Title: The Diva Hosts a Murderer

Series: A Domestic Diva Mystery

By:  Krista Davis

ISBN: 9781496743503 (ISBN10: 1496743504)

Website: http://www.kristadavis.com

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra                   

Summary:

Old Town Virginia’s entertaining guru and occasional sleuth Sophie Winston – a young Martha Stewart in the making – juggles Fourth of July fireworks, a houseful of guests, and homicide in the latest Domestic Diva culinary mystery from New York Times bestselling author Krista Davis.

With a big crowd descending on her Northern Virginia home, it’s a good thing event planner Sophie Winston is an expert at entertaining. Whipping up patriotic pastries is as easy as pie for her, though meeting the man her widowed Aunt Melly just impulsively married in Las Vegas is a little more awkward. Especially when Melly’s long-time, now-heartbroken, secret admirer is there too, which could lead to some fireworks.

But the house party really gets explosive when Sophie’s favorite tour guide falls victim to a killer—and evidence points to Sophie’s own father. Will DNA really incriminate her dad? And what’s the real story with her new uncle-by-marriage and the mysterious pal he’s brought along with him? Some of the secrets Sophie’s discovering are raising flags—and while the police department casts suspicion on her father, she has to declare her independence as a detective to find the real culprit, and serve justice along with her red, white, and blue cupcakes . . . (Goodreads)

Review:

The Diva Hosts a Murderer is book #19 in the “A Domestic Diva Mystery” series by Krista Davis. I have previously read book #11 in this series and happy to report that skipping to book #19 was not a big problem. ☺ However, I will be putting on my reading bucket list the list of books in this series that I have not read so as to go back and read the series from the beginning to experience the evolution of Sophie. 

In this installment of the “A Domestic Diva Mystery” series we have Sophie Winston busy preparing to entertain many house guests (her mom, dad Paul, sister Hannah, friend Roscoe, aunt Melly to name a few) for a July Fourth celebration, some of whom she did not know well…in fact, a stranger. Melly, a widower of two years and Sophie’s aunt, brought with her a man that no one knew. In fact, Gus Ellerbe was Melly’s new husband! To fill the time, Sophie had rented a tour bus to take the family out each day on local tours. The tour guide and driver, Tony Fontana, was a fountain of information – so the tours were filled with lots of facts. 

Sophie’s neighbour, Dollie Peabody, comes over one morning insisting that there is a body at her home. When Sophie investigates, she does not find a body. Very curious. Due to many interactions (false reports) that Dollie has had with the local police, they do not take this situation seriously. Bummer because not too long after, the tour guide Tony is discovered dead behind Dollie’s home, and the woman states she’s never seen the man before. 

This sets Sophie up to investigate (discretely of course as the police do not want her to investigate) and figure out what really happened. Especially since her dad’s DNA is found on Tony’s body and he is the prime suspect! True to form with cozy mysteries, there are many red herrings, which Sophie must get past on her path to the real killer.

I found the cast of characters at the beginning of the book quite helpful in keeping track of all the various characters in this book, of which there are a tad more than I like! The story was well written and the plot was unique (at least to me). This story seemed to have a lot going on – but that is what kept my interest – I did not get bored trying to figure out the myriad of clues.

A big pet peeve of mine – spelling and consistency. With respect to the “Dollie” character, in chapter 29 they switched the spelling to “Dolly” whereas throughout the entirety of the story it was “Dollie”. So further clarification would be good to determine if Dollie’s name can be spelled either way. 

Krista Davis does not disappoint…so if you like cozy mysteries with engaging characters and a ‘whodunit’ that may well keep you guessing until the end (like it did for me) …then I suggest picking up a copy of The Diva Hosts a Murderer, get in your comfy chair and get reading. ☺