Book: Banana Muffis & Mayhem by Janel Gradowski
Genre: Cozy mystery
Publisher: Gemma Halliday Publishing
Publication date: 2016
Pages: 123
Source: e-book ARC from author (I’m a happy member of Janel’s Street Team)
The latest addition to the Culinary Competition Mystery series featuring Amy Ridley, contest winner and amateur sleuthSummary: In this fifth novel in the Culinary Competition series, Amy Ridley discovers a body in a dumpster. The recently deceased, television celebrity Phoebe Plymouth, visited the small town of Kellerton to headline a festival — and then managed to be mean to pretty much every person she encountered.
Who killed Phoebe Plymouth? Perhaps, her producer? Or, could it be one of Amy’s friends who helped organize Phoebe’s visit only to be embarrassed and annoyed by the VIP’s bad behavior?
The police think it was Amy’s husband since the dumpster was in his business parking lot. One thing’s for sure, Amy isn’t going to let her beloved Alex stand accused when she can use her famous baked sweets and her charming personality to get the suspects to reveal their secrets.
Thoughts: I loved the foodie metaphors in Banana Muffins and Mayhem. Amy, our heroine, just naturally thinks in terms of ingredients, cooking processes, and utensils.
Amy’s optimism wilted a bit more–baby spinach leaves under a flood of hot bacon dressing. p. 70
“She didn’t come right out and say it, but her point was about as sharp as a knife in a Michelin star restaurant.” p. 82
Her husband’s presence would surely steady some of the frayed nerves. He was like that. The cooling sour cream when life turned into a too spicy burrito. p. 109
Appeal: Readers of cozy foodie mysteries will enjoy Banana Muffins and Mayhem. I suggest reading this series in order because Amy and her friends go through life changes in a long story arc through the books — those are more fun to encounter chronologically. Janel posted the full list of Culinary Competition Mysteries.
Blog Tour: As part of the blog tour, I get to contribute a letter to the treasure hunt.
The Treasure Hunt letter for Joy’s Book Blog is: A
Collect all of the letters to spell out the Treasure Hunt word then use it to gain extra entries in the Grand Prize giveaway. You can find all of the blog tour stops and enter the giveaway at Janel’s website.
Check out today’s Weekend Cooking links for more foodie posts from around our kitchens to around the world.
Have you read this book? What did you think?
