Mistletoe Cake Murder (All-Day Breakfast Café Mystery Book 6)

Author:    Lena Gregory

Genre:     Mystery

Trade Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781516110506

Lyrical Press Publishing

202 Pages

$15.99; $5.39 Amazon

October 12, 2021

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'Tis the season when Gia Morelli's holidays include both a wedding and yuletide festivities.  Until someone naughty delivers a most unwanted Christmas gift -- murder...

For a native New Yorker, palm trees and warm temperatures don't equal winter, much less Christmastime.  Nevertheless, Gia Morelli's friends have decked the halls and trimmed the trees to truly welcome her into their "family" with an old-fashioned Boggy Creek, Florida holiday season.  Even more joyous, Savannah Mills is getting married on Christmas Eve -- the greatest gift Gia could ever wish for her friend.

But when Gia and Savannah stop by the caterer for a final tasting a week before the wedding, they overhear another bride arguing with her son about her husband-to-be.  Moments later, the woman is sampling a piece of wedding cake -- gorgeously decorated with mistletoe frosting -- then suddenly dies.

Now Gia's caterer friends are the prime suspects in what appears to be murder by poisoning.  To clear their names and ensure Savannah has a merry matrimony will require Gia to conjure up a Christmas miracle...

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Gia Morelli is almost as excited about the wedding of her best friend Savannah as the bride.  Almost all the preparations have been taken care of, but they need to go to the caterer to finalize Savannah's choices for the rehearsal dinner and the wedding.  When they arrive, a mother and her son run out of the caterer's building, arguing with each other.  It seems the son doesn't like the choice of husband, and claims he's only after her money.  They wait for the situation to die down, then they enter.  The caterer is also a friend, and she tells them that these people have been arguing all day.  But barely ten minutes pass when the women hear another woman scream, and they head to the source.  The mother is on the floor motionless, and no one is doing anything to help her.  Gia jumps into action giving the woman CPR, and Savannah calls her fiancé, police detective Leo Dumont. 

When the police arrive the woman is taken by ambulance to the hospital, but Gia learns that she later died.  Now Gia wants to know who killed the woman and why, but it appears that every one of the people in the room had a motive, perhaps even the caterers.  Determined to solve the mystery before Savannah's wedding, Gia sets out to discreetly question the suspects, hoping one of them will drop their guard and say the right thing...which is that they committed the crime.  That is, if the killer doesn't find Gia first...

This is the sixth book in the series and I have read all of them.  Ms. Gregory is a talented writer that brings you into her stories easily, and you wander through the pages along with the characters, trying to figure out who Did The Deed.  It's a pleasant romp through the mystery, and it keeps you interested while you watch Gia do her magic.

This book was especially fun because I love Christmas and everything surrounding it, so reading about all the preparations that took place before the wedding made me long for the holiday to arrive (but not too soon, mind you).  The descriptions were delightful and brought us into the winter wonderland that stood before the two women.

The suspects all had secrets, and it brought to mind a Sir Walter Scott quote: Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.  (Marmion; 1808).  All of the suspects are deceiving in one way or another, but Gia is trying to sift through the lies to discover the truth.  Luckily, she has her friends to help her, and Savannah always has her back.

But it's not as easy said or done.  No one wants to talk, and when they do, they accuse each other.  So Gia and Savannah are on their own (they can't tell Leo or Gia's boyfriend Hunt what they are doing, obviously -- even though Hunt knows anyway); and it's a lot of fun to watch them race the clock to find out the truth.

When they do figure out the killer, it does come as a bit of a surprise, but that is always a good thing; and although it's a motive as old as time, it's still rather sad to watch deluded people who think their reasons are good enough to keep them from the law.  In the end, I loved the entire book, including the final scenes, and I can't wait to read the next in the series.  Highly recommended.

I received an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Mistletoe-Murder-All-Day-Breakfast-Mystery-ebook/dp/B08T6JHSZT/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4258025877

More on Lena Gregory's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/lena-gregory/

A Waffle Lot of Murder (All-Day Breakfast Café Mystery #4)

Author:  Lena Gregory

Genre:   Mystery

Trade Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:  9781516110483

Lyrical Press Publishing

208 Pages

$15.95; $7.49 Amazon

October 6, 2020

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While the first hints of autumn grace Boggy Creek, Florida, Gia misses the colorful harvest traditions she left behind in New York.  On a scramble to make new fall memories -- and promote her irresistible pumpkin spice waffles -- things take a dark turn when she gets roped into the Haunted Town Festival, a spooky celebration held on deserted farmlands.  The desolate area conjures plenty of eerie vibes at night, but Gia and her best friend, Savannah, are nearly firghtened to death upon the discovery of the event organizer's body buried in the nearby woods.  More alarming, the rumor mill says the woman's shady dealings may have egged someone into sending her to an early grave.  Now, there's no shortage of creepy clues to feast on as Gia and her pals try to stop a killer with a very scary appetite...

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Gia Morelli owns the All-Day Breakfast Café in Boggy Creek, Florida.  She's been invited to participate in the annual Haunted Town Festival -- which means she'll be given a table to display her wares, and better yet, she gets a house to decorate in the spookiest fashion she can think of.  She says she doesn't have the time, but when her friends and employees urge her, offering to help and even appear as part of the scares, she says yes, knowing the proceeds all go to the animal shelter.

When she and Savannah go out to the farmlands to look at their house, they're supposed to meet Barbara Woodhull, one of the organizers.  But when Barbara doesn't show up, and Savannah finds Barbara's phone, they're wondering where she is.  But Barbara's best friend Genevieve 'Genny' Hart  meets them, she doesn't know where Barbara is.  But after showing Gia her 'house', Gia and Savannah hear police sirens.  It seems Barbara has been found dead in a shallow grave, and now there's a killer on the loose.

Gia vows to stay out of the investigation, not having ever met Barbara.  But when one of her friends gets involved and is attacked, all bets are off.  Gia tries her best to stay away, but things keep niggling at her, and even though she doesn't willingly put herself in danger, her only thought is to keep Savannah safe.  But even that might be harder when things escalate, and the killer knows she's on the trail...

This is the fourth book in the series, and a very good entry as such.  It takes place in the autumn, which is perfect for this time of year (I love to 'read the season' as it were), and the story line is quite interesting.  I like the idea of several smaller haunted houses instead of one, and you can choose which ones you want to go to.  This tale shows how far Gia's come since she moved to Florida: she's made good friends who will all go out of their way to help her when she needs it, and are even excited to be part of the festival with her.  

My only complaint is that while I know Hunt is now the police chief, I don't understand why he can't spend more time with her.  Police chiefs all over the country are married with families, and don't just take a moment here and there for their significant others.  I'd like to see a little more progress in this area.  But I digress...

The story pulls us in from the beginning, and when we start to learn more about Barbara, it seems she wasn't much of a nice woman after all.  Still, it leaves the fact that she's been murdered and now the police have to figure out by whom.  It doesn't help that Genny's friend Kayla is doing all she can to badmouth both the police and Barbara, and her relationship with Genny seems more of a domineering one than a friendly one.  Gia wonders about this, but isn't able to get Genny alone to talk with her.

When things start heating up, Gia discovers a key clue to the murder, even as that clue brings with it something else that isn't pleasant to her.  When the murderer is discovered, I knew who it was earlier in the book, but that didn't deter me at all from enjoying this mystery (I read a lot of these); and I found it intriguing how the author put everything together.  The pieces fell in place naturally, and while there weren't really a lot of red herrings, it didn't matter; the story itself was taut and enjoyable.  

I have to say that this is probably my favorite of all the books in this series and I look forward to the next.  (There are also some delectable recipes in the back that are perfect for this time of year, if you want to try them.)  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Waffle-Murder-All-Day-Breakfast-Mystery/dp/151611048X/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3569006187

More on Lena Gregory's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/lena-gregory/