times.
And she gardened like her wholegreenhouse situation and she
like grew the

Jann (06:14):
I don't, yeah.
I feel like she was annoying inthat like the way she went about
solving mysteries

Joi (06:22):
Yeah,

Jann (06:23):
annoying.
But her as a character, I didn'tfind like too annoying.

Joi (06:26):
true.
True.
You're right.
All right, now your turn.
Stop.
Um, putting it off.
Who was your favorite

Jann (06:35):
Who was my favorite?
I like the cat.

Joi (06:42):
girl?
Stop it.
Stop it.

Jann (06:47):
The cat that kept coming in the shop was pretty cool.
No, I'm joking.
Um, I dunno.
I guess I would say Maisie isprobably my favorite, even
though she was annoying me alot.
Like What was the guy, Ari?
Okay.
So I don't think it was rightthat she accused Ari right away.
I thought that was insane.

(07:08):
And honestly, that's one of thereasons why this book isn't
rated higher for me.
Just because like theirdetective solving skills were
awful.
Like how did it take, um, theguy that was crushing on her to
tell them that they can findinformation online?

Joi (07:23):
Right,

Jann (07:23):
Like, or you have to be at least a millennial, like what is
happening that you don'tunderstand that intrinsically,
like that should be in your d nA to

Joi (07:32):
But that should be number one thing you do.

Jann (07:34):
Exactly.
Like if you're gonna solve acrime, the internet is your
friend.
Duh.
Like

Joi (07:39):
But

Jann (07:40):
I really anoint me that they had to, he had to tell them
that.

Joi (07:43):
do you think it was kind of, because it's a cozy mystery,
it's like, let's think back tolike, I don't know, murder she
wrote or something like that.
Like let's try to think about itbefore just going straight to
Google.
You know, let's go look at thenewspapers in the library, kind
of

Jann (08:00):
I've never seen murder she wrote, so I have no idea what
you're talking about, but justbecause you have some
information on people on theinternet doesn't mean you don't
have to think about solving amurder.
You know?

Joi (08:10):
true.
Just some old fashionedsleuthing.

Jann (08:14):
that is old fashioned though.
It's just cutting out the partabout going to the library,
right?
You find a suspect, you researchthem, and then you try to figure
out, you still have to go andtalk to them to figure out where
they were that day.

Joi (08:25):
But the coziness is the library setting.
The coziness is like, oh, thisis kind of scary.
Like, oh, we found this kind ofnewspaper, and he's over there
reading a book.
Like, you know, it's like, it'snot like really stakes if
you're.

Jann (08:38):
the murder happened in front of their ice cream shop.
That could have been, that couldhave been at the table with
grandpa, which I don'tunderstand why he didn't tell
them that he was onto themearlier.
They could have been at thetable with grandpa, like doing
research and look up and see thelittle boy with the scarf going
by and say, oh, they're overthere doing the same shit they
were doing the night of themurder.

(08:59):
Like,

Joi (09:00):
I mean, you Right.
You're right.
And also he's not grandpa, he'spapa.

Jann (09:05):
oh yeah, you're right.
Pop, pop.
Yes, me, consider me Told.
Um, so yeah, I, I guess I kindof, I, I digressed quite a bit,
but Maisie was my favoritecharacter despite this fact that
she was an awful detective

Joi (09:22):
Mm-hmm.

Jann (09:23):
jumped to a lot of conclusions.
That was my main gripe with her.
It was just annoying that shewas so bad at it, even though
she's the one who wanted to doit.
Um,

Joi (09:34):
favorite ma'am.

Jann (09:37):
My least favorite character.
Why did I think about this?

Joi (09:42):
Like, come on, you did the questions, girl.
Like, come on.

Jann (09:47):
Oh, my mind has been everywhere lately.
My least favorite character

Joi (09:52):
Oh wait, I wanna chase

Jann (09:53):
probably Ari.
No, wait.
Ari is my least favoritecharacter, first of all, because
I feel like, I'm not sure if Ishould say this, but he gave off
like light-skinned energy

Joi (10:07):
big time.

Jann (10:08):
where he was just like above everybody, like, you know,
you messed up and like stilllike they're telling, coming to
you and saying, you might be theculprit, whatever.
Like, oh, well my dad's gettingblamed.
I don't care.
And I'm like, this is you tryingto make amends for the shit
you've done in your past,

Joi (10:25):
Exactly.

Jann (10:25):
Get it together.
Like he was just socondescending the entire time.
Even though he said quoteunquote, he was trying to be a
better person.
Like what part of anything thatyou're doing makes you a better
person?
Or maybe it's just because theywere annoying because the stuff
that they were doing wasannoying too.
I think it was kind ofunbelievable the way she
confronted him when they weredoing the like walk about like,
you've been quiet this wholetime and trying to be cautious,

(10:48):
and all of a sudden you're justgonna confront him.
Like, oh, by the way Ari, Ithink you murdered this person.
That was not at all slick,

Joi (10:55):
right.
I don't know, you can't accusepeople and then not have like a
weapon on you, so it's justlike, oh yeah, I did actually.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And now you're next.
But, um, I wanna change my, myanswer to who I like, what, what
I liked the least about it.

(11:16):
And it was the snow, the Ohiosnow.
It brought me back to walkinghome in the slush because we,
we.
Grew up in Ohio.
So actually wa was it inCuyahoga or was it somewhere
around that?
Right.

Jann (11:32):
Oh my goodness.
Yes.
It was Cuyahoga County.
Yes, we were in South EutGlenhurst, which they mentioned
in the book.
And this takes place in ChagrinFalls, which was very close to
where we were.
I know you, we moved away whenwe were young, but I feel like
you should still know that.

Joi (11:48):
no, I mean, I, we moved away when I was a freshman in
high school, so I mean, itdidn't really make too much,
like, it didn't mean too muchfor me yet.
But, um, when she said, oh yeah,we can't use this bad snow for
the ice cream.
I go to the good fluffy stuff.
I knew exactly what she waspicturing.
I knew exactly like the slush,she was talking about the dirty
stuff, you know, the ice thatlike, kind of like lays on top.

(12:09):
Like, no, that's not the goodstuff.

Jann (12:11):
Here's my thing though.
I feel like regardless, likethat recipe was just gross to
me.
'cause you never know what'sgonna happen, like.

Joi (12:20):
Yeah.

Jann (12:21):
understand it just freshly like fall in the snow, but a
bird could have came and poopedin that, like just wind blowing
the dirt and

Joi (12:31):
that it, the water that made the snow.
I mean, you're by like Erie,come on.
It was on fire at one point.

Jann (12:39):
So in case you didn't read it, just so you know what we're
talking about, she had a recipebook, for different kind of ice
creams from her grandmother.
and one of them, one of theingredients was freshly fallen
snow.
So she found the body becauseshe went out near the creek,
down a hill to the creek to digup fresh snow for this recipe,

(13:02):
which I don't agree with at all.
But just think about that, likesomebody went down there and
died.
Like, you never know what'sgoing on with like, It just
seemed a little gross and I feellike I might be overreacting,
but I also feel like I'm not,so,

Joi (13:21):
heard of ice cream from, I like, I know it's a book.
I know it's just like, you know,it's fiction.
But if anything I was thinkinglike shave ice is the closest
thing I could think of makingwith snow, you know?

Jann (13:30):
yeah, and I guess she said the reason like her grandmother
made this recipe is because shewas from the south and she'd
never seen snow before, so shemade this recipe, but at the
same time, you can still go andget a ice like machine or
whatever, like shaver and likedo that.
Like you don't need actual snow,but maybe I'm being judgy.
Let us know what you guys think.

(13:50):
Would you eat ice cream that wasmade with freshly fallen snow?

Joi (13:54):
Maybe artificial snow.
Nah.
'cause I saw official, no, nah.
'cause that's salt official,like you don't eat that.
Like, but I also eat, do,

Jann (14:00):
What?

Joi (14:07):
I think my answer is,

Jann (14:11):
yeah, let's just keep it at a no joy.

Joi (14:14):
Let's cut that out.
Cut that out.
Um, but yeah, um, it was, it'sfunny that you mentioned too
that her grandmother's from thesouth because I kind of saw like
parallels with our family.
Like,'cause our family on ourdad's side is from the south
that we know for sure that movedup to Ohio.
So it was just like, oh yeah,that's kind of cool, you know?

(14:35):
So,

Jann (14:36):
Yeah.
Kind of.
Cool.

Joi (14:37):
yeah,

Jann (14:38):
Okay.
Um, so my next question was thesetting of the book is in an ice
cream shop.
Do you think that the authorused this unique setting to
enhance the story?
And, um, what did you think itdid for the plot?
Or do you feel like it was, um,not a factor at all?

Joi (14:56):
I feel like she could have been doing anything.
I feel like she could have beenjust sledding on this fresh snow
and found a body.
I.
You know, and just being suckedinto it that way.
Um, I don't think that it wasnecessary, but I do see how it
kind of like added moredimension to her as a character
and added more dimension to thestory.
But I do feel like sometimeslike the ice cream making took

(15:20):
too much of the book, you know?

Jann (15:24):
at the beginning.
Yes.
I feel like it was like, I don'treally care about these ice
cream recipes, but at the sametime it did put me in that like,
cozy vibe, you know, when shewas just making ice cream and
talking about her grandmotherand how they used to do it
together.
Um,

Joi (15:37):
Mm-hmm.

Jann (15:38):
yeah, it did a lot to like build death in her character and
to add to like the kind ofconflict in the story since she
opened.
She opened, not in winter.
It wasn't winter yet, but youknow how Ohio is like they had a
early snowfall.
Yeah,

Joi (15:53):
She said Halloween time.

Jann (15:55):
of the year,

Joi (15:56):
Yeah.

Jann (15:57):
the first snowfall of the year they got, is when they
opened.
So that was crazy.

Joi (16:02):
Yeah.

Jann (16:02):
not only that, she said that morning when she was
getting ready, she wasn'texpecting a bunch of snow and it
ended up being like a snow stormand snow forever.
So that was pretty crazy.

Joi (16:13):
Yeah.
But I don't know.
Like I like it and I don't likeit.
I just feel like I like itbecause of, like you said, it's
cozy, but I don't like it justbecause I think it was just used
a little too much, you know?
And it almost gives me like thevibe of like, oh, I stumbled
across a murder.
Let's figure it out.
But instead of figuring out, wekept going back to the ice
cream, you know, a little toomuch for me.

Jann (16:36):
Yes, but I don't feel like they talked about ice cream
every time they went back.
It kind of just became theircentral hub of where they would
meet up, which I felt like was agood like device.
Um, instead of everybody likemeeting up at her house and
you're just like, why doeseveryone keep showing up here?
Like that was a, it gave them apurpose to all meet up and like
unravel the story bit by bit,you know?

Joi (16:57):
I mean, you can't meet up just being friends, like girl
was solving a

Jann (17:00):
No, that's not what I mean.
I mean, like all the newcharacters, like the guy who was
crushing on her and the grandpaand the mom that they were like
trying to hide everything fromthe dad would pop up like
without the warning, you know?
Like it just added a little bitmore conflict to the story and

Joi (17:17):
Yeah.

Jann (17:18):
yeah, I feel like it, it was a good plot device for that,
you know, driving the story

Joi (17:23):
yeah.
It could also have been a carwash.
It could have been a library.
It could have been, you

Jann (17:28):
could have, but I feel like ice cream shop is unique
and it's cozy.
So for that reasons, I feel likeit was good.
Like it could have beensomething else, but I don't
think it needed to be, you know,

Joi (17:39):
Do you think that it being in Ohio mattered during winter
time?

Jann (17:45):
I mean, I feel like it could have been any like
northern state where it snows.

Joi (17:50):
No.

Jann (17:50):
So no.
I mean, I don't think if they'regonna have, like that's the plot
point is it is a plot point.
The fact that they opened on thefirst snowfall of the year, it
didn't necessarily need to beOhio, but it needs to be
somewhere where it gets cold andit's like kind of unexpected
weather.
You know, they say weather inOhio, if you don't like it, just
wait five minutes.

(18:11):
So

Joi (18:12):
It.

Jann (18:13):
I feel like it gave that like kind of unexpected weather,
like, um, conflict.

Joi (18:19):
Do you think it's very specific in the area too?
Do you think she's from there?
Because I don't hear a lot ofpeople talk about Cuyahoga and
South Euclid and Lyndhurst, likemuch less be able to pronounce
it.
Yeah.

Jann (18:33):
Um, I'm not sure.
We can definitely look that upthough.
Look it up

Joi (18:38):
Oh, it's my turn to do some sleuthing.
Oh yeah.
Remind me that we have Googlebefore I go to the library.

Jann (18:46):
enough.

Joi (18:51):
Oh, okay.
Oh yeah.
She was born and raised inCleveland, so that make

Jann (18:57):
There you go.
Okay, so next question.
We kind of talked about thisalready, but I have it written
down so we're gonna go over itagain.
Um, did you find like when shewas trying to uncover this like
mysterious death, did you findher investigation to be
believable?
and do you feel like she tookrisk?
That seemed unrealistic?

(19:18):
and I'm just gonna recoverreally quick or revamp really
quick.
What I said about, you know, thetime she confronted Ari, even
though she was terrified of himwhen they went to his office, I
feel like was a littleunrealistic.
and we've already talked aboutit.
So other than that, do you feellike there are any risks they
took that was unrealistic orwhat do you think was

(19:39):
believable?
Any thoughts on that?

Joi (19:41):
I think that almost most of it was unrealistic and
unbelievable, especially as ablack woman.
Like, it's already scary enoughto find a body, especially so
close to your shop, because I'mlike, I'm scared to call the
cops.
Like they gonna think I did it,so,

Jann (19:56):
That, okay.
So what was crazy to me is thatshe went back to the shop and
made ice cream like I would beat my mom's house for the rest
of the week.
Like that level of freaked out,especially since she was so
close to them.
I would not have gone back towork by myself when there's a
murderer on the loose,

Joi (20:12):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, and it's like, it's likegive you the heebie-jeebies that
she was just talking to him andeverything, like it's weird.
And then like the whole, likesneaking into Ari's office, like
you said, like I just, I don'tsee many people period doing
that.
But to be looking for somethingon someone that's a murderer,

(20:33):
not like, oh, let's go change agrade or something, something
stupid.
You know, like this is a lot ofrisk you're taking.
I'm just like, here's mystatement.
I found this body.
Uh, I saw that kid over there.
Don't call them over here.
And that's it.

Jann (20:47):
What I thought, what I thought was unbelievable too, is
that she would go to the policestation after she saw the cop at
her dad's house questioning himjust to say, my dad didn't do
it.
And if you knew my dad, youwould know that he didn't do it.
I don't, he doesn't know everymurder suspect he has to

(21:07):
investigate.
Like, why are you going to thepolice station just to say, Hey,
I don't think my dad did it.
Of course you don't.
Every murderer's dad or kiddoesn't think that their dad is
gonna be a murderer like that.
How did you think that was goingto affect his investigation is
not like,

Joi (21:25):
I,

Jann (21:26):
that was just so annoying to me.

Joi (21:28):
I call it main character energy.
Like it doesn't really matter.
Like it's

Jann (21:32):
no one else on this planet exists,

Joi (21:35):
Yeah.

Jann (21:35):
but your dad didn't do it.
That's important.

Joi (21:38):
like you even said yourself, like it was
suspicious.
Like the way it read to me atthe beginning, especially when
she first found it and he showedup late and everything, it's
like, oh, he wasn't wearing, hedoesn't wear that kind of stuff
to work or whatever.
It's just like, it sounds likeyou suspect him, so why wouldn't
this detective who don't knowhim wouldn't suspect him?
You know, it's just like you'relooking real suspicious.

Jann (21:58):
And when she gave the evidence to her brother, even
her brother was like, oh, wow.
Yeah.
Definitely look into thisbecause dad's looking kind of
guilty.

Joi (22:08):
Yeah, I don't, she just didn't make, she didn't make a
lot of sense to me, but it's afiction, it is fun.
So I try not, I'm trying not tolook too deep into it, you know?
It was still fun to read

Jann (22:21):
It was t fun read.
Yeah.
you know, not all characters areperfect though.
And I feel like that was a, thatwas a, um,

Joi (22:29):
Shining

Jann (22:30):
bimbo moment.
Maybe

Joi (22:33):
Oh.

Jann (22:36):
it just wasn't smart.
And I understand her emotionsare like, were ruling her at
that point.
'cause she was worried for herdad, but man.

Joi (22:44):
But there's ways to go about that.
Even if you're like, thinkyou're close to the detective,
like, well, first of all, don'ttrust cops, don't talk to cops.
It's just like, I just, ifanything, she made it worse, I
feel like

Jann (22:57):
Mm.
Yeah.

Joi (22:58):
realistically.

Jann (23:01):
I just, I feel like if I were the cop, I would be
annoyed.
I wouldn't give her the time ofday.
Like you gave me no evidence tosay that he wasn't the murderer.
You just came to tell me youwere unhappy that I'm
investigating him, which in, ina murder, I'm not going to base
my investigation off of yourfeelings,

Joi (23:16):
All right.
Like ethics, right?

Jann (23:20):
Right.
So in the book, there are a lotof elements of like mystery, but
cozy, which I already said likeisn't a vibe that I normally get
from mysteries.
Like it's always a thriller andI'm terrified.
Um, I wasn't really scared atall during this book.
So how do you feel about that,like those two genres together

Joi (23:41):
What

Jann (23:41):
rather than thriller mystery?
It was cozy mystery, which isthe first I can say if I've ever
read like this.

Joi (23:48):
so like I said, like if you think about, so Murder she Wrote
is basically like a.
C C S I or something, whatever,like Bones or whatever.
It's like a detective show, butit's like a little old lady.
She's like a sleuth, prettymuch, you know?
And

Jann (24:06):
so cute.

Joi (24:07):
it's like a cute way to fi to do a detective.
Like she's a writer, but all ofa sudden she's like finding
murders and she's figuring itout and it's fun, you know?
And she goes to differentlocations.
Like it's a fun, kind of mysteryshow.
and so it's kind of like bonesin that like that, but it's
cozy, you know?
And this is, it gives me thatvibe with a book, you know what

(24:28):
I mean?
I keep saying Murder she wrote,'cause I can't really think of
anymore right now, but

Jann (24:32):
I have one,

Joi (24:33):
what?

Jann (24:35):
and I say this because I said this is the first time I've
read something like this, but itkind of put me in the mood of
like Scooby Doo, where it's morelike fun than

Joi (24:44):
Yeah.

Jann (24:45):
you know?
Like, which I don't mind at all.

Joi (24:48):
Literally, it's like if you give like a, a premier, like an
hour show, you know, on Scooby,it's like, oh, okay, cool.
You know, we're in this, youknow, so that's, that's what I'm
thinking.
But like for adults, not thatScooby do, I'll watch Scooby do
all day long, but you know whatI mean?
You, you see what I'm saying?
But yeah, it's like codes likethat.
Yeah.
I like it though.
Like everything doesn't have tobe scary.

(25:09):
Everything doesn't have to be athriller.
I liked it.

Jann (25:12):
Agree, completely agree.
Because, you know, I don't likehorror thriller that much anyway
because I'm a scaredy cat.
So if I ever want a mystery, Iwould definitely like pick up
another one of these books,which actually was one of my
discussion topics.
Okay, so a Daily Inside Scoop isthe first book in a series.
Did you know that there areother books?

Joi (25:31):
Yes, I did.

Jann (25:32):
Okay.
Yeah.
I didn't realize it untilhalfway through when I looked it
up, but it makes sense seeing ashow I feel like the ending was a
little bit unresolved.
Would you go to another one ofthese books?

Joi (25:44):
I would go to another one of these books if I was like, at
your house or something.
It's like, it's storming.
You know, the lights went outand I'm just like, oh, there's
nothing to do.
Let's look with, see what Janhas on her bookshelf.
I don't think I wouldnecessarily go out and buy
another one, but like, oh, whatis this?
A de a deli inside scoop, youknow, part two, you know?

(26:05):
Um, I might do that, but I'm notsure, like cozy mystery.
It was nice, but I'm thecomplete opposite of you.
I love horror things.
I love things about ghosts anddemons, so it's not really my
vibe, but I still liked itthough.
It was a nice change of pace.

Jann (26:23):
You know what's funny is like around Halloween time,
because I used to like horror alot.

Joi (26:29):
Mm-hmm.

Jann (26:30):
I wouldn't say a lot, but I used to watch it.
At least

Joi (26:33):
Yeah.
You.

Jann (26:34):
I had to think about that.
and during Halloween, I kindawant that kind of thrill, but
I'm too scared so I don't do it.
So Halloween, I will definitelybe reading Abby Co.
And the rest of the series.

Joi (26:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
I think, I think it's reallycute.
I don't think it's scary enoughfor me for Halloween, though.
I think it's like the end ofwinter turning into spring
thunderstorm vibe for mepersonally.

Jann (27:05):
Yeah, I'll take it during Halloween.

Joi (27:08):
Or even

Jann (27:09):
This is the level of scary that I need.

Joi (27:13):
Yeah.
Yep, yep.

Jann (27:14):
know what we talked about, white smoke where I was like, it
is not that scary.
It is not.
But like during it I was like,oh, I'm so terrified.
Like that's like a level up fromthis.
That was maybe a little bit tooscary.
So yeah, this is something Iwould go to, even if I'm alone,
white smoke, I would read if Iwere in the house with someone

(27:36):
or if it was

Joi (27:37):
different room.
Yeah.

Jann (27:38):
Yeah,

Joi (27:43):
Girl, I gotta get you some like real scary stories going or

Jann (27:45):
no you don't.
I don't need it.

Joi (27:50):
All right.
Alright.
All right.

Jann (27:52):
I know you said that you didn't care for all the ice
cream talk, but did you have afavorite ice cream flavor?
'cause they had a lot of them.

Joi (28:01):
Um, so here's the thing.
I'm not one for like a lot ofartesian kind of flavors.
I'm not one to like, kind oflike mix things up.
I'm a chocolate kind of girl.
I'm like on a good, like on aday when I'm feeling spicy, I
get a twist of vanillachocolate.
Can you say that my ice creamchoices are quite vanilla.

Jann (28:24):
But you like chocolate.
So it's the opposite.

Joi (28:27):
It, it is funny, but like, I like cookies and cream
chocolate and a twist baby.
I didn't care for any of theflavors and that's probably why
I was so like, all right.
Caramel ice cream.
Okay.
Like, you know, caramel popcorn,ice cream.
I'm just like, it sounds liketoo much, you know, it feels
like I'm going to a gentrifypart of DZ for$18 ice cream,

Jann (28:49):
I

Joi (28:49):
you know.

Jann (28:51):
I've been in Austin the last decade of my life, so the
popcorn ice cream actually soundreally good to me.

Joi (28:59):
No ma'am.

Jann (29:00):
Um,

Joi (29:01):
No ma'am.

Jann (29:02):
so you would like the decadent chocolate then, though?
That's the only flavor otherthan the snow one that I was
like, I won't eat because Idon't like chocolate ice cream.
but the decade it, it sound likeif I like chocolate, I would
like that one.

Joi (29:14):
It can't be too much chocolate.
It can also be too much though.
I.

Jann (29:18):
That's how I feel about all chocolate, to be honest.
I would have like cookies andcream.
I'll have ice cream withchocolate in it, but chocolate
ice cream is just a little bittoo much.

Joi (29:27):
No, like once you start getting to decadent, like, I
need the chocolate ice cream andthe chocolate syrup and the
brownie and this and that, I'mlike, that's too much.
Like, you know, I fucking gonnabe sick.

Jann (29:38):
You know what we didn't like discuss him at all as like
favorite and least favoritecharacters, but do you remember
the guy's name who was crushingon her?
I don't either.
What did you think about hischaracter?
I felt like he was a littleweird

Joi (29:52):
yeah.

Jann (29:52):
in a good way, but still a little weird.

Joi (29:55):
I don't know, it just, there were so many characters to
keep up with.
He kind of faded to thebackground for me.

Jann (30:03):
I feel like him at the end was kind of thrown in randomly,
even though he did get them thatgig.
Like him to say, okay, tell mewho it is and I'll call the
police.
And then she went and got likecaptured, I feel like he didn't
need to be in that scene at all.
She could have just told Maisie,like there was no reason for
them to tell him to call thepolice, they could have just

(30:24):
called the police.

Joi (30:26):
I feel like that makes more sense when you think about it as
a series as well.
Like he's gonna be a characterin another story.
I'm just like, if he's gonna bea character in another story,
just bring him in the nextstory.
I just felt like there wasalready a lot of characters.
But that's another thing, thecozy thing,

Jann (30:39):
many characters,

Joi (30:40):
you have like, oh, they know this and this, they know
this and that, know this.
Like I understand you have tohave a list of characters to
choose from, like who's the badguy?
But I just feel like once we hitlike 12, it was a little too
much for me

Jann (30:54):
especially since my memory is not great anyway.

Joi (30:56):
girl.
Right.
I have like notes.
I wrote down every character andwhen she brought them up, I
tried to write like somethingabout them, but it was a lot.

Jann (31:07):
I will say that it makes sense since it's a murder
mystery, you have to have a lotof options to figure out who it
was.

Joi (31:13):
Mm-hmm.

Jann (31:14):
It killed me that they kept saying first and last name.
I felt like I knew these peoplein Ohio.
Like, oh yeah, the The Bronwynor the Cruise Family, or
Bronwyn.
That's her first name.
First first name.
Oh, it also makes sense thatthere were so many characters,
since this is a series, like itput me back into reading Harry

(31:35):
Potter for the first time wherethere were so many characters
and I cared about none of them.
But then throughout the series,they came up and I was like, oh
yeah, I know exactly who thatwas.
That was the person who wore thefunny hat in book one.
You know,

Joi (31:45):
mean, I could see

Jann (31:46):
they don't even have to come up a ton, but you remember
them from that one time, youknow?

Joi (31:51):
I just think if the more that you think about it as a
series, like just like MurderShe Wrote or Scooby-Doo, these,
these people are recurringcharacters, I guess.
So.
I guess

Jann (32:01):
She's setting the stage up for a whole series rather than
just one book.
There are so many names thrownout that I feel like were
unnecessary, but they may comeup in a significant way later
on.

Joi (32:11):
Speaking of names, um, did you like her name?
Bwin.

Jann (32:16):
Bronwyn is such a weird one.
I don't necessarily, I wouldnever name my child Bronwyn,

Joi (32:23):
Yeah.

Jann (32:23):
but maybe it's a family name.
I don't know.
I liked her nickname.
I liked that they called herWin.

Joi (32:28):
What are you thinking of it?
Like w i n or w r e n.

Jann (32:35):
She spelled it w y n,

Joi (32:38):
Oh,

Jann (32:39):
but it, when they say the nickname, it was w i n.

Joi (32:43):
yeah.
I was thinking Ren So toclarify, I listened to the book
on Audible, so whenever theysaid it, I just thinking Ren, w
r e n.

Jann (32:53):
I, I thought you were saying ran earlier and I was
like, maybe she's just slurringit.
But no, it was win.
Like lose or win.
Win or lose

Joi (33:00):
Like Wendy's.

Jann (33:01):
bra win.
Yeah,

Joi (33:03):
Got you.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
That makes a little bit moresense, but I mean, it's a cute
name.
I think it grows on you.
I know someone named Stone, so

Jann (33:14):
like a rock.

Joi (33:16):
mm-hmm.
Like Aboa.

Jann (33:18):
that.

Joi (33:19):
I like unique names and maybe it's because we're black,
but the more unique I think islike, it's nice, you know,
everyone doesn't have to benamed Ashley.
And then to mix it up.
It doesn't have to be, you know,spelled differently, just get a
different name.

Jann (33:36):
I think my mouth just stumbles over it a little bit,
but if I got used to it, I thinkit would be fine.

Joi (33:42):
I think I mix up my W's and R's ever since I was a kid, so
it was hard for me, but I thinkit's a cute name.
I wouldn't name my kid because Ican't pronounce it.

Jann (33:54):
Here's a question for you.
When they introduced, is itSteven, was that the victim's
name?
They changed his name a lot,

Joi (34:04):
Yeah,

Jann (34:04):
Steven.
We're gonna go with Steven.
when they introduced him, didyou think he was gonna be the
victim?
I thought it was so weird how hejust started talking to her and
she didn't get scared when therewas no one around.

Joi (34:16):
he had a puppy.
I mean, he would've kidnapped melike, you know, I would've been
a victim.
I would've did the same thing.
I'm like, no, I don't know whosedog this is.
This is a really cute dogthough.
good luck and you're going thewrong way.
That's suspicious.
Maybe I just, uh, almost gotkidnapped.

(34:36):
Let hurry get, buy ice creamshop.

Jann (34:39):
he didn't really ask her to go anywhere,

Joi (34:42):
Right, and it wasn't a car nearby,

Jann (34:44):
of a kidnap.
Yeah, I can see how that wouldbe the beginning of a kidnapping
scheme.

Joi (34:51):
but like, he's not like, oh, can you, you know, walk with
me to the police station aroundthis corner or something, or you
know, just hop in the car andshow me directions or something.
It wasn't anything that he'slike, Hey, is this dark yours?
No.
Okay.
You know, so,

Jann (35:06):
Yeah.
I don't really get what hismotivation was for talking to
her, to be honest.
Um, and that may be somethingthat I'm missing.
Because he came back it seemedlike to blackmail Ari, so I'm
not sure why he pretended he hada lost dog when reality it was
his dog, and why he would tellher that he was close to her

(35:30):
parents or grandparents, orunless maybe he was just trying
to get more information becausehe said he was stopped by to see
the grandpa.
But I don't think that was truethat he was gonna really stop

Joi (35:39):
No, of course

Jann (35:40):
because he never did.
So I don't understand themotivation for any of that, or
even like tying himself to theshop next door.
I'm not sure why he would dothat.

Joi (35:48):
I think he was kind of fishing to see how much she
knew, if she recognized the dog,like, or if she recognized him
or she knew how much her, if herparents or her grandparents
talked about what happened atthe bicycle shop and how it was
kind of shady things going overthere.
Like if she knew anything aboutit but she didn't.
So I think it's one of thosethings just like if you're on
the up and up, seeing if you'reon the up and up, you know, like

(36:12):
if you know anything about what

Jann (36:13):
though?

Joi (36:14):
I mean, I dunno, like you don't know what his motivation
was'cause he died, you know, hewas only there for a hot minute,
you know?

Jann (36:23):
Yeah,

Joi (36:25):
So,

Jann (36:25):
yeah, yeah.
I just thought it was weird.
I swear it, and the only reasonI'm sticking on is because I
feel like I am missingsomething.
You know?

Joi (36:35):
Yeah.

Jann (36:36):
It kind of makes me wanna go back and reread it.
You guys let us know in thecomments if you feel like we're
missing something or if we'rejust like being oblivious.
Because for the life of me, Ican't figure out why he would
like all the things he said.
Like if he really didn't want totie himself to all the shady
stuff going in the shop nextdoor, why say I own the shop

(36:58):
next door?

Joi (36:59):
In

Jann (37:00):
Why say I knew your grandparents?
Why give her clues and give somany specifics about your
favorite ice cream flavor when.
You know,

Joi (37:10):
Yeah.

Jann (37:10):
it was a lie.
And even with that, it seemedlike they were friends for a
long time before he scammed thegrandmother to sign over their
ice cream shop to him.
So why not give a real flavor?
Why did you give a fake flavor?

Joi (37:26):
Maybe I like, like I said, I think he was just fishing to
see how much she knew.
Like once she started talkingabout, oh, this is my shop.
Like, oh, you're part of thecruises, so let's dig into what
you know, you know, and when shedidn't know anything, he's like,
oh, okay.
Whatever.

Jann (37:40):
Okay.
Well, I still don't think itmakes a ton of sense.
I feel like yes, if he's diggingfor information, it makes sense
that he prolonged theconversation, especially to see
if their grandparents stilllived there, if he was planning
on dropping in before he was.
But

Joi (37:56):
Mm-hmm.

Jann (37:57):
as far as giving her like wrong ice cream flavors, like I
feel like he should have knownwhat ice cream flavors they had.

Joi (38:03):
I mean, it was drop in a bucket.
Like you saw how quickly theymade one up.
Like, what if they just didn'tmake that?
You know what I mean?
Like, I don't know.
They made it on a one off, onesummer day.
So who knows?

Jann (38:17):
Was her love interest name Erin?

Joi (38:21):
And girl, I don't, lemme see if I wrote his, um, info
down.
He just came and went so quicklyand I feel bad saying it, but he
just kind of like faded into thebackground.
Oh yeah.
His name was Steve, the guy withthe dog.

Jann (38:37):
I already knew that.
Obviously I'm a genius.

Joi (38:40):
Yeah, my character list.
Um, see my long character list,it just goes on.
So, yeah.
Um, no, he's not on here at all.
So I don't know if I just gaveup writing down characters or
what.

Jann (38:55):
significant enough to make it to the character list.
Okay.
Well,

Joi (39:01):
significant.
I think I just gave up afterlike so long, so many people
could keep up with.

Jann (39:06):
He was at the beginning though,'cause he, she met him in
the soup shop.
So I feel like it was a weirddynamic between her and the love
interest, even though we can'tremember his name because she
never seemed interested in himfrom the beginning.
Like even at the soup shop, shewas like, okay, I am gonna talk
to you, but then I'm gonna anglemy body away so that you won't

(39:28):
continue the conversation.
And then he showed up at the icecream shop and she went to the
back and he talked to hergrandfather.
And then when he came back, themother and the friend is like,
Hey, go talk to him.
And she's like, again, notinterested.
Like she never showed anyinterest in him.
He is like getting her jobs andcoming around and saying like,
oh, do you have any new flavors?

(39:49):
No.
Maybe you should come adifferent day.
No, no, I'll still come

Joi (39:51):
right.
Um,

Jann (39:54):
It was just so awkward, the dynamic for me.
But maybe it was like cute foryou.
Like

Joi (40:00):
I mean,

Jann (40:01):
how did you feel about it?

Joi (40:02):
maybe just too awkward introverted people, you know?
I mean, I'm very extroverted, soif I would like you, I just tell
you, if I don't, I just don'tcarry on the conversation, you
know?
But, I don't know.
Like it was, it was a littleawkward.

Jann (40:20):
I feel like it was kind of unnecessary, their dynamic or
maybe she was just awkward.
I would have enjoyed it more ifshe were attracted to him,

Joi (40:30):
Yeah,

Jann (40:32):
like his behavior would have been considered cute.
Has she reciprocated in any way?
Like it kind of felt likestalking.

Joi (40:40):
a little bit.
Yeah.
It was like weird, the weird guythat you just let do nice things
for you.
'cause it's convenient, youknow?

Jann (40:46):
It made me uncomfortable.

Joi (40:48):
Yeah.
I, I didn't care for it.
It just kind of like, seemedlike.
A little shoehorned in there.
I think that's what you call it.
I don't think it was necessary.
I don't think every book orevery mis mystery is a romance
aspect of it.

Jann (41:00):
Normally I appreciate a good like little relationship on
the side, but it didn't seemlike that to me.
It just seemed weird.

Joi (41:06):
Yeah.

Jann (41:07):
So I felt bad for him a lot.

Joi (41:11):
I

Jann (41:12):
Not feel bad because she wasn't reciprocating, but
because he wasn't picking up onthe clue like, are you this
oblivious?
Yeah.

Joi (41:18):
I feel bad that I didn't remember him.
Now that we talk

Jann (41:23):
Just like she never remembered him.
Yeah.

Joi (41:25):
Yeah.
Sorry.
Next question.
I'm not a bad person.

Jann (41:34):
So this book took place since your Grand Falls where
there are not a lot of blackpeople, which we can relate to.
Like being in Lynn Herdz wherethere weren't a lot of black
people and you're kind of likethe only, um, Not the only, but
one of the few black famfamilies around.
Like, how,

Joi (41:51):
Mm-hmm.

Jann (41:52):
how do you feel like she handled that dynamic?
Do you feel like it wasrealistic?
Do you feel like, she talkedabout it a little too much, not
enough?
Do you feel like it was a goodmixture?

Joi (42:03):
I never say that it was, it's ever too much to talk about
the people of color in yourneighborhood or the black people
in your neighborhood.
honestly, I would love if youtalk about it more, you know, I
appreciate that she put it intothe writing.
Just like, oh, it's not too manyof us.
And it's kind of like we haveour dynamic and then the wider
dynamic, how we talk to eachother and how we, um, act around
each other and then how we actaround the rest of the

(42:23):
neighborhood.
So I think that's

Jann (42:28):
feel like she did, she did it in a really nice way.
It was a great balance.
Um, it wasn't something that sheharped on, but it was definitely
a part of the book.
I think it's impressive that shehad a story with cops in it,
that wasn't filled with trauma,even though she did touch on the

(42:52):
fact that black people andpolice have a kind of like
strained relationship.
Like she touched on all thosethings without making it a
traumatic book, which I feellike is hard to do, especially
being realistic.
But yeah, I think she did itreally well.

Joi (43:06):
I think it's, it, it is very, um, what is it?
Um, very, uh, I don't know whatthe word exactly that I'm
looking for.
Maybe you'll, you'll see whatI'm talking about.
But I think it's very, oh,telling of when I was like, I'm
afraid I haven't found the body.
You know, that's not, shouldn'tbe the reaction of you finding a
dead body, you know?
So, um, I.
That that was like part of itbeing a, the mystery too, and

(43:29):
being a black woman that found abody behind your shop.
So, I mean, I think it has to besaid it's a black woman and a
murder mystery.
It doesn't, it is, you know, youdon't get the benefit of the
doubt all the time, which is whyI was surprised that she was
surprised that her dad was asuspect.

(43:49):
You know, you're lucky theydidn't get dragged up off in
cuffs that night as well as thelittle kid.

Jann (43:57):
it gives me very much like Carlton from Fresh Prince of Bel
Air Vibes, like you are a blackperson, but being Instagram
falls, it's not like, it's asuper ritzy area, but it's also
like not a low income area.
So you do have some privilege,not as much as your like white
counterparts.
But

Joi (44:17):
I think you have

Jann (44:18):
she was definitely sheltered a little bit.

Joi (44:22):
That's the thing.
Like I feel like she had enoughprivilege to be a little
confused or a little lost.
Like, oh, well it's the copsthough.
They're here to do good stuffand so, you know, they have
their own experience orwhatever.
Um, but yeah, I agree.
It's definitely the Carlton whenthey get pulled over by the cop,
the racist cop episode.

(44:45):
Um, but yeah, that was the onlything that kind of bothered me a
little bit.
But she was also still prettyyoung too, so, you know, you get
more

Jann (44:55):
30.

Joi (44:56):
Was she 30?

Jann (44:59):
What do you mean, pretty young?
She had a whole career and cameback and like started a second
career.

Joi (45:06):
Girl?
I'm 30.
I, I swear.
I thought she was like 25, 26.
I mean, it's not too far off.
Yeah.

Jann (45:17):
maybe I'm confused.
But yeah, that's same age

Joi (45:20):
Yeah.

Jann (45:20):
Um,

Joi (45:22):
And 30 is young.
Thank you.

Jann (45:25):
well I think you were saying it like she was young and
that makes her naive, but Idon't feel like you're like a
young naive at 30.
Um, I feel like you should knowlike how the world works a
little bit.
At least you know, like it isdifferent than, I'm not saying
she's like some old broad, I'msaying like, I don't think
painting her as naive is fair.
You know,

Joi (45:46):
I dunno, because then she was in New York too, so she
should have had experiencesthere.
But then too, oh shoot, wherewas I going with that?
I'll remember, and I'll bring itback up.
I'm sorry.
I'll bring it back up.

Jann (46:00):
Okay.
So just to sum that up, I dofeel like she did a, a good job
keeping a balance of beingrealistic as one of the only
black families in Chagrin falls,while also not being traumatic,
which is something that I knowyou've talked about before and
something that I look forward towhen I'm looking into books by

(46:20):
black authors.
It's just every once in a while,not having a traumatic
experience while doing that,which again, is hard because the
conversation with race right nowis a tough one, but it's just
nice to just live life sometimesand not be scared or traumatized

Joi (46:36):
yeah.
It's, it's really nice.
Yeah.
It.
I mean, I mean, you know, I usedto read books and have to
picture them as being a blackperson because I was afraid of
being traumatized in a book.
Um, but now I'm glad that we'restarting to get cozy mysteries.
I'm glad we're starting to justget like fun nonfiction and
they're black and I don't haveto print, pretend that this blue
eyed blonde hair girl isactually black.

(46:57):
Like, oh yeah, she got a weave,she got contact, you know, so,
you know, it's, um, whatever.
It's nice.

Jann (47:06):
so I'm really interested to see how they're gonna
continue this series.
Like is she gonna find a deadbody every time or is it gonna
be different mysteries?
I would love to see more of Riatoo in the future because the
fact that she seemed like thevoice of reason most of the
time.
And then at the end it was likeshe's ready to fight somebody
because they stood her up andlike use her code to get

(47:26):
medicine.
I'm like, that is like such ahot and cold personality that
I'm intrigued.
I wanna see more of her, but Ialso wanna see like, are they
gonna bring this three to her orshe's gonna find them?
I would read it for that alone.
Like, how are you gonna keepthis going?

Joi (47:41):
I wonder if they would do it from different perspectives.
Not necessarily with friends,but like the perspective from
the father or the mother

Jann (47:48):
I read the synopsis of quite a few of them, and it
seems like it's win every time.
Who's the

Joi (47:55):
Oh,

Jann (47:55):
character?

Joi (47:57):
okay.
Well, okay.
So that is questionable how, howshe will go about it.
I think it would probably getmore and more unrealistic, but
kind of just like, how does thisice cream shop keep having these
mysteries?
But then it's just like, doesshe turn it into a detective
shop?
I don't know.

Jann (48:12):
the textbook shop.

Joi (48:14):
But um,

Jann (48:15):
it seems like it's still focused around the ice cream
shop though, because the nextbook is called A Game of Cones,
like ice cream cones.

Joi (48:23):
And Game of Thrones.
That's cute.
I love puns, so I knew I wasgonna love this book as soon as
I saw it like that.
Probably make me pick it up offa shelf by itself.
Phone, you know, I could look atthe, the name of it every once
in a while when I pass and go,ah.
And then keep moving, you know?

Jann (48:43):
Nice.
All right, so let's talk aboutthe ending of the book.
I was a little confused, so I'mgonna recap it and you tell me
if I'm missing something.
So they got to the event thatthey were preparing for the
college event that they'recatering dessert for, and some
kid sent them to the secondfloor, which the event was not

(49:04):
at, and it was actually thethird floor.
Um, I thought the kid was shady.
Because when they told the ladywho was hosting it, she said,
no, that couldn't have happened.
Why would he do that?
No, I'm sure you guys aremistaken.
Which was weird, right?
And they're sitting theretalking and they see Ari and the

(49:26):
other and employee who ended upbeing the villain

Joi (49:30):
Mm-hmm.

Jann (49:30):
and they put two and two together that she is the
villain.
Somehow randomly, I think theyfigured out that they used to be
married.

Joi (49:39):
That was the dating,

Jann (49:40):
her, his employee and Steven, who was found dead, used
to be married and now she'sdating Ari.
Supposedly that's what she says.
Um, somehow they figure out thather alibi, whether she was with
RA, is false and just looking ather from across the room, this
woman was supposed to have foundout that they knew and followed

(50:03):
when downstairs and attackedher.

Joi (50:06):
Right.
It was abrupt.

Jann (50:12):
It was abrupt.
And I just don't understand,like, what did I miss?
Like how did she know that theyknew

Joi (50:19):
I, I feel like you were right about the kid being shady.
One, I think he was in on it.
I think, they probably paid himsome way to get her a loan.
Maybe because they, they, Idon't know, like if you're going
around snooping in 20 mm-hmm.

Jann (50:37):
about the kid?
Because I, I feel like I didn'tfinish explaining that.
Like, I guess that was just acoincidence.
No, that's okay.
I forgot to finish explainingit.
I feel like that was acoincidence because I guess the
significance of it is that hesent the grandfather, the
grandfather to the second floortoo, and that's how he was able
to help her.
So that's why she like harped onit, because that's how, you

(50:58):
know, the interruption, like thesave the day moment happened.
So I believe that that was justas like,

Joi (51:08):
A way to

Jann (51:08):
Silly kid.
Yeah.

Joi (51:12):
I don't know.
I just, sometimes I feel like, Iwish I, the ending gets written
first and then you get to theending from the ending.
I guess I just feel like it wasjust wrapped up and so I
brought, like, I listened to it.
I had to rewind it quite, quitea few times, and even down to
the end, I just, I barelyunderstood that the girlfriend

(51:34):
was the killer.
You know, because she stole herpuppy or something like that.
You know, that's the last likesentence.
So I, it makes me feel kind of,um, dumb for not saying exactly
those last scenes and like thelast, like the conclusion, you
know?
And it didn't make me feel goodat the end'cause I didn't
understand,

Jann (51:55):
Yeah.

Joi (51:56):
like, it wasn't

Jann (51:57):
like, it is supposed to be very like succinct, like
satisfying moments.
and I don't know the, so Iguess.
Yeah, the kid with a scarf wasSteven and the girlfriend's son,

Joi (52:10):
Mm-hmm.

Jann (52:10):
somehow the other girl ended up with him and that's why
he was following them and why hewas at the murder scene because
she's, he saw his mom and downand the other woman was trying
to get'em back, so she was justbeing protective.
Um, I don't understand how theyended up with the dog.
I don't understand if they werelike friends or not.

(52:31):
There was a lot I didn't get.
But I feel like it deserves areread.

Joi (52:36):
Yeah.

Jann (52:36):
I probably should have reread it again.

Joi (52:38):
I think I wanna read it, physically and not listen to it.
I feel like I could read, Icould take better notes.
I feel like I could like get itback into my mind and get into
the scenes a little bit better.
It's just, it's a lot ofinformation to take in.
It's a lot of scenery to takein.
It's a lot of like, thingsthat's like slightly off of
realistic, but still rememberit's fiction, you know what I

(52:59):
mean?
It's a good time.
Um,

Jann (53:00):
Mm-hmm.

Joi (53:02):
I feel like this is like an episode, like a 30 minute
episode put into a book that waslike, okay, you need another
scene.
You just like, kind of cushionit out, but then they just, oh,
we ran outta time.
Do the ending real quick.
You know, like I just, I wantmore, but I also want less, if
that makes sense.
I want more mystery, less icecream.

Jann (53:26):
I don't think they're gonna talk about ice cream so
much in every book, or I hopenot.
but I, I think it was settingthe scene, I, I didn't mind the
amount of ice cream talk becauseafter they jumped into the
murder mystery, it was no morelike, talk of recipes or
anything like that, you know?

Joi (53:41):
a little bit.
I even if she doubled up thebook, you know, have it be half
ice cream, half mystery.
I want a little bit more and goa little bit more into the
characters, but maybe that'swhat she does in her series, you
know?

Jann (53:53):
Yeah.

Joi (53:54):
But I did think it was interesting that she had, um,
actually, um, what was it?
Uh, she had her thyroid glandremoved.
I think it was.
I think that was like a veryinteresting thing.
It's like, oh, I was feelingsick for so long and I came
home, you know, because I thinklike your thyroid's in your
throat, right?
And I thought it was kind offunny with ice cream.
I was like, it could have beentonsils.
That would've been really cool.
'cause you know, kids with theirtonsils get removed.

(54:15):
They eat ice cream.
So I,

Jann (54:22):
You always find the most interesting things.
Interesting that I like neverthink twice about.

Joi (54:28):
Just kind of zoom in on something weird.

Jann (54:31):
yeah.

Joi (54:32):
Yeah.

Jann (54:32):
Yes.

Joi (54:33):
That's why you have a book club so that you can think, you
can, you know, see what otherpeople are thinking about.
Like, oh, that chick's weird.
Why is she thinking abouttonsils?
Like, this is a murder mystery.

Jann (54:45):
Yeah.

Joi (54:46):
Good times.

Jann (54:48):
All right, well, I don't have any other questions.
Do you have any other, like anyquestions you want us to answer
or final thoughts about thebook?

Joi (54:55):
Uh, I did have a question for you, and I'm surprised you
didn't ask, uh, this question.
Uh, what kind of ice cream wouldyou make?

Jann (55:03):
Something blueberry.
I love blueberry ice cream andcheesecake, and honestly like
blueberry, cheesecake, icecream.
Why not?

Joi (55:10):
Blueberry cheesecake, ice cream.
Hmm.

Jann (55:14):
What about you?

Joi (55:17):
I would make an ice cream, but it would be more just like a
fun way of having the classics,like the setup.
So you would have like, likedirt ice cream and it would just
be gummy bears and like havebrownies as like crumbled, you
know?
So like for like the littlekids, it was like, oh yeah, this
is dirt.
You're eating dirt.

Jann (55:36):
I've never been a fan.
Even as a kid, I was never a fanof like these dirt cakes or dirt
ice creams like.

Joi (55:41):
I think it's a cute idea.

Jann (55:43):
too much sugar, like gummy worms and Oreos and everything
together.
I'm being a negative Nancythough, because I don't like
chocolate that much, and it'slike mostly chocolate.

Joi (55:53):
I mean even you can go like, oh, Sandy Beach.
It could be like vanilla with,um, vanilla cake as the sand,
and then like maybe a cottoncandy, ice cream for the ocean
or whatever.
It's like a little umbrella,like a drink, you know, you
know, just fun stuff like that.
I feel like I'm very like, um,Like, I have a, I feel like I
have a young soul, so it's justlike, I would be, I would do

(56:14):
more fun stuff like that.
I feel like hers was more likeartesian, like you said, Austin
kind of gentrified,

Jann (56:20):
I feel like whatever.
I think it's interesting thatyou're asking this question
after you said you wanted lessice cream in the book anyway.

Joi (56:29):
Did you also, oh, I thought you were gonna say you want, you
were, you said you like vanilla,you know, vanilla flavors.
I was like, you see I saidvanilla ice cream or chocolate
and ice cream.
So you got me.
But no.
Yeah, that was

Jann (56:44):
Would you change your rating?
Would you, okay.
So final thoughts, and would youchange your rating of the book
after our discussion?

Joi (56:52):
Hmm.
So I like the idea of the book.
I like how she set it up as aseries.
Um, I think I'm gonna keep thethree and a half stars.
I think that's fair.
Um, also being a newcomer toCozy Mysteries.
But the three and a half starwill keep.
And my final thoughts, I lovethe book, but I think I'm just

(57:13):
like, I need a little bit more.
I need a little bit more.
I would be interested to readanother book just to see where
she went with the rest of thecharacters.

Jann (57:23):
Agreed.
Okay.
Well, as far as my rating, Ithink I will up it from a three,
maybe to a four, just thinkingabout gen, like grading for the
genre.

Joi (57:32):
Mm-hmm.

Jann (57:34):
yeah, I would definitely read another one Again, I just
have to be in a certain mood towanna read it, but thinking
about it as like an adult,Scooby Gee is pretty fun.
So yeah, if I ever want a cozymurder mystery, I would
definitely come back to AbbyCollette.
She did a good job.

Joi (57:50):
Yeah.
I think she did so too.
I, I liked it and I think itwas, I think it, I identified
more with it.
I enjoyed it more because it wasin a setting that I recognized
as well.
If it was a setting, like inNebraska somewhere, I've never
been.
I was like, I'm a, you know, soI wonder if other people who's
not from Cuyahoga thinks a bit,a little bit more like, eh, I

(58:12):
read it like a two, you know?

Jann (58:14):
Well, I feel like the area made sense too, just for the
extra drama of like if you hadan ice cream place in Texas.
It doesn't matter what theseason is, you're eating ice
cream'cause it's hot.
You know, like if you have anice cream shop in Ohio, which
there are ice cream shops inOhio, but a lot of'em closed
down in the winter.
Some of them stay open.
But you know, it's aninteresting like place to have

(58:36):
an ice cream shop,

Joi (58:37):
I mean,

Jann (58:38):
is unpredictable.

Joi (58:39):
I'm, I'm just saying like, because I know Cuyahoga instead
of being Chicago, you know,

Jann (58:44):
Yeah.

Joi (58:45):
it's just like, I just identify a little bit more, even
though I forgot that we livedthere, like kind of like I knew
it, but I didn't, so let's.

Jann (58:53):
I honestly feel like the fact that you didn't even know
it was Cuyahoga means that itcould have been in Chicago and
you would've been fine.
So

Joi (59:03):
I mean, girl, listen, you gotta stop like tripping me up
over my own stuff like this isthe second time in 10 minutes?

Jann (59:11):
I don't remember.

Joi (59:13):
No, because you said you like, oh, I thought you wanted
less ice cream.
You asking about the ice creamflavors?

Jann (59:19):
Well, Think about what you're saying next time.

Joi (59:25):
I mean, girl, you got me?
Okay.
So

Jann (59:30):
So since that's the end of the discussion, we can announce
our next book, which is, I'm NotYelling by Elizabeth Liba, and
it will be a nonfiction.
So I'm gonna go ahead and readthe synopsis for us.
Okay.
Navigate Corporate AmericaFearlessly, explore the data and

(59:52):
hear the accounts of black womenin business who face, work
through and rise above workplacediscrimination.
This book offers a blueprint.
For black women in business totackle a toxic work environment
and assert their rightful placefacing obstacles such as
imposter syndrome and structuralracism.
I'm not yelling, armed you withthe knowledge and strategy
needed to succeed in the face ofadversity, become a strong black

(01:00:15):
leader, and instill positivechange in the workplace culture.
I'm not yelling is your guide tounderstanding and implementing
change in human resourcemanagement that promote
diversity and inclusion.
So that's gonna be our book nextweek.
So any black woman who's facingany kind of like, struggle,
microaggressions, anything likethat in the workplace, this is

(01:00:35):
definitely gonna be the book foryou.
and if you're not a black womanand you just are interested in
helping out with diversity andinclusion, in your workplace,
definitely listen in and seelike the different perspectives,
as someone who, is going throughthat experience.

Joi (01:00:50):
Yeah, I'm excited for it.
I haven't heard of this book,um, but it, when you said if
you're not a black woman and, oryou're not black, whatever,
like, you know, um, a thing thatI've read a lot lately is about
being actively anti-racist as awhite person, and you have to
read from differentperspectives.
Um, so this, I feel like wouldbe a good book for anybody to

(01:01:12):
read, especially people whocould be doing the
microaggressions, you know,

Jann (01:01:16):
That's true.

Joi (01:01:17):
yeah.

Jann (01:01:18):
Um, when I was working, I was in a couple of groups that
were, like diversity andinclusion groups with all
different perspectives likewhite, black, whatever, race.
and in that, like we had like asafe space where some people
would talk about how theyperformed microaggressions in
the past without knowing and howthey adjusted their behavior.

(01:01:39):
And like, I, yeah, I think it'sbeneficial, to learn up so that
you're not caught out doingthings like that or making
people uncomfortable or, youknow,

Joi (01:01:48):
And the idea is to not make you feel guilty if you have done
it, is to, when you sayanti-racist, you're working to
not do it.
So the person who's experiencingit doesn't have to find a way to
deal with it.
It don't have to deal with itanymore.
No longer have that experience.
So it's a good read foreveryone.
It's not to feel guilty oranything like that, it's to

(01:02:08):
learn so we don't make the samemistakes later.
So

Jann (01:02:13):
Agreed.

Joi (01:02:14):
yeah,

Jann (01:02:15):
Okay, so that's gonna be the end of this episode, guys.
Can't wait to see you next week.
Joy, do you wanna, um, let themknow where they can find us?

Joi (01:02:22):
absolutely.
Um, on TikTok and Twitter, weare black girl res pod with, um,
black is spelled b l k girl respod.
And on Instagram, YouTube, andFacebook is Black Girl Reads
podcast, B l k Girl Readspodcast.
So make sure you check us out,follow us, comment, share.

(01:02:46):
and I can't wait to see you guysnext time.

Jann (01:02:50):
All right.
Thanks guys.
Bye.

Joi (01:02:52):
See ya.

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