Book Review: Muddled Matrimonial Murder by Kim Davis (Cupcake Catering Mysteries #6)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Great characters, good mystery

Cons: A few minor things

The Bottom Line:

Lead up to wedding

Complicated by murder

Holiday setting

Dead Stalker

When you are a character in a mystery series, you need to just accept that any major life event is going to be fraught with murder.  That holds true even if you are just supporting characters.  That is the case in Muddled Matrimonial Murder, the newest Cupcake Catering Mystery from author Kim Davis.

This series features Emory Martinez who makes cupcakes in Orange County, California, when she isn’t solving murders.  This book opens two weeks before Thanksgiving, and Emory is super busy.  Not only does she have more orders than normal with the holiday coming, but she’s also become the wedding planner for her best friend, Brad, and his fiancé Gabe.  Their wedding is scheduled for the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and lots of Gabe’s family is coming in for the event.

However, the road to the wedding is anything but smooth.  Gabe seems to be withdrawing, and Brad is worried that it is more than cold feet.  Then Brad and Emory go to the wedding venue and discover a dead body.

Brad immediately recognizes the victim as his stalker, a woman obsessed with him, but someone he hasn’t seen since moving back to Orange County several years ago.  How did she find him again?  Who killed her?  The police are looking at Brad and Gabe as their prime suspects.  Can Emory prove neither of the grooms did it before an arrest ruins the wedding?

The fact that Brad had a stalker had been mentioned early in the series, but I’d kind of forgotten about it until it became the focus of the story here.  It made for a great plot since it puts the spotlight on Gabe and Brad as suspects.  Emory does eventually begin to find other potential suspects, but the evidence keeps pointing back to Brad and Gabe.  I was beginning to suspect where things were going before the villain revealed themself.  The climax was intense but did answer all our questions.

Those who know the series know that we have a large supporting cast.  We get to see all of them, some more than others, but it was great to check in with them.  We also got some interesting developments in some ongoing storylines.  The focus is on the main mystery, but I am intrigued by what happened here and curious to see what will come next.  There are some potential spoilers (by necessity) for storylines in earlier books, so this is a series best read in order.

Not that you’ll be sorry if you do go back to the beginning.  The characters in this series are delightful, and this book is no exception.  Some make me laugh with their antics; I’m smiling now thinking about them.  I always enjoy spending time with them, and the new characters introduced here fit well in the world that has been created.

If you are looking for some twists on Thanksgiving favorites, this book has you covered.  By my count, we get a dozen recipes at the end, and since this book takes place around Thanksgiving, most are perfect for that holiday.  In addition to a French toast casserole and recipes featuring turkey and sweet potatoes, we get a couple of cranberry cupcakes and a white chocolate cranberry cookie.

Muddled Matrimonial Murder is a good addition to this series.  If you are looking for a fun cozy mystery, you’ll be glad you picked it up.

Enjoy the rest of the Cupcake Catering Mysteries.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

I am reviewing this book are part of a blog tour.  Please check out the rest of the stops.  And please enter the tour wide giveaway below.

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