Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Review: Sugar and Vice by Eve Calder

 

Genre:
Cozy Mystery

Format:
Audiobook

Publisher:
Tantor Audio

Release Date:
June 2, 2020






Synopsis from Goodreads:

In Eve Calder's Sugar and Vice, things are heating up at the Cookie House when star pastry chef and amateur sleuth Kate McGuire finds herself in the midst of a shocking murder mystery. OUT OF THE OVEN Lately, Kate has a lot on her dessert plate. She's launching a cookie-of-the-day challenge in the heart of Coral Cay, providing sweet treats for the reception of the town's handsome new veterinarian-not to mention dealing with tourists in town for a pirate festival and the surprise arrival of her former fiance, Evan, who seems determined to win her back. AND INTO THE FIRE And if that's not enough, a skeleton has been found-in the backyard behind her best friend Maxi's floral shop. Kate knows Maxi could never hurt a fly. Maybe the remains belong to Sir George Bly, a long-dead pirate whose name has become urban legend-until now? It's time for Kate to use every trick in the recipe book to prove Maxi's innocence, and find the truth about the skeleton, before the last of the cookies crumble . . .

My Review

Kate McGuire is settling into her new life in the small Florida town of Coral Cay.  She has a dream job baking at a local bakery, The Cookie House, and she’s making many new friends.  She’s best friends with the owner of the floral shop, Maxie.  Not to mention that the town dog, Oliver,  has adopted Kate as his own person.  Together, the women are hosting all kinds of events, including a pirate festival and a cookie-of-the-day challenge.  Their fun comes to a crashing halt when Oliver digs up a dead body in Maxie’s yard.

Suspicions arise when it looks like the dead body was murdered.  Kate knows her friend is no murderer and she plans to prove it.   Things go a bit off track when her ex-fiance comes to town telling everyone in Coral Cay that they are still engaged.  Kate has her hands full to say the least.

This is the second book in the Cookie House mystery series and I enjoyed this very much.  The first one was good, but I thought this one even better as I got to know the characters better.  I listened to this on audio.  The narrator made the characters so lifelike.  I felt as if they were actually in the room with me.

The town of Coral Cay is perfect for a mystery series.  It’s a quaint town with cute shops.  Of course, everyone knows each other as well as each other’s business.  The Cookie House setting made me hungry.  I wanted some of the cookies she mentioned along the way.

The characters, including the supporting ones, were well-developed and the plot well-written. Eve Calder did a wonderful job of creating an interesting mystery with an intriguing ending.  
Kate is a lovable main character.  I’m hoping there will be a romance in her life soon.  The handsome new vet is a possibility.  

The story moved along at a fast pace.  I wasn’t ready for the book to end, but I see the next one is due out in May 2021.  I’ll be sure to check that one out too.



For reading challenges:

Cruisin’ thru the Cozies Reading Challenge 2021
Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge 2021
Literary Escapes Reading Challenge 2021 (Florida)
What an Animal Reading Challenge 2021

Disclosure:  I borrowed this one from the library . All opinions expressed are my own.


1 comment:

Thank you for stopping by and visiting my blog! I always love reading comments and getting to know my readers!

After some careful consideration, I've decided to become an award-free blog. Although I appreciate and am honored by each and every award I've received, your comments and friendship are enough award for me. Thank you all so much for your thoughtfulness.

Due to way too many spam comments, I disabled the Anonymous User comments. We'll see if this works, otherwise I'll have to go back to word verification.