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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

Grab a Spoon and Magnifying Glass & Dig Into This Delicious Mystery

by Chautona Havig · 5 Comments

Pint of No Return provides a delicious, satisfying mystery that also leaves you wanting more. A great story with great characters. via @chautonahavig

Okay, confession. I love ice cream.  So much so that I actually make it.  Often.  The day I bought my Cuisinart Ice Cream maker, is the day that my life changed. Then I chatted with Dana Mentink about her book on the Because Fiction Podcast and the freakshake contest she had for her release, and I had every intention of entering.  Then it hit me.  I couldn’t.  It could look like I was trying to get an in on the contest or something, so my brilliant “Lavender Blue, Berry Berry” freakshake idea never saw anything but the inside of my very happy stomach (it took three days to eat that thing, folks!).

But what about the book?

pint of no return

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Grab a Spoon and Magnifying Glass & Dig Into This Delicious Mystery

Few authors are what I would call “wordsmiths,” but Dana Mentink definitely is.  She doesn’t just write a good story or even pen beautiful or brilliant prose, she goes one step further. She’s clever with her word choice.  Sometimes I think she writes her books and then goes in and rewrites every sentence to have some burst of surprise in the middle of it. It’s genius! I find myself grinning on every page, not just because of a great story but also because of how that story is written.

Pint of No Return doesn’t disappoint in this area or any other. It’s a great mystery with a cast of quirky and delightful characters.  I wasn’t a quarter into the book before I was already anxious for the next.  I had to stop, take a breath, and remind myself to enjoy the book I had before me.

It was kind of when you go into an ice cream shop, taste a few tester spoons, and go… “I WANT THEM ALL NOW” but you know you can only eat one.  This book is that one.  But never fear, there’s more murder, mayhem, and merriment coming to the Shimmy and Shake Shop.

I’m so grateful for the free review copy of Pint of No Return. I loved it so much that I bought a paperback for myself. Recommended for lovers of words, clever writing, and clean, cozy mysteries.  Not recommended for folks who take themselves or life too seriously.

Pint of No returnAbout the Book

Book:  Pint of No Return

Author: Dana Mentink

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Release date: May 25, 2021

The first in new dessert cozy mystery series! A murder in town is bound to shake things up…

After her divorce from her thrice-married embezzler husband, Trinidad Jones is finally ready for a fresh start. So when she’s left one of ex’s businesses in Upper Sprocket, Oregon, she decides to pack up her dog, cash in her settlement, and open her dream business: the Shimmy and Shake Shop, introducing the world to her monster milkshakes. And even with a couple sticky situations underway, namely that the other two ex-wives also call Sprocket home, Trinidad’s life seems to be churning along smoothly.

That is, until she discovers her neighbor, the Popcorn King, head down in his giant popcorn kettle. When one of Trinidad’s fellow ex-wives is accused of the murder and Upper Sprocket descends into mayhem, it’s going to take a supersized scoop of courage to flush out the killer.

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Comments

  1. Roxanne C. says

    June 28, 2021 at 9:03 am

    Dana Mentink automatically had my attention with the ice cream theme, but after reading Chautona’s fun review, I really want to read this book and probably the entire series.

    Reply
  2. Dianne Casey says

    June 27, 2021 at 11:38 am

    Love the cover! Sounds like a great summer read. Looking forward to reading the book.

    Reply
  3. Lynn Brown says

    June 26, 2021 at 5:49 pm

    This sounds like a fun mystery. Love the cover. Very appropriate. Thanks for the chance.

    Reply
  4. Amelia says

    June 26, 2021 at 2:11 pm

    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  5. Linda Palmer says

    June 26, 2021 at 6:50 am

    Pint of No Return sounds like a great book. And I do like Dana Mentink’s writing!

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 553: A Chat with Chris Underwood
byChautona Havig

A chilling read from Chris Underwood… literally. What happens if you’re in the Midwest in winter and the power goes out? Listen in as I chat with Chris Underwood about his Cold Winter series.

Content warning: While these books do have characters who are Christians and live their faith, the first book (not sure about the rest) does include a few instances of foul language in the first few chapters. I’m switching from audio to print to finish.

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Talking about all the research he did for this series was a blast. I loved hearing about his travels with the crew and the prepper side–everything.

The Cold Winter Grid-Down Series by Chris Underwood

The Cold Winter Series begins with a power grid failure at Niagara Falls three days before Christmas, as a snowstorm approaches.

Welcome to The Cold Winter. It follows a group of families in Central Ohio who want to help stranded motorists who end up on their porch. Even when doing the right thing doesn’t work out, they keep on trying. There is a sense of morality and faith as the emergency continues to worsen.

In the second book, they learn that the power outage is an attack on the nation, and join a civilian minuteman militia to fight back.

The third book of the series ramps up the action and features the first major battles of the minutemen militia. Since modern machinery cannot be trusted, vintage military equipment is utilized by the militia, such as a Huey Helicopter and a WWII Landing Ship, the LST-325.

This ship is an actual floating museum on the Ohio River and is used by this militia to go upstream to rescue a VIP and bring him to safety. River locks are liberated from the enemy, and a dramatic battle is staged on Wheeling Island, where the landing ship performs much as it did on D-Day in Normandy: Landing aground with troops and equipment pouring out the front for battle!

The fourth installment of the series introduces more vintage equipment, including a Cobra Attack Helicopter and a P-47 Thunderbolt, to fight modern naval ships in an effort to liberate the Niagara Falls power station from the enemy.

Even the WWII Destroyer, USS The Sullivans, in its current engineless state at the Buffalo Naval Museum, is somehow used in the battle! It’s an epic showdown of antique airpower against modern naval might!

Learn more on Chris’s WEBSITE and follow on GoodReads and BookBub.

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Episode 553: A Chat with Chris Underwood
Episode 553: A Chat with Chris Underwood
June 20, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 552: A Chat with Laura Ashwood
June 17, 2026
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Episode 551: A Chat wth Kayla E. Green
June 15, 2026
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Episode 550: A Chat with Joan Lovestrand Farley
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Episode 549: A Chat with Laura DeNooyer
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Episode 548: A Chat with Sarah Heatwole
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Episode 547: A Chat with Terri McAdoo
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Episode 546: A Chat with Chuck Richardson
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Episode 545: A Chat with Gina Holder
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Episode 544: A Chat with Nicholas Teeguarden
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