My amateur detective, Andorra Pett, goes on Tour.

Andorra has been mingling with her fans.

Thanks to

Andorra Pett has been on a short blog tour.

As the tour organiser dealt mostly in cozy mystery, I decided not to use the Sci-fi version of the cover. In the past, I’ve had problems convincing people that you can even have a cozy mystery in space. Instead, I went for this one.

Among the spotlights, guest posts and interviews, I had four reviews. Here they are.

https://booksaplentybookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/03/blog-tour-review-giveaway-for-andorra.html

 Well this is a nice change of pace when it comes to cozy mysteries. We travel to a space station with Andorra and her BFF Cy she tries to get as far from her cheating ex as she can. This is definitely a lot of distance but fun all at the same time. She buys a cafe at the station but happens to find the previous owner dead in the freezer. He was one of those that just collected secrets to use for his advantage so now they all want his book that he kept the dirt in. Can she find it first? What follows is a well crafted mystery full of quirky characters set in quite the intriguing space station. Makes for a fun read that cozy fans are sure to enjoy. I really liked it so I give it 4/5 stars.

jemimapett.com/blog/2022/03/19/book-review–andorra-pett-and-the-oort-cloud-cafe/

First off, I’ve had this book on my TBR with the original cover since 2019. And that’s how I’d thought of it, until I joined the blog tour and saw the more appropriate new one. More appropriate? Well, I was under the impression it was a kids scifi book… it’s only when I read the blurb properly that I realised, not only that I was wrong, but that it’s a sort of scifi cosy mystery (and definitely unsuitable for children).

But the feeling persisted, mainly because of the easy-reading style of the story. It could easily be written for ten-year-olds, but for the content – murder, mystery and promiscuity of life aboard a space station. A mining set-up, two hundred years in the future, just hovering on the outskirts of Saturn. Which is slightly odd, since the cafe is nowhere near the Oort Cloud, and is called the Ucky Strike (the L has fallen off, and everyone calls it that).

Once my mind had adjusted, I settled down to enjoy a very interesting cosy mystery, with Andi settling into a new way of life, which allows for detailed explanations of how the space station and the mining operations work, all part of her getting to know her new home. The world building is well done, the author’s ecosystem science first class, and some of the descriptions are fantastic. I did find it somewhat odd that most of the ‘internal’ technology, like communications, scanners and security codes, seem to be placed in the 2010s, but I know from experience how fast scifi authors’ imagined tech gets out-dated. I threw in a couple of throwaway lines about ‘so much tech being lost in the Robot Wars’ to explain some of the more backward tech in my books. The explanation of inertia was a bit heavy-handed, too. But maybe the author is looking for cosy mystery readers more than light scifi readers.

It’s a good story, with plenty of twists and turns, and a somewhat ‘handed on a plate’ solution. But every enjoyable, as cosy mysteries should be.

https://cozyupwithkathy.blogspot.com/2022/03/andorra-pett-and-oort-cloud-cafe.html

When Andorra Pett finds her boyfriend in bed with her so-called best friend, she decides to get as far away from him as possible. She leaves earth and sets up shop in a space station circling Saturn, turning the now defunct cocktail lounge into a cafe. She soon learns the previous owner was a womanizer who kept a book detailing his activities. She also discovers he hasn’t left the space station, as everyone believes. His dead body is currently taking up space in one of her freezers. As Andi starts her new business she has to deal with people searching for the book, a landlord who acts more like a mob boss, and, oh yeah, that dead body. Will Andi find the book and solve the murder? Or will she be taking up freezer space?

I absolutely loved the idea of a mystery set in outer space. A different, completely unique setting that still has relatable characters, charm, and a well plotted puzzle to solve. Andi is fun and Cy makes a great best friend. I adore Maz and like the women that will become Andi’s core friends on the space station. There were lots of clues sprinkled about and when Andi decided to learn something a bit out there for her, I knew that it would be important later on.

There were lots of twists and turns and everyone was suspect. The majority of characters showed more than one persona and everyone had secrets. Not knowing who to trust and watching people reveal their true colors as Andi and Cy not only tried to fit in and run a new business, but figure out the secrets of the dead body made for delightfully engaging reading. I loved learning about the space station itself, which lends itself to innovative plotting. The manner in which Andi revealed the killer was brilliant.

ANDORRA PETT AND THE OORT CLOUD CAFE is a unique mystery full of fun that tackles modern problems with an out of this world twist!

Book Bites: Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Café by Richard Dee

Science fiction cozy? Why not?

Andorra Pett moves to a space station in Saturn’s rings in response to a cheating boyfriend. She is joined by her best friend Cy and together they rent a rundown bar on the station and attempt to turn it into a cafe/bakery.  When the dead body of the previous owner turns up dead in a freezer and the local crime boss turns out to be her landlord she realizes she might be in over her head. 

I loved the idea of a cozy set in space, and as far as the mystery goes it is classic cozy with lots of suspicious suspects, plenty of twisty turns, and wonderfully written, larger-than-life misfit characters that begged me to keep reading. Despite the futuristic setting and the factions and frictions of the residents, the space station gives off a wonderful small town feel where the pair’s new friends band together to help make the new cafe a success, despite the scarce odds.

While I did enjoy the journey to the end of the mystery, I did have some reservations about the beginning of the story. It took me a while to settle into it because I just couldn’t wrap my head around the idea that Andi hopped the first transport to the middle of space to open a cafe, in direct competition with the local crime Don, with little knowledge about life in space, zero experience running a cafe, and limited cooking skills. Still, this is obviously a popular series and an intriguing one as well. With the series available on KU, I think I might just give the next book a looksy.

To say that I’m pleased with the reactions of a new set of readers would be an understatement. Now I just hope that positivity translates into some sales of all the stories in the series.

You can find Andorra’s first adventure here.

What do you think?

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