You can have your cake and murder too!

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.

 

How to Crash a Killer Bash

 Penny Warner's second outing with her new series of party- planning mysteries was a party not to be forgotten anytime soon.  We catch up with Presley Parker at a famous art museum during their murder-mystery charity gala that she's organized.  Things were running fairly smoothly until the gala's host, Mary Lee Miller, is found dead during the event.  Presley's best friend Delicia is soon arrested because of an earlier argument she had with the victim and is the prime suspect.

Now, Presley must depend on her sharp organizing skills and abnormal psychology background to help her railroaded friend from being put on trail for a murder she did not commit. 

The pacing and intricately woven plot were spot on and kept me entertained throughout.  The museum back drop was not only interesting but clearly well researched.  While I did solve the murder quite early on (I blame it on my viewing a recent episode of Bones in assisting me with picking out the murderer), I wasn't 100% sure of my suspect choice almost until the end.

I also enjoyed the secondary plots (Presley's mom & her Alzheimer's), the romantic tension (Brad the crime scene cleaner & his mysteriousness) and humor, all add to this cozy.  I can't wait till the next installment!

A Deadly Deli Mystery

This new cozy mystery series by Delia Rosen unfortunately doesn't completely cut the mustard.  While the premise was fantastic, a mystery set in a Kosher deli in the heart of Nashville, the writing felt disjointed at times.  The tale opens suddenly and proceeds to introduce practically every character seemingly in the first few pages of chapter one, so my head was spinning to keep everyone straight.

Gwen, the cozy's amateur sleuth, has recently inherited her Uncle Murray's troubled deli. Having uprooted herself from NYC after a bad divorce, she finds herself with an unruly staff, while trying to run a deli she knows virtually nothing about. Throw a murdered patron on Kosher Karaoke Night into mix and you've got a real recipe for disaster.

While I enjoyed the interesting characters peppered throughout and the mystery plot, I did sometimes feel there was a great deal of let's get to the point already moments, which slowed down the pacing of the novel.  I eventually warmed up to Gwen and the author's writing style, but not before having to put the book down once.

Since this is Rosen's first outing, I'm willing to give the series another go when One Foot in the Gravy, the next deli mystery, comes out next fall.  I recommend the book for those with an open mind and don't mind a sleuth with chutzpah.

Next up on the review schedule

So many mysteries, so little time!  While perusing my local Barnes & Noble this morning before picking up my morning shot of Earl Grey, I stumbled upon some new releases that caught my eye. I succumbed since they were both new in a series of cozies.

One is a Deadly Deli Mystery entitled, A Brisket, a Casket, by Delia Rosen and the other is a Museum Mystery - Fundraising the Dead, by Shelia Connolly, who also wrote the Orchard Mysteries series.

Should I flip a coin or do eeny meeny miney mo?  Here's hoping that not only do I decide, but I do so before my lunch hour! ;-)
 

Paperback Parade

Title: Dirty Rotten Tendrils
Author: Kate Collins
Published: October 2010
Format: Paperback/Kindle

Collins continues to entertain me with her tenth tale of Abby Knight, flower shop owner and amateur sleuth.  While Abby, also the narrator of the series, waxes poetic about how lovely it is to live in a small town things begin to change courtesy of singer, Cody Verse, who won a reality show contest and calls New Chapel, Indiana his hometown along with Abby.  The town rolls out the red carpet for Cody who is being accused of stealing another local resident's song and turning it into a chart topper.

As always, a body turns up and Abby needs to help her friend and former, employer, lawyer Dave Hammond clear his name and weed through the growing list of suspects to find the real murderer.

While the murder investigation takes centerstage, plenty of secondary stories abound -- including an enagement ring mix-up, a social commentary on stardom and reality shows with family concerns thrown in to keep everyone on their toes.  The mystery was deftly written and I was kept in suspense to almost the end trying to solve the puzzle along with Abby.  New Chapel's charming residents and Abby's boyfriend, Marco keep this series entertaining and fun.  I highly recommend it.