5-STAR REVIEW: DEVIL’S KISS by Michelle Bennington

A Small Batch Mystery: Book 1
Publication Date: May 31, 2022

Rook Campbell is broke, divorced, jobless, and in desperate need of steady employment, which is hard to come by in the small town of Rothdale, Kentucky. With the help of her friend and neighbor Bryan, she lands a good job at the Four Wild Horses Distillery and meets an attractive co-worker with lots of dating potential. Her life is finally headed in the right direction until a co-worker dies under suspicious circumstances and a shipment of rare small-batch bourbon goes missing. Worse, her personal life begins to unravel as her beloved grandmother falls ill. Normally she can depend on her ex, Cam, for help, but his new fiancée’s jealousy is getting in the way. As the body count rises, Rook becomes ensnared in discovering who’s committing the crimes—or she might be the next to die.

I need to start this review by saying I love books about community and neighborly support. I love reading about people who have known each other since childhood. It makes me feel secure and grounded. I understand some people may not like it, but I do.

With that understanding, Devil’s Kiss by debut author Michelle Bennington was exceptional! I loved Rook, the main character in the book. She reminds me a little of Stephanie Plum. She is smart, and she loves her Grandma Prim. I adored Grandma Prim. She is an absolute hoot, sassy, and spoke her mind. She’s a lot like Grandma Mazure from the Plum series. 

I just hope Rook can find herself a man. I don’t think Cam is it, even though I wish he were. 

Ms. Bennington created a world with a plethora of interesting and varied characters, all of whom I loved, and the secondary characters helped the story move along at a good pace. 

Devil’s Kiss is an entertaining and lighthearted read that kept my interest from the first page to the last with all those elements of small-town communities I absolutely adore. I highly recommend this book to readers who love small-town communities as I do. 

Born and raised in the beautiful Bluegrass state of Kentucky, Michelle Bennington developed a passion for books early on that has progressed into a mild hoarding situation and an ever-growing to-read pile.

When she’s not creating contemporary or historical fictional worlds full of mysteries, she obsesses over all things British and historical. In rare moments of spare time, she can be found engaging in a wide array of arts and crafts, dance, and attending ghost tours.

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