Any Good Book: The Diva Runs Out of Thyme (A Domestic Diva Mystery Book 1)

Friday, May 22, 2020

The Diva Runs Out of Thyme (A Domestic Diva Mystery Book 1)

Author: Krista Davis
Genre: Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9780425224260
Berkley Publishing
304 Pages
$7.99; $7.99 Amazon
October 7, 2008

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Few can compete with local celebrity Natasha Smith when it comes to entertaining, but Sophie Winston is determined to try. Her childhood rival may have stolen the spotlight -- and her husband -- but this Thanksgiving Sophie is determined to rob Natasha of the prize for Alexandria, Virginia's Stupendous Stuffing Shakedown. She just needs the right ingredient.

But Sophie's search for the perfect turkey takes a basting when she stumbles across a corpse. And when the police find her name and photo inside the victim's car, Sophie will have to set her trussing aside to solve the murder -- or she'll be serving up prison grub...

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I read this book because it takes place at Thanksgiving, and I'm reading books about the season. To be fair, I really liked the mystery part; it kept me guessing right up until the end, which is what a mystery should do. On the other hand:

Sophie is weak; a doormat who won't tell anyone the truth and I hate people like that. She won't tell Humphrey she has no interest in him (which isn't doing him any favors by the way); she won't tell Natasha she's a pain in the rear and her ideas for decorating are really lousy; she won't ask her mom why she thinks more of Natasha than she does her own child, and so forth.
Sophie's mother is awful. If I had a mother that praised someone else over me constantly I certainly wouldn't have anything to do with her. Toxic. Again, she should tell her exactly what she thinks about that.
It's not really realistic to see your ex-spouse with your ex-best friend and welcome them both into your life like, "Hey! No problem! I wanted to get rid of him anyway, so you did me a favor!" There was no explanation of why they split up, just that "Natasha didn't steal him". Their 'relationship' is really, really weird. But again, probably because Sophie's a doormat and won't tell anyone how she really feels.
I got tired of hearing how everything was 'organic'. Who really cares? I am a great cook, love doing it, and - gasp! - rarely use organic ingredients. Nobody notices. The dishes come out beautiful, taste wonderful, and I am proud of them. Proper cleansing is all that is needed. I'm not obsessed that everything in my kitchen has to be organic or it won't taste good. (By the way, some people might, but I wouldn't use bacon OR oysters in stuffing. Gross.)