The Diva Serves Forbidden Fruit
Domestic Diva Mystery
By Krista Davis
ISBN#9781496732736
Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Daniele
Synopsis:
She’s a young Martha Stewart…in Old Town Virginia!
New York Times bestselling author Krista Davis delights with the 14th in her enormously popular and completely charming Domestic Diva Mystery series, as entertaining maven Sophie Winston must cut to the core of another murder investigation when members of an international tour group begin dropping like flies all over Old Town, Virginia…
With Old Town’s DIY Home Decorating Festival in full swing, Sophie’s swamped, juggling a bumper crop of artisans, antique dealers, and decorators for the busy street fair. Still, when her best friend Nina suddenly needs a ride from the airport, Sophie is happy to help…until she sees Nina disembarking in a state of disarray. It’s obvious the trip to Portugal soured somewhere along the way. But after one of Nina’s traveling companions turns up murdered the following day, Sophie knows something is truly rotten…
Though the crime scene is staged to look like an accident, Sophie isn’t fooled and peels off to conduct her own investigation. Her only clue is a strange image the victim scratched into the soil before dying. Could it point to a cryptic killer in Old Town? A bitter travel adversary? Or a cursed artifact smuggled back from the trip? As the mystery grows, so does the body count, and if Sophie doesn’t pluck the murderer soon, her best friend may be the next to fall…. (Goodreads)
Review:
This fourteenth entry in the charming Domestic Diva Mystery series is full of food, friendship, humor, and murder. The Diva Serves Forbidden Fruit is as fresh as ever and delightful cozy reading.
Event planner Sophie Winston is busy with Old Town’s DIY Home Decorating Festival but never too busy to help out her best friend and next door neighbor Nina when she needs a ride home from the airport. Nina is a wreck…obviously her group trip to Portugal did not end well. A member of the travel group is soon found dead, and it initially looks like an unfortunate accident, but Sophie is not convinced. When another of the group also dies, and there is an attempted break-in at Nina’s house, Sophie, Mars, and Bernie move into action to keep Nina safe and solve the crimes.
Krista Davis’s Domestic Diva series has always been a favorite, and it continues to set a high standard in the cozy mystery genre. The mysteries are well plotted, and Davis is a talented storyteller, but the highlight of these books for me is the camaraderie between Sophie and her ex-husband and friends…and, of course, all of the talk of delicious food (recipes are included in the back of the book). Sophie is such a warm and caring character. I find all the characters, with the exception of Natasha, to be so relatable, and this far into the series they feel like old friends. I wish I could hang out in Sophie’s kitchen and enjoy dinner and conversation. I thought I had these murders all figured out but was surprised by how it all played out. The more Sophie investigates, the more suspects with good motives she finds. There are clues and lots of red herrings sprinkled throughout the tale. Readers can count on Davis to consistently spin smart puzzles.
The Diva Serves Forbidden Fruit is sure to please both established fans and new readers alike. I hope there are many, many more books including Sophie and friends to come. Highly recommended.
