Death by the Dozen by Jenn McKinlay
This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.
I had a good time with this cozy. I listened to the first two books in the series last year and I was really excited to spend a little more time in the cupcake bakery. I was entertained from the very start and ended up listening to the book for hours at a time. I was completely entertained and I worked to solve the mystery along with Mel and Angie.
I love a good mystery but I also love a good cupcake. I am not really sure which one I like more but it might be the cupcakes. One thing that I loved about this book was the cooking contest. Mel and Angie participate in a contest where they had to use a mystery ingredient. I loved the description on what kind of desserts these two would make using some rather strange ingredients both in the contest and as practice. I loved that baking was really a part of this story.
The mystery was able to keep me guessing and I wasn't quite sure who the murderer was until the big reveal. Vic and Mel had a special relationship but not everyone was such a big fan of the man so there were quite a few suspects. When things started happening that brought the danger closer to Mel and Angie, everything became a little more serious. I thought that the mystery aspect of the story was very well done.
The characters in this book were great. It was really nice to be back with both Mel and Angie as well as their friends and family. This book does introduce a new character, Oz, who starts working at the bakery as an intern from the local high school. I wasn't sure how Oz would fit in at first but it quickly became apparent that he was meant to be a part of their group. I was also thrilled to have a kitten added to the mix of characters. The kitten, Jack, didn't have a whole lot of time in the story but I did enjoy the scenes he was in quite a lot.
Susan Boyce does a fantastic job with this series. I love all of the voices that she uses in the book. I thought that she was able to add just a bit more excitement to the story through her narration. I thought that she read the book at the perfect pace and her voice was very pleasant to listen to throughout the story. I had no problems listening to this book for hours at a time and look forward to more of her narration in the future.
I do recommend this series to others. This is the third book in the Cupcake Bakery Mystery series but it could easily be read as a stand alone. Readers of the series will enjoy seeing things move forward in the lives of the characters. I can't wait to read more of this entertaining series!
Initial Thoughts
This was a nice little mystery. I wasn't quite sure who the murderer was until the big reveal even though I had a few guesses. It was nice to see all of the characters from the previous books and I liked the addition of the new bakery intern as well as the kitten. I actually really enjoyed it when they were working on interesting recipes for the competition. I wouldn't have a clue about making anything with the mystery ingredients that they had to use. The narrator did a fantastic job with the book. This was a pretty enjoyable read overall.
Book source: Library via Hoopla