Title: Shredding the Evidence
Series: Cookbook Nook Mystery
By: Daryl Wood Gerber
ISBN13: 9781950461448
Author’s Website: http://www.darylwoodgerber.com
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra
Summary:
The denizens of Crystal Cove are salivating over the upcoming Food Bowl Week, when local chefs offer some of their best and most imaginative creations in bite-size portions all over town. Bookstore proprietor Jenna Hart is hungry to sample as many of the delicacies as she can, but when she stumbles onto the dead body of a local food reporter and learns that her best friend’s husband is the primary suspect, she’ll have to summon the appetite for a side dish of sleuthing to prove his innocence.
Jenna knows the ambitious and aggressive reporter, who was strangled at a fitness center with her shredded restaurant reviews scattered around her, left behind a long list of potential suspects. As she begins piecing together the scant clues, she uncovers illicit ties between the victim and a local newspaper owner, a spurned would-be lover, and a host of disgruntled restaurant owners not a bit torn up by the critical reporter’s demise. And with a solution so close she can almost taste it, Jenna turns up the heat on the culprit, realizing too late that she’s the next course on the murderer’s menu . . . Includes tasty recipes! (Goodreads).
Review:
Shredding the Evidence is 9th in the Cookbook Nook Mystery series by Daryl Wood Gerber. As with all of the books I have read by this author, it was an enjoyable read that provided hours of entertainment with just a touch of “brain exercise” while working through “whodunit”. I met Jenna while reading the seventh book in the series, Wreath Between the Lines. I enjoyed that book well enough so thought I would give another book in the series a read.
In this book we have Jenna Hart in the throws of one of the busiest times of the year with the onset of “Food Bowl Week” in Crystal Cove. A pesky local food reporter ends up dead and Jenna is determined to find out who really was the killer since the only suspect the police have is Jenna’s best friends husband, Tito Martinez.
Jenna gets involved in trying to clear Tito and find the real killer while at the same time participating in Food Bowl Week – especially important for her bookstore which is featuring many of the book written by chef’s that are in attendance at the local events during this week.
As usual with cozy mysteries, there are many viable suspects. It was an interesting journey that Jenna led us on to eliminate the various suspects and eventually come to the only remaining suspect – the killer. As I am fond of saying – it is a good cozy mystery when I cannot figure out the “whodunit” until the very end – just the way I like it.
I loved the references to actual cookbooks. I even went as far as to go to my local library and reserve a couple of the cookbooks that looked interesting. I love it when real life mixes with fictional life ☺
One thing that did make me a little nervous (especially since I read the book on my e-reader) was the long cast of characters presented at the beginning of the book. I was tempted to write all of the names down prior to starting, however I did not and in fact, all turned out well. I quickly assimilated everyone into the story and how they related to each other.
As with other books in this series, I love the cover art! So much going on…
I cannot wait to see if there will be a next installment of this series. In the interim, I may well go back and start the series from the beginning so that I really get to know Jenna!
