The Rocky Road to Ruin
An Ice Cream Shop Mystery, Book 1
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Narrated by:
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Senn Annis
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By:
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Meri Allen
About this listen
Justice will be swirled by amateur sleuth Riley Rhodes in the first in Meri Allen's brand-new mystery series, The Rocky Road to Ruin!
Riley Rhodes, travel food blogger and librarian at the CIA, makes a bittersweet return to her childhood home of Penniman, Connecticut—land of dairy farms and covered bridges—for a funeral. Despite the circumstances, Riley’s trip home is sprinkled with reunions with old friends, visits to her father’s cozy bookshop on the town green, and joyful hours behind the counter at the beloved Udderly Delicious Ice Cream Shop. It feels like a time to help her friend Caroline rebuild after her mother’s death, and for Riley to do a bit of her own reflecting after a botched undercover mission in Italy. After all, it’s always good to be home.
But Caroline and her brother Mike have to decide what to do with the assets they’ve inherited—the ice cream shop as well as the farm they grew up on—and they’ve never seen eye to eye. Trouble begins to swirl as Riley is spooked by reports of a stranger camping behind the farm and by the odd behavior of the shop’s mascot, Caroline’s snooty Persian, Sprinkles. When Mike turns up dead in the barn the morning after the funeral, the peace and quiet of Penniman seems upended for good. Can Riley find the killer before another body gets scooped?
©2021 Meri Allen (P)2022 Vibrance PressListeners also enjoyed...
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When Megan Sawyer gives up her big-city law career to care for her grandmother and run the family's organic farm and cafe, she expects to find tranquility in her scenic hometown of Winsome, PA. Instead, her goat goes missing, rain muddies her fields, the town denies her business permits, and her family's Colonial-era farm sucks up the remains of her savings. Just when she thinks she's reached the bottom of the rain barrel, Megan and the town's hunky veterinarian discover the local zoning commissioner's battered body in her barn.
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Well Written and Entertaning
- By Beatrice on 09-16-16
By: Wendy Tyson
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Making Spirits Bright
- By: Fern Michaels, Elizabeth Bass, Rosalind Noonan, and others
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Melanie McLaughlin desperately wants to adopt two orphaned siblings and give them a real home for Christmas. A just-for-the-holiday marriage to Bryce Landry fits her plan perfectly...until unexpected sparks have Melanie dreaming of forever by his side....
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So so book
- By John on 08-25-22
By: Fern Michaels, and others
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Crime and Poetry
- Magical Bookshop Mystery Series, Book 1
- By: Amanda Flower
- Narrated by: Rachel Dulude
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Rushing home to sit by her ailing grandmother's bedside, Violet Waverly is shocked to find Grandma Daisy the picture of perfect health. Violet doesn't need to read between the lines: Her grandma wants Violet back home and working in her magical store, Charming Books. It's where the perfect book tends to fly off the shelf and pick you.... Violet has every intention to hightail it back to Chicago, but then a dead man is discovered clutching a volume of Emily Dickinson's poems from Grandma Daisy's shop.
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Magical Books, A Talking Crow, Great Easy Listen
- By Debbie on 08-28-18
By: Amanda Flower
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Murder, Plain and Simple
- Amish Quilt Shop Mystery, Book 1
- By: Isabella Alan
- Narrated by: Cris Dukehart
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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With her snazzy cowboy boots and her ornithophobic French bulldog, Angie doesn't exactly fit in with the predominantly Amish community in Rolling Brook, but her aunt's quilting circle tries to make her feel welcome as she prepares for the reopening of Running Stitch.
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Pleasantly Surprised
- By Beatrice on 07-14-15
By: Isabella Alan
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Death on Tap
- By: Ellie Alexander
- Narrated by: Carly Robins
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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When Sloan Krause walks in on her husband, Mac, screwing the barmaid, she gives him the boot. Sloan has spent her life in Leavenworth, Washington becoming an expert in brewing craft beer, and she doesn't have time to be held back by her soon-to-be ex-husband. She decides to strike out on her own, breaking away from the Krause family brewery, and goes to work for Nitro, the hip new nano-brewery in the Bavarian-themed town. But then she finds one of Nitro's competitors dead in the fermenting tub, clutching the secret recipe for the IPA.
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Series Review throught Book 5
- By Carolyn on 04-09-22
By: Ellie Alexander
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Sweet Masterpiece
- Samantha Sweet Series, Book 1
- By: Connie Shelton
- Narrated by: Andrea Bates
- Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Samantha Sweet breaks into houses for a living - all perfectly legal as a caretaker for the USDA. But her real dream is to open her own pastry shop, 'Sweet's Sweets.' Life is a little crazy for Sam right now. At one of her break-in properties, a dying woman insists that she take a small wooden box. Sam doesn't realize that the old woman was known locally as a 'bruja,' a witch, until she begins to feel some strange effects from the box.
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Picky, I know I'm Picky.
- By Judy King on 03-02-16
By: Connie Shelton
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Plain Murder
- By: Emma Miller
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Fifteen years after leaving her Old Order Amish life, Rachel Mast has returned to Stone Mill, Pennsylvania. Corporate success didn't bring true happiness, but Rachel also knows she can never be Amish again. Instead she runs a B&B and tries to help her community in ways they can't help themselves. But now a gruesome discovery has been made on her Uncle Aaron's cow pasture - the body of prominent Englisher businessman Willy O'Day. Aaron refuses to hire a lawyer, trusting his innocence, and his faith, to see him through. Rachel isn't so sure, especially given the long public feud between the two men.
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Serenity, Calm, Amish . . . and Murder
- By Debbie on 12-11-15
By: Emma Miller
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Mistletoe Murder
- A Lucy Stone Mystery, Book 1
- By: Leslie Meier
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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As if baking holiday cookies, knitting a sweater for her husband, and making her daughter’s angel costume for the church pageant weren’t enough things for Lucy Stone’s busy Christmas schedule, she’s also working nights at the famous mail-order company Country Cousins. But when she discovers Sam Miller, its very wealthy founder, dead in his car from an apparent suicide, the sleuth in her knows something just doesn’t smell right.
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5 stars
- By Beatrice on 12-21-20
By: Leslie Meier
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Murder in a Scottish Shire
- By: Traci Hall
- Narrated by: Beverley A. Crick
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Known as the Brighton of the North, Nairn is both a charming Scottish town and a popular seaside resort - but to Paislee Shaw, it's simply home - unfortunately to a murderer....
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Not fae Nairn
- By Luca on 06-28-23
By: Traci Hall
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Board Stiff
- An Elliot Lisbon Mystery
- By: Kendel Lynn
- Narrated by: Rachel Frawley
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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As director of the Ballantyne Foundation on Sea Pine Island, SC, Elliott Lisbon scratches her detective itch by performing discreet inquiries for Foundation donors. Usually nothing serious until Jane Hatting, Ballantyne board chair, is accused of murder. The Ballantyne's reputation tanks, Jane's headed to a jail cell, and Elliott's sexy ex is the new lieutenant in town. Armed with moxie and her Mini Coop, Elliott uncovers a trail of blackmail schemes, gambling debts, illicit affairs, and investment scams. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more treacherous her investigation.
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A strong start to a new cozy mystery series
- By Takeyabue on 02-15-14
By: Kendel Lynn
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The Diva Runs Out of Thyme
- A Domestic Diva Mystery, Book 1
- By: Krista Davis
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Few can compete with the Natasha Smith when it comes to entertaining, but her childhood rival, Sophie Winston, certainly tries. While Natasha is known for her intricate centerpieces and painstakingly prepared gourmet meals, Sophie likes to keep things simple...real simple.
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The type of cozy I don't enjoy
- By Meep on 09-11-15
By: Krista Davis
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Murder of a Small-Town Honey
- A Scumble River Mystery, Book 1
- By: Denise Swanson
- Narrated by: Christine Leto
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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When Skye Denison left Scumble River years ago, she swore she'd never return. But after a bout with her boyfriend and credit card rejection, she's back to home sweet - homicide....
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unacceptable production
- By Music Lover on 06-28-13
By: Denise Swanson
What listeners say about The Rocky Road to Ruin
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Beatrice
- 05-17-22
Great Book
The Rocky Road to Ruin is an entertaining cozy mystery. I look forward to the next book.
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- Donna M Phillips
- 06-30-22
The Rocky Road to Ruin by Meri Allen
Narrated by Senn Annis is a delightfully written murder
mystery. A good read for a dull day. Well written in picturesque
speech. Could almost see the people & locations. Have a low fat snack handy. lol
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- Debbie Lacey
- 05-09-22
Enjoyable New Series
How does a travel blogger/CIA Librarian/sometimes covert operative find herself managing an ice cream shop in her hometown? Oh, and there is at least one murder to which she feels compelled to apply her skills. You will just need to read the book to find out what motivations and secrets brought Riley Rhoades to this point and what she does about it.
I enjoyed the book and will purchase book 2, assuming it comes available. The characters have potential, and I hope Ms. Allen develops them, including Riley's CIA background. There was a lot of ground to cover in this first book, and it seems a lot left to be discovered, but that is what makes a series.
The narrator is okay, not stellar, but not annoying. If the next book has a new narrator it shouldn't impact the series. This narrator did not "own" these characters - yet.
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-17-24
Ice cream with mystery
Pleasant settings and jobs having a colorful cast of characters for background and help to solve mysteries plus with some cats antics
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- WTF Are You Reading?
- 07-10-22
This Is A Wonderful Mystery But...
The story, twists, turns, plots, and even the cleverly incorporated pets are great.
But this is a story that is better read than listened to. The story is one that depends very much on the unfolding of a surprising backstory to rectify the present situation.
A.backstory that for the most part seems a mere vague, sad, and unrelated sidenote.
For the better way part of the book.
The story though interesting, very well written, and highly engaging. Takes the reader on a very long and very arduous wild goose chase from suspect to suspect.
i.seriously think that if there was a way that they could have implicated the animals. They would have tried.
Barring the "everyone but God" form of "everything but the kitchen sink writing.
This is both a wonderful book and a great start to this series.
Reviewer's Notes
All opinions herein are my own. And are in no way influenced by the author or the publisher.
This review is of the Audible version of this work.
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- Kristi
- 08-18-23
Very complicated cozy mystery
I love the idea of an ice cream shop mystery series, but struggled with this one. The amateur sleuth is practically perfect in every way which is ironic because she calls her stepmother too perfect. I found the plot to be a bit convoluted.
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- Jayme
- 06-13-22
reader is annoying
title is self explanatory. if certain types of voices annoy you don't listen to this one
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