Great Escapes Book Tours Book Review: Custom Baked Murder

Custom Baked Murder (A Pawsitively Organic Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Kensington (December 27, 2016)
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1496700193
E-Book ASIN: B01DRXCGD0

Kristan “Stan” Connor gladly turned tail on her high-flying job and moved to a quaint New England town to sell organic pet treats. But with her nose for solving murders, there’s no such thing as a quiet life…

Summer is winding down in Frog Ledge, Connecticut, but Stan’s love life and career are both heating up nicely. In between planning her new pet patisserie and café, Stan is settling into living-in-bliss with sexy pub owner Jake McGee. Love’s on the menu for Stan’s mom, Patricia, too, who’s engaged to Frog Ledge’s mayor, Tony Falco.

Mayor Falco’s dogged ambition isn’t popular among locals, but it’s his executive coach, Eleanor Chang, who’s inspired a dangerous grudge. When Eleanor is found dead, there’s a whole pack of suspects to choose from. Stan has first-hand experience of Eleanor’s unsavory business tactics. But finding out who forced her to take a fatal plunge off the corporate ladder means unearthing some shady secrets…and a killer who’s too close for comfort.

Includes Gourmet Pet Food Recipes!

Review: I don't know how I managed to miss this series up until now. I love cozies that have a huge animal focus.

I really couldn't put this book down once I started it. It was a fast fun read and if you haven't jumped into this series yet, you'll be going back for more.

Stan "Kristan" Conner has a romance that's heating up in this book as well as her mom. I love that there aren't any love triangles going on.  Though Stan isn't all that thrilled about her mother's love interest, the mayor of Frog Ledge.

Can I just say I love the name of the town?

Its at the engagement party that we meet Eleanor who is the character that ends up dead and who probably deserves to be dead as far as characters are concerned.

Stan's mom, is probably one of the most annoying characters that I've encountered in a book in ages. She's just not pleasant at all. She's domineering and just unpleasant in the way she treats her daughter. What mother invites her daughters ex to a party? As well as a bunch of her ex co-workers? It just doesn't seem right.

I loved the side story with Stan's sister Caitlyn and Kyle, her ex, who is trying to win her back. There are definitely some funny moments between these two. My favorite involved a serenade very early in the morning.

Then there was the murder victim's daughter Monica. You knew there was something up with her and when you found out what it was, you feel a bit sorry for her.

This book didn't feel as much like a cozy mystery as it did a family saga. The murder seemed very incidental, though that didn't make the book any less enjoyable. In fact, there was more talk about the case than trying to solve it. Nothing seemed to get done until the book was really more than halfway over, it was mostly Caitlyn and Kyle and Stan trying to get her shop ready to open.

The ending was fabulous. The killer definitely wasn't who I expected.

This was a fabulous read! I can't wait to go back and read the other books

Rating 5 flowers