Murder by the Millions

Literary Dining Mystery #2

By Daryl Wood Gerber

ISBN 9781496748201

darylwoodgerber.com

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie

Synopsis:

In the beautiful mountain community of Asheville, North Carolina, caterer and personal chef Allie Catt serves up mouthwatering, literary-themed dinner parties inspired by her clients’ favorite books. Her next event is sure to be a roaring success—if a murderer isn’t a killjoy . . .

If it were true that the best thing a girl can be in this world is a fool, then Allie Catt would be out of luck. Fortunately, Allie’s business is a smashing success. And following her Pride and Prejudice event, grander plans await . . .

Feast for the Eyes bookstore manager and Allie’s best friend, Tegan, is hosting a book club soiree and wants it to be a glittering affair based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic Jazz Age-set novel, The Great Gatsby. Soon, Art Deco table settings and visions of flappers are dancing the Charleston in their heads. Even Tegan’s prickly sister, Vanna, is on board. And surely, Allie’s tuxedo cat, Darcy, thinks it’s the cat’s meow.

Amid the planning, charismatic developer Jason Gardner arrives in town to buy some historic buildings on Main Street. He, too, has to create a modern mall. Allie is more than concerned. She even wants to protest. But when Jason invites her to cater a lavish party, she finds him surprisingly likable. Then she’s summoned to his estate for a meeting—and finds him dead.
Once again Allie’s landed in the middle of a crime scene.

Review:

Tegan and her best friend, Allie, inherited Feast for the Eyes, a wonderful little bookstore in Bramblewood, North Carolina, from Tegan’s Aunt Marigold. Tegan owned the lion’s share of the bookstore. Allie also owned a catering business, Dream Cuisine. Tegan’s sister, Vanna, has a catering business, too. She enjoys catering to a slightly different clientele. Both ladies wanted to expand their businesses. Vanna began to help Allie bake and deliver orders when she had time. Allie spends her time between the bookstore and Dream Cuisine, while Vanna grows her with business with private dinner parties.

Murder by the Millions is an excellent cozy mystery, beautifully plotted and executed. This creative author delivers a perfect series for those who love cozy mysteries, literature, and a variety of foods. Allie, Tegan and the secondary characters come to life through their behaviors and realistic conversations. I appreciated the helpful list of characters. The mystery was complex, with teasing red herrings and a number of twists.

Tegan and Allie planned to host literary dinner parties as book club soirees, beginning with The Great Gatsby and its Jazz Age setting. Guests could dress up in vintage attire, as Lillian, owner of Puttin’ on the Glitz, acquired elegant period costumes to purchase or rent. Allie planned and prepared several dishes that were popular in the Roaring Twenties, some of which were surprising! Feast for the Eyes ordered many more copies of a special edition of The Great Gatsby to correspond with the additional tickets they sold.

Residents in Bramblewood were surprised that one of its own, now a famous builder, moved back to town. Jason, whose family moved away when he was young, returned and planned to stay. He leased a local estate. His first goal was to demolish a row of historic homes and replace them with a huge, modern shopping mall. He was jumping through hoops to get the necessary permits. He stopped into the bookstore and met Allie, Tegan, and their assistant, Chloe.

Jason was immediately unpopular for his decision to demo the lovely old homes. One property developer, Iggie, was furious that he was outbid by Jason, as he wanted to design the modern face of Bramblewood. The Historical Preservation Society members were upset, as they wanted to use the houses on their historical home tours. One of Tegan and Allie’s friends, Patrick, a home renovator, was angry with Jason as he wanted to bid on the homes but was unable to secure a sufficient loan. Allie did not like Jason’s plans, but she actually began to like him. He planned to have a summer house party and hired Allie as the caterer.

Allie returned home one evening to see Darcy, her beloved cat, had injured his toe on something and was bleeding. When returning from the late emergency veterinary trip, 

Jason paged her, begging she to come over for something urgent. Allie wanted to wait until their meeting the next day as it was almost midnight. Jason didn’t answer his phone, and his texts mysteriously vanished from her phone. Allie raced over and found his front door ajar. Entering, Jason was on the floor, seriously injured. He stopped breathing moments after she entered. She couldn’t even attempt CPR, as a crystal spear point resembling one of hers was protruding from his back. Her close friend, Zach, a local police detective, arrived with the EMTs. Another detective found an earring like one she lost recently. Hours later, she discovered at home that one of HER spearpoints, part of the furnishings included from the previous owner, was missing, necessitating a call to Zach.

Zach acted as if she were truly guilty. She was the only person of interest, due to the minimal evidence, and the investigation revealed nothing else. Not long ago, Allie had helped solve a murder case when Tegan was the prime suspect. Could she solve this one, with Tegan’s help?

I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery! It was quite challenging to discover a solution, especially as their suspect list grew. Even Darcy had a critical contribution toward the solution! Allie and Tegan are my favorite characters, with Darcy at Allie’s side. I highly recommend this mystery and am looking forward to many more in this series!