Christmas Concert Caper
Since I love Christmas cozies, I got excited when I saw that the fifteenth book in Jenn McKinlay's Cupcake Bakery Mysteries was going to be a Christmas entry. Sugar Plum Poisoned was a little bite of Christmas cheer.
Mel DeLaura's business partner at Fairy Tale Cupcakes, Angie Harper, is thrilled when she reads that Shelby Vaughn is going to be in Scottsdale, Arizona, for two weeks of Christmas concerts. Angie and Shelby became good friends when Angie was dating a rock star, but they haven't spent much time together since. Mel isn't nearly as enthusiastic, until she gets to know Shelby. Since Shelby hires the bakery to provide cupcakes at the VIP reception for the two weeks of the concert's run, the three women get to spend plenty of time together.
By the time opening night comes around, Mel and Angie have sensed that not all is well in Shelby's orbit. It seems that several people are at each other's throats. Then Mel finds a dead body in a dressing room after the first concert is over. Can the duo figure out what is going on?
The book does a good job of introducing us to the suspects and motives before the body turns up. That allows Mel to jump right into trying to figure out what happened. I did feel that a few things got dropped along the way, but they were fairly minor, so it's not a big deal. Likewise, the ending felt rushed. This is funny since I had pegged the killer earlier, although I was still not completely sure until Mel figured it out. Again, this is a minor issue since all our questions are answered.
I don't make it fifteen books into a series if I don't love the characters, and I certainly love this cast. I was smiling the entire way through the book as I was spending time with these friends. Naturally, some get more page time than others. They have to make room for the new characters, after all. And the new characters are just as strong as the series regulars.
I'll admit, I'd kind of forgotten about the early books when Angie was dating the rock star, so to see that brought back into the series at this late date was a lot of fun. I love it when authors do that.
If you are expecting your Christmas books to be filled with snow and cold weather, this one will disappoint you. It is set in Scottsdale, after all. However, there is still plenty of Christmas cheer. The cupcake flavors alone were enough to make me wish I had a bakery around to run and sample them. There's a great subplot involving the holiday that had me laughing.
And yes, there is plenty to make readers laugh as they go through the book.
If the cupcake flavors make you drool as much as they made me drool, you'll be thrilled to learn we get another five recipes at the end. As I expected, all of them are Christmassy flavors.
This book is a Christmas gift for fans. Sugar Plum Poisoned will leave them happy. If you haven't tried this series yet, you'll gobble them up once you do.
Be sure to pick up the rest of the Cupcake Bakery Mysteries.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.
I'll be starting this series soon. I'm looking forward to it. :)
ReplyDeleteAngie and Tate have always been together in my head when I think of this series so that did surprise me a bit! I enjoyed this book too and it definitely made me want cupcakes!
ReplyDeleteHmmm. I love the title of this book. It sounds rather yummy...except for the poison of course. Thanks for sharing.
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