Dream a Little Scream
Dream Club Mystery #2
By Mary Kennedy
ISBN# 9780425268063
Author’s Website: www.marykennedy.net
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Jeanie
Synopsis:
The national bestselling author of Nightmares Can Be Murder once again gathers together the members of the Dream Club in Savannah, Georgia, where the book tour of a famous chef becomes a recipe for disaster…
Behind her down-home folksy persona, celebrity chef Sonia Scott is a real Dixie diva who’s made plenty of enemies in her climb to the top of the culinary world. One of them is the newest member of the Dream Club, Etta Mae Beasley, who claims Sonia stole her family’s recipes and used them in her latest cookbook.
After Sonia’s suspicious death from anaphylactic shock at a book signing held at Taylor and Ali’s retro candy store, Etta’s revelation sows seeds of doubt in Taylor Blake’s mind. Now the Dream Club needs to put their heads together to determine if one of their own decided to give the chef her just desserts… (from Goodreads)
Review:
Mary Kennedy has taken dream interpretation to impressive new heights in Dream a Little Scream, the second novel in the Dream Club Mystery series. It can be read as a stand-alone mystery but you might want to start at the beginning after being wowed by this one! The characters are quirky, some even eccentric, but one thing is certain: none of them are boring. This mystery draws the reader in with a crime that should be easily solved but somehow what seems obvious has no trail of evidence to follow.
Sisters Ali and Taylor Blake are hosting the famous chef, Sonia Scott, in a book-signing session before she leaves Savannah. The Dream Club had already been present at the taping of Ms. Scott’s special local TV appearance, and the book signing would help advertise their retro candy store and bakery. Many signed books and bookmarks later, Sonia began to show signs of breathing difficulty. She was escorted to the ladies room while Taylor tried to keep the audience calm. Sonia’s assistant Olivia ran to search Sonia’s bag and her own for an epi-pen in vain. Yes, those who readied for the signing by preparing baked goods from the chef’s recipes were aware of her nut allergy, and used all seed and nut-free recipes, so something else had to be wrong. When the paramedics arrived there was nothing they could do. Sonia was already dead. Imagine the reaction of customers, whether current or potential, when they learned that beloved TV chef Sonia had died in Oldies but Goodies – had she been poisoned by the very foods they were planning to purchase? And no matter what the inquest would reveal, many might not believe the truth when it showed that foods and beverages were not tainted. Order cancellations came in quickly and new orders were scarce. Not only did they have to find a way to re-create the store as a fun, safe place, but they also wanted to solve the murder of this very public figure.
The Dream Club had been meeting at their apartment over the shop long before Taylor moved in. It is a group comprised of mostly women who are interested in learning to not only remember their dreams but also to understand them. Until the first mystery, ‘Nightmares can be Murder’ was released last year, I had no idea that groups like this existed and I admit that the idea is fascinating. Since most of the Dream Club was present at both the taping and the book signing, they began to discuss the events and planned to focus on their dreams to see if any of them might have memories of the days released into their dreams to help them recall anything unusual. This is one of the ways that clues – actual, useful clues – were discovered that assisted the detective from their group work on the murder.
The characters are interesting, with depth and intuition. The author, with her extensive education and first-hand understanding of the human psyche, has included characters and their ideas, and allowing each character to grow and change as necessary. There is a variety of ages in the Club; some are younger, like Taylor and Ali, while others are retired from their profession. Ali is more driven by her heart and her intuition, while Taylor has the ‘business’ mindset of accounting, projections, and the bottom line. They compliment each other in their business, and each is gaining from seeing dreams – and life – from the other’s perspective. The primary characters are very well defined, and the secondary men and women have the qualities needed as respects their place in the story.
Mary Kennedy leads us through an engrossing plot with enough twists and turns to keep the reader as an active participant in the murder investigation. She has thoroughly explored the characters for those who made the best potential suspects, bringing in conflict within members of the club as might be anticipated in real life. Her excellent writing continues to grow the suspense through the very last minute, keeping this reader on edge and woefully wrong about who the bad guy really was. It is a story that is written with intelligence and intuition, and would appeal to readers at either end and the middle of the spectrum.
I highly recommend ‘Dream A Little Scream’ to adults of any age, possibly including older teens, who appreciate a well-written cozy mystery and might be open to learning a little about dreams and dream interpretation, how dreams might be used when in daily situations, with a little cooking and romance on the side. After all, what more can one need to relax with but a little bit of mystery served wtih sweet bakery delights and tea, and a cat or two to cuddle with?
