Mary Jane Clark (former daughter-in-law of Mary Higgins Clark) takes spatula in hand and dips into the cozy mystery world with the first in her newest series - To Have and to Kill: A Wedding Cake Mystery.
We meet the heroine of the series, Piper Donovan at her lowest point. She's an unemployed actress struggling in NYC and finds that her only solution - temporarily that is - was to give up her apartment in the city and move back with her parents in the New Jersey 'burbs. Not exactly a dream come true for a 27 year old woman, but her quirky father and bakery owning mother make for some interesting and fun back story.
Not one to let grass grow under her feet, Piper helps out her mother at the bakery and agrees to bake a wedding cake for Glenna, her best friend and former soap opera co-star. Piper also agrees to attend a charity auction in hopes of networking with industry insiders where a another former co-star is murdered right before her very eyes. The motive, dodgy incidents and suspect list grows throughout the tale.
In this fun cozy based in the NYC metro area, bodies pile up, jewels are stolen and its practically impossible to discern friend from foe. With the help of her former neighbor and friend Jack, an FBI agent and the solid foundation that was laid by her former police officer father, Piper untangles the murderer's motive and manages to whip up the perfect wedding cake.
While I found the myriad points of view interesting, I'd of much rather spent time inside the main characters minds a little more. Granted, I had no problem following the multiple points of view, which is a sure sign of a well crafted writing, but I did feel like I didn't completely get to know Piper the way I wanted to. I felt a tiny bit cheated at the hints of romance that went no where, but since this is a series, I expect that Piper and Jack to maybe hook up in a book down the road (I hope!).
Also, I was a tad disappointed near end when the murderer was revealed because of the points of view that author chose. Clark glazed over the climatic part of the mystery and seemingly jumped ahead to the wedding day and the unveiling of the cake. It almost felt rushed and that she needed to get to the end and decided to leave out how things wrapped up and how Piper felt about the whole ordeal.
All in all, it was a fun, fast read and I'm seriously looking forward to seeing more of Piper and crew.
