Author: Ruth Baker
Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9798442064711; 9798441596145
Clean Tales Publishing
188 Pages
$15.99; $9.99; $2.99 Amazon
April 1, 2022
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Lucy's excited about the new year and all the dreams she hopes will be fulfilled over the coming months. She's glad when her customers make the right noises when they taste her latest treat.
She's happy to offer this treat as her main item when she's invited to serve her pastries at the local theater.
She knows her treats are delicious and to die for but when a fight breaks out over them, she's left wondering if she's witnessing fact or fiction. Things take a turn for the worse when a prominent personality in town drops dead in the middle of a rehearsal at the theater.
The death of this prominent person attracts the attention of local and national media who descend upon the small town of Ivy Creek. Lucy is left feeling despondent and lonely when all her customers desert her baker after a popular reporter twists her words, which paint her, her bakery and the town in a very bad light.
Lucy has also come to a crossroad in her relationship with one of the most eligible bachelors in town. Have things turned sour beyond repair or is her relationship about to soar?
Will she set aside past hurts, and her pursuit of happiness to find a killer who seems to hold allthe aces in a murder investigation that appears unsolvable?
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Lucy Hale returned home to Ivy Creek after her parents' death in a car accident, and she's determined to keep their bakery open and profitable. So far, everyone in town loves her breads and sweets, and comes to her on a regular basis. When she's asked to supply treats to the local theater, she has no hesitation, although others warn her that the director, Pete Jensen has a bad habit of not paying people, including his cast and crew. To make it worse, he also takes advantage of people in other ways, which makes him quite unlikable, even if he has become famous.
Still, Lucy decides to give Pete a chance, and brings her treats to the theater to sell. But while there, she also watches the action on stage -- and wishes she hadn't. During a particularly frenzied scene, Pete is killed, and it's soon learned that he was murdered. Who would have murdered the man? Or the better question might be, who wouldn't have?...
This is the fifth book in the series and I have read them all, enjoying each one more than the last. However, the big problem that I have noticed in this book is that the author must be British and writing about small-town America. I say this because of some of the words that were used; two, for example were 'plaster' (bandage), and 'cooker' (stove). There were others, but if you're writing about America, our words are a bit different. Just sayin'...
The other thing that bothered me is the fact that the people of Ivy Creek sure are fickle. This isn't the first book that they've stopped going to Lucy's because of some imagined slight. Stand by your citizens, Creekers! But these are minor, and did not disrupt my enjoyment of the book.
I found the story line to be well written and kept me reading in one sitting. I did enjoy the way Lucy is gaining confidence in herself and enlarging her bakery, and I do feel that positive thinking helps. I also like the fact that she is moving on with her life after her tragic loss. It's also nice to see that she and Taylor are becoming friends again, and perhaps in a later book (please) we'll find out why they broke up in the first place.
The mystery kept me guessing as to whom the killer was until almost the same time as Lucy discovered it, and the reason why was just as one would expect, with the murderer finding their own reason in their disturbed mind. In the end, I did like the conclusion of the book and hope to read the next in the series soon. Recommended.
I was given an advance copy from the publisher but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Ruth Baker's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/ruth-baker/
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