Continuing in the vein of his Obama/Biden mystery series, author Andrew Shaffer takes democratic socialist and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders into the realm of the cozy mystery genre.

Sanders and political intern Crash Robertson arrive in Eagle Creek as Bernie is set to take part in several events surrounding one of the town’s annual festivals. Unfortunately for the pair, plans are altered when Crash stumbles upon the body of the community’s banker who, following an autopsy, is revealed to have drowned in maple syrup.

Can “Crash and Bern” uncover the mystery of the maple murder?

I am a big fan of Shaffer’s Obama/Biden mystery novels. Sure, they have a gimmick that obviously relies on parody, but they’re also solid whodunnits. When I heard Shaffer was targeting the mitten-wearing octogenarian politician as his next novel’s hero, I was all in.

While I did enjoy this for the most part, I did find that the maple syrup references and puns got a little tired after a while. There is only so much a man can take! That being said, there were still moments that made me laugh out loud like when Bernie stopped Crash from swatting a bee by offering a grim warning of the decreasing honeybee population as well as Crash believing her death was not imminent for the simple reason she still had unpaid student debt.

I will say that while I’m not well versed in the cozy mystery genre, this was more or less what I expected it to be. Shaffer has really carved himself out a niche in his politician-led amateur detective novels. Bring on the next one!