A Sheetcake Named Desire (A Piece of Cake Mystery #1)

Author:  Jacklyn Brady
Genre:   Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780425242742
Berkley Publishing
288 Pages
$7.99; $7.99 Amazon
August 2, 2011

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There aren't many things pastry chef Rita Lucero hates more than losing.  But two years after her marriage to fellow baker Phillipe Renier fell apart, she's still trying to get him to sign the divorce papers.  Exasperated, Rita visits Phillipe's high-end New Orleans shop, Zydeco Cakes, to get his signature - and discovers that her marriage is already over when she finds Phillipe dead with a chef's knife in his chest.

Rita is shocked to discover the body, and overwhelmed to learn that since the divorce wasn't final, she now inherits part ownership in Zydeco Cakes.  But it's a mixed blessing: the gorgeous shop is actually in financial trouble, and Rita's windfall sets her up as a prime suspect in Phillipe's murder.  Her former mother-in-law demands that Rita find out who killed her son, and his former employees don't know whether to trust her.  The feeling is mutual -- especially since the real culprit is still out there, and Rita may be the next victim served...

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Rita Lucero is a baker who has been trying for two years to get her husband Phillipe to sign their divorce papers.  Now living in New Mexico, and with him in New Orleans, it hasn’t been easy.  But when she receives an email from him stating he made a mistake about her, she wonders what he means, and decides to fly to New Orleans to get him to finally sign the papers.  But when she arrives at his bakery, Zydeco, she’s told he’s not there.  Looking around, she sees that the bakery is what she’s always dreamed of instead of him.  She also finds out that many of their friends from baking school are now working for Phillipe.  While it bothers her, she’s not going to allow it to ruin her mission.

Then she hears a commotion outside and sees a beautiful cake that’s been destroyed, but no sign of Phillipe.  Along with Edie, they search, and find Ox, another friend now employed by Phillipe, injured on the ground.  All he can tell them is that he was hit from behind.  After they call 911, Rita keeps searching, and finds her missing husband under bushes — stabbed in the chest with a kitchen knife, and very dead.

Rita convinces Detective Sullivan to allow her to go see Phillipe’s mother Miss Frankie to break the news that her only child has been killed; and while she’s there, another woman - a buxom blonde - runs in and grabs Miss Frankie, telling her she just heard about Phillipe.  When she finds out that Rita is Phillipe’s wife, she becomes histrionic, and is eventually convinced to leave - after Miss Frankie tells her that Rita will be staying with her for a few days.

But when the will is read, Rita discovers that as his wife, she inherits everything — his home, his car, and half of Zydeco, with the other half being Miss Frankie’s.  While Rita is stunned, she also has no intention of staying in New Orleans.  But for Miss Frankie’s sake, she’ll stay and try to save the bakery, which has been plagued by sabotage which could cost everything Phillipe has worked for.  Now Rita’s trying to find out if it was an employee who murdered Phillipe, or someone, somehow, was able to get in to kill him and get out quickly.  The question is who hated him enough to want to kill him and destroy Zydeco...

This is the first book in the series, and while it wasn’t absolutely wonderful, it also wasn’t a bad beginning at all.  I did like the fact that Rita, still believing that maybe she loved her husband a little, found herself grieving along with everyone else.  It’s a change from the usual theme of hating the e and not caring what happens to him.  We watched her change her emotions regarding him, and go through the process of letting go, which sometimes does take time.  I really didn’t like the character of Quinn at all — why she would think that as the girlfriend she should inherit everything was beyond me.  She wasn’t his wife, nor even engaged.  I really hope she doesn’t show up in future books.  I also liked Miss Frankie — she seemed very shrewd in getting what she wanted while maintaining her decorum and seeming not to care.

I did know the identity of the murderer early on — but then again, I read a lot of mysteries, so I’ve gotten pretty good at ferreting them out.  But I really didn’t think that the killer’s reasoning for sabotage seemed all that logical; nor even worth what they were going to get out of it.  You can’t trust someone like that, and they should have figured out the next person wouldn’t trust them, either.  But anyway, it wasn’t a bad mystery, and I will probably read the next in the series just to see where it goes.  An easy mystery to read that can be read in one evening.

https://www.amazon.com/Sheetcake-Named-Desire-Piece-Mystery-ebook/dp/B004XFYRKC/ref=

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3213637251

More on Jacklyn Brady's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/jacklyn-brady/