Author: Ruth Baker
Genre: Mystery
Digital Book
ASIN #: B0B675BPQ9
Clean Tales Publishing
119 Pages
$2.99 Amazon
September 30, 2022
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When a new developer in town sways the community to support his plans of building new complexes that would involve knocking down Lucy's bakery, she's not much pleased. She's determined to fight tooth and nail to uphold her parents' legacy and retain Sweet Delight's presence in Ivy Creek's landscape.
When this developer drops dead in questionable circumstances at a local fair, it doesn't take long for tongues to stop wagging in her direction. Negative public opinion towards Lucy is strengthened when pieces of evidence begin to point to someone she cares for as a prime suspect.
But Lucy knows they didn't do it.
So if they didn't do it, then who did?
Lucy is at her wit's end as it seems the investment she's plowed into her business will count for nothing and lead to huge financial hole if the citizens of Ivy Creek continue avoiding her bakery.
Will she sever her relationship with the prime suspect to stem the tide of dwindling customers to her bakery?
Will she watch in despair as a cunning killer tries to outwit the local law enforcement agency and send an innocent person to the slammer?
Lucy is determined to find out who did it but will she be able to solve this murder mystery in the nick of time?
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Lucy Hale lives in Ivy Creek and owns Sweet Delights bakery which once belonged to her late parents. She returned home after their deaths and has since rekindled friendships, made new ones, and lives with her Aunt Tricia and her Persian cat, Gigi. She and Tricia run the bakery, along with the help of two employees, Hannah, a high school friend, and Betsy, a new hire.
One morning a man enters the bakery and tells Lucy that he wants to buy it. When Rex Landon is turned down, he tells her he's buying the land around her for an office park. But Lucy wants to save the land, and save the townspeople from having an upscale office park right in the center of town. Most of the townspeople are unhappy, but no one knows what to do about it.
Lucy also has other things on her mind -- the upcoming Fairy Tale Fair, where vendors and guests dress in fairy tale attire and enjoy themselves. Hannah decides to go as Robin Hood, complete with all the accoutrements. While Hannah and Lucy are watching the band, Rex gets up to speak. But suddenly everything goes dark, and when the lights come on, Rex is dead. Now Hannah is a suspect in his murder, and with her business and her employee's life on the line, Lucy knows she must act to help her prove her innocence.
But to confuse matters, a woman named Charlene moves to town and starts to make advances toward Lucy's ex-boyfriend, Deputy Taylor Baker. Lucy doesn't know if she wants to date him again, but she doesn't like this idea. Between the two situations occupying her mind, will she be able to discover the truth, or will she fail in her pursuit of both?
This is the seventh book in the series, and I have read them all. Each one is better than the last, since we learn about the characters and their pasts (and present) and the story line is always interesting. In this latest, not only is Lucy concerned about the upcoming Fairytale fair, but the fact that there's a new woman in town, and she has her eyes on Taylor Baker, Lucy's ex-boyfriend. But what can Lucy do? She's made it clear she's not ready to start dating again, and Taylor has to take that at face value.
Then she's worried about her employee Hannah, who's also a good friend, being suspected in a murder investigation. So Lucy once again sets out to discover who's trying to get her friend in trouble, and who the real killer is. Someone must have hated this man enough to murder him, and Lucy wants to know who it is.
When we get to the end of the story, and the killer is discovered, not only is Lucy in trouble, but Hannah also. And it will take all of Lucy's wits to keep them both safe. When the murderer is discovered, and justice is served (as we know it will be), the ending left me feeling warm and satisfied, which is what a cozy mystery should do. I eagerly await the next in the series. Highly recommended.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher but it in no way influenced my review.
More on Ruth Baker's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/ruth-baker/
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