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Day & Night Diner #1

Pancakes and Pleas

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A girl’s gotta make a living…
And sometimes it can be murder, trying to get by.

Joss Rockwell has been a waitress at the Day and Night Diner for fifteen years, and while she loves her job, she’s about to find out that there are some things in life that are more important than work.

When an old friend is found murdered, Joss realizes just how fragile life is and how dear her friends are. Determined to get to the bottom of the tragedy, she jumps into investigating the crime.

Her boss is a task-master, and it seems that everyone in her life depends on her for something, but she’s determined to move forward with the case, no matter what.

This determined, and a little bit snarky, amateur sleuth will use her wit and wisdom to find out the truth, even if it puts her own safety in danger.

150 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 13, 2019

330 people are currently reading
273 people want to read

About the author

Gretchen Allen

76 books96 followers

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5 stars
154 (39%)
4 stars
115 (29%)
3 stars
87 (22%)
2 stars
32 (8%)
1 star
5 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
Profile Image for Kira.
1,031 reviews32 followers
June 8, 2022
This was a super short and quick read cozy murder mystery set in a small town diner. Joss is a waitress in the Day and Night Diner and is working a shift when she gets the news of her friend’s murder.

Now, I know the focus of these books is not really showing emotions but still I had expected a better reaction from Joss upon hearing of Danielle’s death. Keeping that aside, the main mystery element - we as readers didn’t even get the chance to guess who dunnit because we didn’t even know of culprit’s existence!

That kind of suspense is really not my type so I didn’t enjoy this one much.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Nola Arganbright.
1,592 reviews29 followers
March 31, 2020
Confusing

A good development book but very little in the way of mystery solving. I enjoyed learning the characters but was disappointed in the book as a whole.
Profile Image for Cozy Reviews.
2,045 reviews5 followers
June 7, 2022
A very cute mystery with a savvy smart protagnist. I like Joss and her commitment to finding the truth of a murder. A engaging fun mystery.
10 reviews1 follower
September 7, 2020
Cozy read

Loved the title of the book. It's the type of cozy mystery I love reading. A great whodunit. Love that some of the characters worked in a diner. That was nice.
Profile Image for Sandy Bartles.
1,395 reviews38 followers
July 16, 2019
This is the first book in the Day and Night Diner Series. Joss Rockwell is a waitress at the diner who allows an old friend to pull her into helping locate the murderer of another of their friends. I enjoyed the relationships between the workers at the diner. They seem to really enjoy their jobs and dealing with their customers. I was surprised to find out who the murderer was. I can’t wait to see how this series grows!
16 reviews1 follower
August 13, 2023
Pancakes are not only for breakfast

This is a quick little read. It's clean and not too verbose. The storyline is a familiar one, but well presented without demeaning the people involved.
The story could use a bit more editorial review as there were some blatant errors.
If you are wanting to finish a story, during a bit of downtime, that's quick, enjoyable, believable and actually exhibits some thinking on the part of the characters, this could be for you.

The reason for my rating was due to the lack of editorial attention and the lack of fleshing out of the characters.
471 reviews5 followers
November 28, 2020
Josslyn Rockwell takes pride in her job as a waitress at the Day and Night Diner in the small town of Lemon Bay. She interacts well with all the customers and has caught the eye of diner regular Ryan.

When Joss's friend Bridget tells her that their high school friend Danielle Perry is found dead the race is on to find the killer.

Tyla, Joss's best friend offers her assistance to help solve the mystery. There are many suspects and motives to consider.

This was a fun and quick read that had me guessing who the killer was up until the end.

Profile Image for Deanna.
230 reviews
July 27, 2023
Not bad. But it left a lot of blank spaces that I guess you were supposed to fill in yourself. The murder took place without ever previously mentioning the character, the story / pacing seemed rushed and it wrapped up way too quickly. It was not a satisfying read.

The main character Joss was not very like-able and was rude when someone came forward with information they thought would help, but she was quick to make judgement calls herself.

I felt that there were a lot of characters with no real personality and seemed to be just filler.
Profile Image for Luis Nuñez.
197 reviews7 followers
July 5, 2024
I enjoyed this book, but it was way too short! 159 pages went so fast that it was over way too soon.

The setting is in a small-town diner, which is cozy and refreshing.

The protagonist is a waitress, who solves the murder with the help of her friends. She was at odds with the police, but they came to the same conclusion at the same time.

Since the book was so short, I felt that the ending was rushed, and could have been developed better.

All in all, I would read another book, but I will see how long it is, so I will know what to expect.
156 reviews7 followers
March 3, 2020
Pancakes and Pleas

This is a good cozy mystery. It is about a small town and a murder. There is a diner where the town's people eat and catch up on things happening around the town. They are shocked when they learn of the murder.Who could do such a thing? Why? There are secrets,a bit of romance and mystery. I recommend this book to everyone who likes to read cozy mysteries. I give it 5 stars.
Profile Image for Deborah.
75 reviews
January 9, 2022
Cute. Quick and just right for a simple weekend read

I love the diner and staff. Although they could go into food a bit more! Characters are fun and believable nice short cozy!
The down side is not a lot of background on anyone, no home descriptions,, no personal physical depth or color to paint the personality of characters for the reader.
And they really should of critiqued the white bean chili!
72 reviews
March 6, 2020
Interesting

This was definitely an interesting read. The only thing is, I wish it really told for sure the exact reason for the murderer to have really done it. Was it what the 3 friends supposed was the reason? What happened to the murderer? Yes, that Peterson was arrested, but then what happened? It was a good book though.
Profile Image for Tessa.
Author 1 book12 followers
March 12, 2020
This was definitely a cozy mystery. I did like the story, the suspense was perfect. The only thing I didn’t really like was the number of secondary characters. I feel like there were too many similar names to keep track of.

I would really consider reading the next book in this series - I like Josslyn a lot!
Profile Image for Denota.
153 reviews2 followers
March 14, 2020
Friends are such a gift, I love books with strong friendship bonds.

This book had every thing I love in a book. Though it fell a little short on organization and follow through on the plot. Just something missing. It just didn't ring true. I hope you give it a try and see what you think.
Profile Image for Melissa Basnight.
615 reviews19 followers
August 21, 2024
Diner mystery

Joss has been working at the Day and Night Diner for several years and when her friend is murdered she becomes a sleuth to figure out who the killer is. All the characters are working class people just trying to earn a paycheck which is a nice change in a storyline. Entertaining and kept my interest. Going to read some more books by this author.
Profile Image for Marissa.
3,409 reviews42 followers
February 29, 2020
Kindle Copy for Review

A longtime waitress at a local diner finds herself in the middle of an investigation when an old friend is murder. She is the one people turn to get things done.

This is the start of a new cozy series that will have you hankering for more. An entertaining read.
Profile Image for Ann.
1,120 reviews19 followers
March 3, 2020
Once again someone is thought to be murdered so two of her friends decide to investigate on their own to figure it out first. And of course its always a bakery or a restaurant involved somehow too. I kept waiting for the book to get more interesting -but it didn't for me.
Profile Image for Cindy Lea.
376 reviews2 followers
March 6, 2020
A fun little read..

Gretchen, I'm coming back for more! This is not usually my genre but I truly loved thus story. Joss reminded me of myself and my criminal minds way of thinking, lol!
Profile Image for Cheryl.
1,082 reviews5 followers
March 17, 2020
This is the first in the series. The main character is Joss and she works at the dinner in Lemon Bay. An old friend from she is found murdered and Joss decides to see what she can find out. Can she figure it out before the police?
1,026 reviews2 followers
March 19, 2020
An Accidental Detective

Jose has worked at the diner a long time. When one of her high school friends is murdered, another friend asks Jose to help her find out who did it. This is a well crafted mystery and I look forward the next one.
790 reviews2 followers
October 11, 2020
Good light read

Murder of a friend leads to waitress and friend investigating and trying to hide it from police chief. With somewhat zany characters there were a few laughs along the way.
69 reviews1 follower
October 24, 2020
Entertaining mystery!

I enjoyed this book! Good storyline and great characters! The ending was a definite surprise! I recommend this book! This is my first book nr Gretchen Allen, and I will be reading more!
Profile Image for Andrea.
1,622 reviews21 followers
July 15, 2021
Good plot

The plot is good. The mystery is solved by the last clue she gets. That might bother some people, but I’m fine with it.
I wanted some more character development and more details interaction between Joss and Verona. I guess that means I need to read the next one.
30 reviews
March 30, 2023
Just Alright.

This book haf a lot of "lead up to" things on it, then nothing noteworthy happened. Just because you have a thought, doesn't mean you solved the case. It's an alright read for a book. Not boring, but also not a mystery solver.
Profile Image for Donna.
1,041 reviews3 followers
April 19, 2024
First mystery

This is the first book in this series that is centered around a diner. Joss is a waitress trying to find out what happened to her friend. Several suspects later she finds the answer.
5 reviews
December 30, 2019
Fun restaurant read

I enjoy ed the characters. Made for quick light reading. I can't wait to read the next book and enjoy the series.
Profile Image for Kitten  Peters.
1,017 reviews5 followers
January 19, 2020
Cute

Good quick read. I like the characters and am going to read more to see if the evolv. One character is weird, want to see what her problem is.
Profile Image for Sarah.
579 reviews35 followers
March 9, 2020
A diner, murder and a case to solve. First book in the Day and Night Diner Series.
Profile Image for Carolyn Dietz.
18 reviews
March 9, 2020
Good read

This book was very well written and I love it. I recommend it to anyone who wants a good book to read
Profile Image for Dennis Raffaelli.
160 reviews2 followers
March 27, 2020
The plot is very weak. The clues do not lead to the culprit. The main character does nothing to help solve the crime. The characters have no depth.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews

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