Book Review: Comedy Can Be Deadly by Ryan Rivers (Bucket List Mysteries #3)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: great characters, laughs, and mystery blended together perfectly

Cons: I laugh in the face of cons

The Bottom Line:

A play with murder

Mixing mystery and laughs

Always delightful

Murder Complicates Shakespeare

Ryan Rivers’ Bucket List Mysteries have quickly become one of my favorite series. The stories are a wonderful blend of comedy and mystery with characters we can’t help but root for. As a result, I couldn’t wait to dive into the latest, Comedy Can Be Deadly. 

For those new to the series, it features an unlikely pair of protagonists. Levi Blue is a former tween star who has landed the job of mayor in the town of Bluebonnet Hills, Texas. Our narrator is Sho Tanaka, a former ER murder who lost his job after he developed an addiction to prescription pills. He’s relocated to the town where his sister, Jenny, runs a popular local restaurant. 

In this book, Levi has landed the role of Puck in the local theater’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Sho is happy with his role as stage manager until an accident forces him to take on the role of Lysander. Things are anything but smooth sailing with all the personalities in the cast and crew. But then some dies after falling from the upper platform of the theater. Was it an accident or murder?

Okay, fine, it was murder. But for the longest time, Sho seems to be the only one willing to classify it as such. There are plenty of twists and surprises on the way to the climax, which is the best handled climax of this type I’ve seen. I just loved it! 

I said this was a comedic series, and then I talked about Sho’s addiction issues. Yes, this really is a comedic series. The comedy was toned down a bit this time around, which I appreciated. There were still plenty of laughs, but the balance between that and the more serious moments was better maintained. 

And we get some great growth for both Levi and Sho. Even Jenny gets some nice growth here. I really appreciate where these characters are going. And I appreciate how their relationships are growing as well. 

Meanwhile, we get some interesting suspects that help pull us into the story. 

As always, the next book sets up the next in the series, but I’m a little surprised at what it set up given some of what happens here.  I guess I’ll find out where things are going when that book comes out, and I can’t wait.

Over the course of the book, there are some references to previous cases, so if you want to read spoiler free, I recommend you read the stories in order. You’ll also appreciate the character growth more that way. 

Comedy Can Be Deadly is another fun ride from start to finish. If you want to laugh as you read, you need to pick up this series. 

Be sure to cross the rest of the Bucket List Mysteries off your list. 

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book. 

Movie Review: Forbidden Fruit - A Curious Caterer Mystery

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Characters, fun, solid mystery

Cons: Little bit of cheese

The Bottom Line:

Catering concert

Opening number murder

Delightful for fans

“We Should Hire You.”  “You Can’t Afford Me.”

It appears we’ve reached the final Hallmark Mystery movie of 2024.  How do I know?  The only ads we got during this movie were for Christmas movies, which start this weekend.  After all, it is mid-October.  Anyway, Hallmark ended their mystery movies for the year with a bang with Forbidden Fruit, the newest Curious Caterer Mystery.

Caterer Goldy Berry (Nikki Deloach) and Detective Tom Schultz (Andrew W. Walker) are finally going to have their first date.  Tom has managed to get tickets to a reunion concert of The Faithful.  Goldy loved the band, but they haven’t played since one of their members died 20 years ago.  However, it becomes a working date for Goldy when she accepts a last-minute job to cater for the band before their one night only concert.

Then, it becomes a working date for Tom when one of the members is electrocuted on stage just as he’s about to sing.  His gut is telling him that it was murder, but all the evidence points to accident.  That is until something else happens.  Will Goldy’s knowledge of the band help Tom solve the case?

This is a solid mystery.  There are enough twists and red herrings that it kept me guessing until near the end.  Once Goldy and Tom figured it out, everything made sense.

And yes, they did figure it out together.  I love how the writers have made them a team in crime solving.  Yes, Goldy gets away with a lot she wouldn’t in real life, but I’m okay with that.  There are only so many times we have hear “stay out of the case” before it gets old.  Tom respects her skills as a detective, and she also respects him.  They also get some help from some very surprising sources, and that just added to the fun.

And fun really was the key word.  I enjoyed this movie the entire way through.  It helped that the subplot of Goldy and Tom’s first date attempts was amusing.  The two leads have such great chemistry; it’s a delight to see them together.

The writing and acting were both good in this movie, with minimal low budget cheese.  And the humor in the movie felt natural.  It was fun to see Sarah Strange from the Garage Sale Mysteries franchise show up here in a substantial role.

I’m glad the Curious Caterer franchise seems to be doing well, and I hope they continue to give us more movies with these characters.  If you enjoy these films as much as I do, you’ll enjoy Forbidden Fruit.

October 13th's Sunday/Monday Post

Time again for a Sunday/Monday Post.  I'll be linking up to:

Sunday Post
Sunday Salon
Stacking the Shelves
It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Last weekend, I went down to Long Beach for a few hours.  I'd heard about Pixar Putt, a pop up Pixar themed miniature golf course.  Being the DisNerd (and Pixar fan) that I am, I decided to check it out.  And a good friend of mine who has done Disneyland with me many many times lives down there, so we met up and did it.  It was fun, but for the price, it was a little underwhelming.  Still, we had fun, and I'm glad we did it.  Plus, it was great to see her!

I'm adjusting to going into the office three days a week.  I wouldn't say I like it, but I'm not having the same feeling of dread I did that first week.  I'm also still trying to adjust to the distractions going on around me.  There are times I just need to be left alone to concentrate on what I'm doing, you know?  Otherwise, I forget where I am.  And I'm still trying to adjust to what is realistic for me to do in the evenings after work.  Even my short commute takes time out of my day.

And I finally used Canva for something.  I've long wanted to create a logo for my Saturday Weekly TV Thoughts post, and it finally dawned on me I could use that app to do that.  I debuted it yesterday.  It's pretty simple (there's a reason I'm not in graphic design), but I am happy with it for now.  I might try tweaking it a bit in the future.

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Book Review: The Sherlock Society by James Ponti

Monday - Movie Review: A Sprinkle of Deceit

Tuesday - Book Review: Pretty Lentil Liars by Cathy Wiley

Wednesday - Movie Review: A Case for the Winemaker

Thursday - Book Review: Send in the Clowns by Julie Mulhern

Friday - Friday Post featuring Comedy Can Be Deadly

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: Forbidden Fruit

Tuesday - Book Review: Comedy Can Be Deadly by Ryan Rivers

Wednesday - Ornament Review: Christmas Is.... #1

Thursday - Book Review: Til Death by Annette Dashofy

Friday - Friday Post

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Ebook Haul:

It's been two weeks, but I'm almost ashamed at how many books I have to talk about.  And I am going to be breaking this into two groups.  Mind you, all the books I'll be talking about will be digital books, but we'll start with the regular ebook haul.

I started out by snagging an ARC of Comedy Can Be Deadly by Ryan Rivers.  This is the newest in his Bucket List Mysteries.  I love the series, and I couldn't wait to dive in.  In fact, my review will be up on Tuesday, and I used it for teasers for my most recent Friday Post.  It was a lot of fun.

I got an alert that A Case for the Winemaker, the first in Candace Havens' Ainsley McGregor series was on sale.  Since this was the inspiration for Great American Family's first mystery movie franchise, I was interested in it, so I got it.  Then I realized that A Case for the Toy Maker, book three, was free and A Case for the Candle Maker, book four, was also on sale, so I went ahead and got them, too.  All three are still on sale as of my typing this.

Also still on sale is Murderous CONsequences by Nicole Lieren.  We've got a former con artist trying to retire but being pulled into a murder mystery.  It has sounded like fun, and I've been eyeing it, so when it went on sale, I snagged it.

I won a copy of the first in J.C. Kenney's new series - Panic in the Panhandle.  It sounds wacky.  Our main character is a wild life removal specialist.  And yes, it is set in Florida.  I've been eyeing it, so I was happy to win it.

Finally, for this section, I got You Feta Watch Out, a Christmas themed entry in the Grilled Cheese Mysteries from Linda Reilly.  This is another ARC for a book that comes out in just about a month.  November is getting pretty full of ARCs.  I'd better get to reading.  Anyway, I enjoy this series so I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

Audiobook Haul:

Yes, I've got enough audiobooks recently to have their own section.  You see, I'm gearing up for a road trip.  At this point, I think I have more audiobooks than I can listen to on the trip, but we'll see.  Always better to have too many than too few, right?

Actually, this first one is a happy coincidence.  Author Steve Hockensmith was giving away some of the Audible audiobook copies for the first in his new Double-A Western Detective Agency series - Hired Guns.  This is a spin off from his Holmes on the Range series, which I've been reading since it came out.  I had these books (book 2 is out already as well) on my list, but hadn't gotten around to getting them yet, so I snagged it.  Hopefully, it will be good listening, but I'm sure the story is great.

These other three I got from my library.  I love that I can get the digital audiobooks via an app.  So convenient and so easy to listen to in the car - no switching the discs around.

The first of these is Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly.  This is the next of his books for me to listen to.  I usually enjoy them, so I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to the characters here.

I will definitely be listening to People of Darkness by Tony Hillerman on my trip.  His books are set in the Navajo reservation, and I'll be driving through it on my road trip.  It's just too perfect, and I can't resist.

Finally, I have a non-fiction audio book.  I know, shocking.  As a Full House fan, I was curious about John Stamos' memoir, If You Would Have Told Me.  And since he reads it, I wanted to go with the audio version.  I have a feeling this might be the one I don't get to.  Especially if the other audiobook I have on hold comes in.  But we'll see.  It might be nice to break things up a bit.

What I'm Currently Reading:

Saturday is game day.  I had hoped to get some reading time in before I leave, but that doesn't look promising.  That means it will probably be Sunday before I finish Death Checked Out by Leah Dobrinska.  It's the first in a series set in a small town in Wisconsin.  I've been enjoying it, although I think I've had the killer pegged early on.  We'll see if I'm right.  I've got about 60 pages left.

Next up will be The General's Gold, a treasure hunting thriller from LynDee Walker and Bruce Robert Coffin.  I've heard good things about the book, and it sounds like fun.  So hopefully, I will enjoy this first in a series.

That's it for me.  Hope you have a great week.

October 12th's Weekly TV Thoughts

Why yes, I did have some fun with Canva Thursday night for the first time.  I'd been thinking about creating a logo like that for a while, and I finally realized I could use that to do it.  Now, I need to decide if I want to try to add color to it somehow, but for now, I'm happy with this.  Especially since I should have been in bed when I was creating it.

And now for this week's thoughts:

Moonflower Murders – I am not happy with this writer who is trying to come between Susan and Andreas.  At least she left when she did.  But he is still a completely horrid character.  As to the mystery, we got real life flashbacks and the novel and the current timeline.  I feel like we made a little progress, but I’m not sure we have enough to truly fill six episodes.  Still, I was entertained while I was watching

Dancing with the Stars (Monday) – I’m hoping the audience votes don’t save people longer than they should be around.  I got the urge, I really do.  There are some people it is fun to watch.  But this is a dance show, and it needs to focus on that.  Having said that, there are some amazing dancers.  We will see how things come together with the double elimination.

Superman & Lois – Two episodes, and they absolutely packed a one, two punch.  That was rough to watch.  I hope they don’t leave us there for very long.  I mean, we have to be there for a bit, and I get it, but I want to see Clark back sooner rather than later this season.  I’d be okay waiting if it weren’t the final season, but with it being the final season, I want to see everyone together.

Rescue: HI Surf – Nice to see one storyline dropped.  At least I hope it is.  The rescues seemed weak this time around.  Or two short.  Or something.  Oh, and those two rooming together?  It will be a disaster before they decide they are in love.  I mean, you know that’s where they are going for them.

Dancing with the Stars (Tuesday) – I had to keep reminding myself the stars had two weeks between performances because it seems like a lot to expect them to do two dances already.  Yes, it was back to back nights, but still, it is a lot.  I was impressed with quite a few of the performances, however.  They really stepped up and took the criticism from Monday night to heart even though they had 24 hours to turn it around.  Gene’s scores were all over the map.  The right couples went home.  Sadly, since I liked them both, but they clearly were going to be struggling going forward because of their age.  Like all athletics, this is a young person’s show in the end.  At least most of the time.

Survivor – Well, that was a twist.  I was blindsided by it.  What a crazy night to not have a vote at all.  I think they were crazy to not get Rome out.  I understand why Genevieve didn’t like what was happened and decided to make the move she did, however.  But still, Rome is going to cause trouble the longer he is in the game.

The Challenge – At this point, I’m wondering just how long Rachel can hang on by herself.  I definitely feel sorry for her.  And what is this going to mean for the other groups.  As was pointed out, there are only three male targets.  Do the two that don’t win automatically go into the arena?  It will be interesting to see what happens with that.

October 11th's Friday Post

Look at this - two weeks in a row, I'm doing the Friday Post.  As usually, I will be linking up to:

Book Beginnings
First Line Friday
Friday 56
Book Blogger Hop

For the first three, I'll be pulling quotes from Comedy Can Be Deadly by Ryan Rivers.

This is the third full length book in the series, and it was fun and funny.  The story involves our two friends, Levi and Sho, involved in a local theater production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.  Here's how it begins:

Sweat beaded on my forehead, catching in my eyebrows like tiny anxious dewdrops.

Nothing like starting out with a bit of suspense, right?

Meanwhile, at 56% into the ARC I read, we find this:

“Have faith, boys,” she called over her shoulder. “The show will go on.”
How? With two murders, a hospitalized fairy queen, and a director on the verge of a nervous breakdown, our Midsummer seemed more cursed than Mac—ahem—the Scottish Play.

I really enjoy this series, and this was no exception.  My review will be up Tuesday, so I hope you'll come back to read it then.

Let's close things out with this week's Book Blogger Hop.  And the question is:

Do you have a favorite book or author you turn to every October to celebrate Halloween?

I don't.  I have a few movies I try to slip in this time of year (Halloween, the original The Haunted Mansion with Eddie Murphy, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown), but no books or authors I try to read.  If a series I read has a Halloween book, I will try to read it this month if I bought it and didn't snag an ARC, but that's about it.

Have a great weekend!

Reading Challenge: COYER Autumn 2024

It's beyond time for me to sign up for the 4th chapter of the COYER challenge.  We are back to the spring rules.  Any format works, however, the book had to be free or nearly free.  Fortunately for me, library books and ARCs count since I will have plenty of those in the remainder of 2024.

I will list the books below as I complete them.

1. A Merry Little Murder Plot by Jenn McKinlay

2. Pretty Lentil Liars by Cathy Wiley

3. Comedy Can Be Deadly by Ryan Rivers

4. Death Checked Out by Leah Dobrinska

5. Saguaro by Sandy Dengler

6. Murder at Marble House by Alyssa Maxwell

7. Sheer Window by Diane Vallere

8. A Matter of Life and Depths by K.B. Jackson

9. The Gardener's Plot by Deborah J. Benoit

10. You Feta Watch Out by Linda Reilly

11. We Three Queens by Rhys Bowen

12. Murder at Glenloch Hill by Clara McKenna

13. Flower Power Trip by James J. Cudney

14. A Summit in Shadow by Sarah E. Burr

15. I'll Bee Home for Christmas by Cathy Wiley

16. Irish Soda Bread Murder by Carlene O'Connor, Peggy Ehrhart, and Liz Ireland

Book Review: Send in the Clowns by Julie Mulhern (Country Club Murders #4)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Fun mystery with great characters firmly set in the 70’s

Cons: A couple of things bother me

The Bottom Line:

Death in haunted house

Who would want to kill a clown?

Fun with Ellison

Killer Clown in a Haunted House

There are too many good series out there.  That’s the only reason I have for not getting back to the Country Club Murders sooner.  Granted, I did read a novella in the series earlier this year, but it was nice to pick up Send in the Clowns and revisit Ellison Russell with a full-length novel again.

If you are new to the series, or it’s been a while, Ellison is a recent widow raising her teenage daughter in 1970’s Kansas City.  And, for the past few months, it seems everywhere she goes, she is finding dead bodies.

Case in point – being at the local haunted house wasn’t her choice for a Sunday night activity.  But as she finds herself navigating the various rooms, she finds a room with two clowns.  Ellison already isn’t a fan of clowns, but she quickly realizes that one of the clowns was just stabbed, and he dies in her arms after asking for Ellison’s help by name.  When Ellison returns with help, she finds the room completely empty.  Who was the victim?  More importantly, who was the other clown?

The book wastes no time but jumps right into the plot.  The investigation does unfold a little differently than in some of the books I read, but it works.  I was hooked the entire way through and couldn’t wait to see what would happen next.  The ending was a little weaker than I would have liked, or at least presented that way to us.  On the other hand, it did answer all our questions.

Part of this series is looking at how society was changing in the 1970’s.  Honestly, I’ve got to say how this book tackled that bothered me.  In other case, Ellison is dealing with all the men in her life (well, except Mr. Coffee) telling her what to do and thinking she needs a man to protect her.  I get it – that was a social issue of the time.  But it is beginning to feel repetitive at this point.  Additionally, we are once again running into changing morals about sex.  Again, I didn’t care for that.  This second issue is enough to keep this from being a cozy for me.

On the other hand, I truly do love the characters.  Yes, even the regulars who are supposed to be annoying are fun in how they annoy.   We also have a love triangle going on.  I know that has been resolved in future books, so I’m anxious to see how that comes about since I could honestly see either guy winning at this point.  Since it’s only been a couple of months (and four books), I’m not too annoyed by the love triangle at this point.

Anyway, the characters overall are wonderful.  They feel real, and we can understand where they are coming from even if we disagree with them.  The suspects aren’t quite as well developed as the series regulars, but we also don’t see quite as much of them, so it makes sense.

I was born in the 70’s, so I don’t have solid memories of that decade myself.  However, from pictures and TV shows, I feel like this book nails the period.  I always enjoy those little touches that ground me in the period.

I didn’t intentionally pick up this book to read in October, but that was a nice bonus.  The season definitely plays a part in the story as it unfolds.

And I have to also mention the humor.  There’s a certain snark to the narration that I enjoyed.  It’s not overdone, but it’s a very fun touch.  There are some fun exchanges between the characters as well.

I already have the next couple of books in this series, so hopefully, I can get back to visit Ellison again soon.  If you haven’t read Send in the Clowns yet, it’s a great read at Halloween or any time or year.

Enjoy more of the Country Club Murders.

Movie Review: A Case for the Winemaker - An Ainsley McGregor Mystery

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Charming characters in a good mystery

Cons: Writing at times, especially at the beginning

The Bottom Line:

Winery murder

Introducing characters

Enjoyable film

“I’ve Got to Get a Better Gate Keeper.”  “Wouldn’t Work on Me.  I’m so Small, I Would Slip Right Past Them.”

Since the Great American Family channel is trying to mirror Hallmark Channel, I figured it was only a matter of time before they started to create mystery movies.  It certainly helps that Candace Cameron Bure is the Chief Creative Officer for the channel.  So I wasn’t surprised that she is starring in the channel’s first movie franchise – the Ainsley McGregor Mysteries.  A Case for the Winemaker is the first movie, and it is off to a good start.

The series is set in Sweet River, Texas.  Ainsley’s moved there after an incident in Chicago, where she was a consultant with the police department as a criminologist.  Now, she’s teaching criminology at a nearby college and working to open Bless Your Art, an artisan market for local artists to sell their products.  Ainsely is thrilled that the market is finally ready to open.

In order to celebrate the market’s successful first day, her friend Shannon (Caitlin Stryker) invites Ainsley over for lunch.  Shannon and her husband, Michael, have a winery, but it isn’t doing as well as they think it should be doing, and someone is trying to buy it from them.  After lunch is over, the two find the potential buyer dead on the winery floor.  The police are quick to look at Michael.  Can Ainsley figure out what really happened?

The movie got off to a rough start.  The first issue is super obvious and super awkward exposition.  Yes, it gives us the background on the characters we needed, but it was so obvious what the writers were doing.  Then, after the body is found, we get a flashback to give some more background.  You know how much I hate flashbacks in this form.  Fortunately, this was just back one day, so it didn’t take us long to catch up to the present.

Once the movie got going, I started to really enjoy it.  The characters are fun and charming.  They are a little eccentric, but they are supposed to be.  This is a cozy mystery movie, after all.  I especially liked Jake (Aaron Ashmore), the love interest.  Their budding romance was cute.

The writing still needed a little work even at this point.  Some of the character relationships seemed overly harsh.  This was true of Ainsley’s relationship with her brother, Ryan (Robin Dunne), who also happens to be the sheriff.  Overall, I did like their relationship.  You can tell the two love each other and yet irritate each other at times.

So, how was the mystery itself?  It was good.  I did key in on the killer early, but there were enough red herrings to keep me entertained, and I didn’t have the motive figured out.  Everything made sense when we reached the climax, and I appreciated the way it played out.

The actors did a good job of bringing their characters to life.  There were some moments that felt a little awkward, but I blame that more on the writing than the acting.

The biggest question is will I come back for another one.  Absolutely.  Yes, I’ve picked on the writing.  Overall, I really did enjoy the movie.  The characters are charming, and I want to spend more time with them.  I hope the writing improves as the series goes along, but it wasn’t bad enough to ruin the movie.

One commercial I caught during the run of this movie talked about the second in the series coming in 2025.  As far as I am concerned, that’s great news.  I enjoyed A Case for the Winemaker, and I will be back to see what happens next to these characters.

Book Review: Pretty Lentil Liars by Cathy Wiley (Fatal Food Festival Mysteries #3)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong characters in a great mystery

Cons: Not even one lentil con

The Bottom Line:

Lentil festival

With mystery from the past

Another fun book

Can Jackie Find the Truth in a Town of Liars

I’m learning a lot from Cathy Wiley’s Fatal Food Festivals Mysteries. For example, I never would have guessed there would be a festival around lentils. Yet that’s where Jackie Norwood has landed in Pretty Lentil Liars, the third in the series. 

Jackie used to be a celebrity chef with a popular cable TV show until her struggle with alcoholism cost her her job and reputation. Now, she’s trying to rebuild her career by appearing as a judge and presenter at festivals all over the country. Sadly, murder seems to follow her as well. 

For this third novel, Jackie has landed in Holland, Washington for a lentil festival. Jackie quickly realizes it isn’t going to have the same crowd size as the more famous festival in Pullman. However, she’s not expecting the notes someone calling themselves “A” is leaving her.  These notes are hinting at something hidden from the past. 

Then her brother finds online articles about a high school senior who disappeared on prom night 12 years before. Might the notes be referring to more than the festival? What will Jackie and her team uncover?

I always appreciate it when a book sets things up in a creative manner, and that’s what we get here. Yes, it became clear early on exactly where the set up was going, but the story didn’t take any more time than necessary getting there. Jackie uncovers plenty of motives and suspects as she investigates. I thought I had the correct villain pegged early on, but the real solution made perfect sense to me. 

Jackie has a large group of friends who wind up showing up to support her. I’m happy to say that we get to see them again. One of these supporting players in particular got some great development here. I also like the growth we saw in Jackie. The suspects fit well into Jackie’s world. 

I can’t leave out the humor. There are some funny exchanges and some great puns in the book. 

And yes, we get some recipes at the end, all of which feature lentils. No surprise there, right?  They range from the usual suspects (soups) to the more surprising like vegetarian burgers or blondies. In total, we get 10 recipes, so if you like lentils, you’ll be especially happy. 

Each book in this series has been a treat. You’ll gobble down Pretty Little Liars quickly and be ready for Jackie’s next case. 

Join Jackie for more of the Fatal Food Festival Mysteries.

NOTE: I received an ARC of the book.

Movie Review: A Sprinkle of Deceit - A Hannah Swensen Mystery

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Fun characters in a good mystery

Cons: A few things, but minor overall

The Bottom Line:

Deadly reunion

With Lonnie in the hot seat

Fun for movie fans

“When Has Anyone Ever Died of Natural Causes When You’re Involved.”

It’s looking like Hallmark is planning to end the year with a couple of entries in its two longest running still in production mystery movie series.  (At least I’m assuming this and next week are the last mystery movies we’ll get before they switch over to Christmas movies.)  While this coming Friday will see a new Curious Caterer Mystery, this past Friday, we got A Sprinkle of Deceit, a new Hannah Swensen Mystery.

Hannah’s business, The Cookie Jar, has been hired to cater a high school reunion.  Lonnie (Daylin Willis) is in charge of it, and since he’s Michelle Swensen’s boyfriend, Michelle (Tess Atkins) is making sure everything is perfect for him.  The night seems to go well, except for Darcy (Brittany Mitchell), one of Lonnie’s classmates, who clearly has too much to drink and is getting in constant fights with her boyfriend.  Lonnie winds up taking Darcy home, but when Hannah and Michelle head to Darcy’s house the next morning, they find her dead in bed.  Since Lonnie was the last one to see Darcy, he becomes a suspect, even being suspended from his job as a detective.  Can Hannah find the evidence to clear his name?

This movie is loosely based on Coconut Layer Cake Murder, one of the later books in the series.  Even so, I still can’t remember exactly what happened in the book other than Lonnie became a suspect in a high school classmate’s death.  But this series has veered wildly from the books, so even if I could remember, I’m sure things would have been different.

Speaking of which, why did The Cookie Jar move?  I’m a little confused as to why they needed a new set.  And I’m still confused as to why we now have the movie only love interest of Chad (Victor Webster) since they’d already introduced the other side of the love triangle from the books, Norman (Gabriel Hogan).  They could have just gone with him.  Instead, he doesn’t even appear in this movie.  Okay, deep breath.  I’ve got it out of my system now.

This is Victor’s second movie as Chad, and I’ve got to say, I’m warming up to him.  I’m still a little confused why the DA is so involved in solving murders and directing the sheriff, but if I’m going to question that, I should probably question why a baker keeps solving these murders.  So let’s not go there.

The mystery was well done, with several viable suspects.  I appreciated how Hannah was able to make a couple of the deductions she did.  They were perfectly set up and completely logical.  Speaking of which, the climax made sense as well.

The humor seems to be increasing as the series goes along, which I think is wonderful.  There were quite a few fun exchanges, and a sub-plot with Hannah’s mothers, Delores (Barbara Niven) was great fun as well.  I am also thrilled that Hannah’s middle sister, Andrea (Lisa Durupt) is a regular part of things again.  I like having all four of the Swensen women interacting.

And this humor doesn’t feel forced like I’ve complained about with some of the recent Hallmark movies.  Yes, Delores’s scenes can be a little over the top, but she is a supporting character, while in those other movies, we are looking at the main character being the over the top one.  Here, it’s fun and charming, in the others, it borders on annoying.

The low budget cheese factor is kept to a minimum.  The writing is decent, and the actors make the most of their scenes.  A couple of the suspects are a little weak, but overall, this is good.

Hannah’s movie fans will be happy with A Sprinkle of Deceit.  With a sprinkling of fun, you’ll be glad to watched it.