Today it's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Cherry Slice (Cherry PI Mystery #1) by Jennifer Stone.
About the Author
Jennifer Stone was born in Essex and spent her formative years living within its borders and enjoying the delights of the multiple night clubs and alcopop-swigging opportunities available. After a stint in North Wales acquiring a degree and a further spell in Leeds, training to be a teacher, she returned to the south of England to teach English in a variety of schools. She is currently head of English at a boarding school in Suffolk and has just completed her MA in Creative Writing (Crime at UEA. She lives with her wife and their small son.
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About the book
When Kenny Thorpe, a contestant on Expose TV's Big Blubber, the hot new celebrity weight-loss show, is murdered on live television in front of 3 million viewers, the case seems pretty watertight. After all, everyone saw Martin do it - didn't they?
Cherry Hinton knows there's more to this than meets the eye. As an investigative reporter, she went undercover on dating show Caravan Love... but after getting in too deep with one of the other contestants, she was caught knickerless in front of the nation. Humiliated, fired and heartbroken, she has fled to Brentwood, where she opens a cake shop and tries to forget all about Expose.
But when Kenny Thorpe's sister walks into her shop with a letter that turns the case inside out, Cherry realises it's down to her to expose the real killer.
This is the first book in the Cherry PI series.
Cherry Hinton isn't exactly the kind of polished, pretty and perfect character or person you might expect. She is mired in scandal, due to an unfortunate experience with the world of reality television.
After accidentally blowing up her life with the help of the media, Cherry has resigned herself to baking for a living instead of being a journalist. When the sister of a murder victim asks for her help she is reluctant to agree to help, but she really can't help herself or her gut instinct for the truth.
I really disliked the way Cherry Hinton was treated, and the way she just wouldn't stick up for herself, but that is a different matter entirely. It is a book full of sexism, misogyny and the systemic mistreatment of women in a patriarchal society.
Assumptions are made about her character, which is maligned by the press, her family, her so-called friends and the world in general. Scantily clad woman equals someone of loose morals of course. Loose morals equals a woman willing to do anything for any man or man-child. It's so sad and simultaneously frustrating.
It's a murder mystery series with the kind of character who more or less stumbles through her investigations. Stone gives readers a character they want to cheer on and they want her to fight back against all her critics. Somehow the murder becomes almost insignificant in comparison to Cherry getting her jive back.
Buy Cherry Slice (Cherry PI Mystery #1) at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Farrago; pub date 2 April 2020 - Paperback £8.99. Buy at Amazon com.
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