Dying for a Cupcake
A Devereaux’s Dime Store Mystery #4
By Denise Swanson
ISBN# 9780451418890
Author’s Website: http://www.deniseswanson.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Kayt
‘When Devereaux “Dev” Sinclair hosts a cupcake contest at her five-and-dime store, she discovers that someone is just dying to win…
Kizzy Cutler finds it so delicious to be back in her hometown of Shadow Bend, Missouri, that she seems to have forgotten why she fled twenty years ago. For now, she’s excited to kick off her new line of cupcakes with a competition, which Dev has agreed to host in her shop. But before the first yummy cupcake is even baked, Kizzy’s assistant Fallon dies from a mysterious ailment.
While the medical examiner attempts to discover what killed Fallon, Kizzy declares that the show must go on. However after Kizzy escapes several near misses, Dev is convinced that someone in Shadow Bend has it in for the Cupcake Queen. Is the secret from her past so dark someone still wants to kill her for it?
With a list of not-so-sweet suspects, Dev’s in a race against the timer to solve the murder before someone else gets iced…
Review:
Dying for a Cupcake is the 4th in this amusing cozy series and I think the best yet! This is the second series written by Denise Swanson. I absolutely love her first one Scumble River Mysteries and this series is becoming one of my favorites as well. Devereaux Sinclair owns an old fashioned five and dime store in her home town, Shadow Bend, Missouri. She returned home not only to start anew but also to care for her grandmother. Now her father is home again as well and he is working at the store with Dev. Business is doing well with the additions Dev has made to the store. She can not however turn down an opportunity to make even more money.
Kizzy Cutler is the cupcake queen returning to her home town to launch a new line of cupcakes and a competition is her desired way to set things off. Dev has agreed to have the competition in the upstairs of her store. Things do not get off to a wonderful start when Kizzy and the ladies involved meet up for dinner and a planning session. The cupcake queen is not a nice woman. Then her assistant dies in a mysterious way. Things continue to go from bad to worse and Dev wonders if Kizzy’s past in Shadow Bend may have something to do with the down hill slide of events.
Dev is also dealing with her love life or lack of it since both of the men she is dating happen to be missing in action. She begins to wonder if either of them will ever be able to dedicate time and attention to her. As fire breaks out in her upstairs, a wonderful surprised comes with it. Coop may just be a better alternative to both of her wayward men. Between her love life and the mysteries surrounding the competition, Dev has her hands full. Even without either of her boyfriends being around. Good thing Dev has a wonderful cast of friends to help her in the search for answers.
The cast of characters in Dying for a Cupcake are truly wonderful people. The setting, characters, storyline and writing are delightful. With each new book, Denise Swanson gives the reader more and more to enjoy and draws the reader further and further into this magnificent cozy series. The mystery itself was very well written and kept the reader guessing until the end. I would recommend this superb novel to any all cozy lovers, mystery fans and anyone enjoying a book load of fun!! I can not wait for the next in this series.
*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review as part of their ongoing blog tour*
