Doughnuts and Deadly Schemes
(Culinary Competition Mysteries Volume 3)
By Janel Gradowski
Publisher: Gemma Halliday Publishing
Published: May 29, 2015
ISBN: 9781514121986
Amazon Synopsis:
From bestselling mystery author Janel
Gradowski comes a deliciously deadly mystery... Amy Ridley’s best friend,
Carla, is getting married, and Amy is delighted to be recruited as the head
wedding planner—even if Carla's demands are less than conventional. Case in
point: Carla insists on a tower of doughnuts in place of a wedding cake. But
navigating the world of nuptials becomes the least of Amy's problems when the
owner of a menswear shop is found dead, and Carla's fiancée is assigned to the
case. With the honeymoon in jeopardy, Amy and Carla vow to help track down the
killer...but they soon discover there are even more sinister happenings
affecting the businesses in downtown Kellerton, Michigan. If Amy doesn't figure
out who is behind the deadly schemes, the nearly newlywed detective may just be
solving another murder—hers!
**Recipes Included!**
Culinary Competition Mysteries:
Pies & Peril (book #1)
Chicken Soup & Homicide (book #2)
Christmas Canapés & Sabotage (short
story)
Doughnuts & Deadly Schemes (book #3)
Praise for the Culinary Competition
Mysteries:
"PIES & PERIL is the perfect
cozy to curl up with in your favorite chair or at the beach while enjoying some
sun. It’s teeming with a lot of charm and great characters along with many tidbits
of delectable goodies perfect for any foodie. I was really looking forward to
reading (Janel Gradowski's) first full length novel and it didn’t disappoint!
PIES & PERIL is sure to please any reader who loves their cozy
mysteries!" ~ Peeking Between the Pages
"PIES & PERIL is a beautiful
debut and I know I will be eagerly awaiting the second book in the series. (Amy
Ridley) had me laughing and smiling, and the warm cozy feeling of reading a
good mystery never left me." ~ Cozy Reader
"PIES & PERIL is a fun read
with, murder, arson, threats and romance in the plot! This is a very enjoyable
story with a very satisfactory closure. There is also an added bonus of recipes
at the end of the book. Amy's many trial recipes made me hungry and inspired me
to bake some goodies! Enjoy!" ~ Indy Girl
Book Links
Excerpt:
“These are so good,” Carla said as she
broke off a chunk of the cinnamon maple doughnut. She popped the pastry in her
mouth and washed it down with a sip of coffee. “I want a mountain of doughnuts
instead of a fancy wedding cake.”
Carla had said the W word—wedding. Amy
sighed as she turned back to her work. She plunged her latex-gloved hand into
the bowl of blueberry glaze to retrieve the warm doughnut she had dropped
during the moment of shock. The cake rings were supposed to only be dipped half
way into the lavender-colored glaze, not released to sink to the bottom of the
bowl.
Her fingers closed around the wayward
doughnut as she reached with her other hand to free a square of waxed paper
from the dispenser box at the back of the counter. She turned to look at her
best friend as she let the excess glaze drip back into the bowl. “You’re
thinking about wedding cakes…or at least a version of one. Does that mean
you’ve set a date?”
Detective Bruce Shepler had asked Carla
to marry him at the beginning of the year. It was a huge milestone for her
formerly commitment-phobic friend, who had asked Amy to help plan the wedding
right after the glittering engagement ring landed on her finger. Great.
Wonderful. She would love to help. But since then the couple had refused to
actually plan the wedding, saying they were too busy or hadn’t figured out what
they wanted. Until now.
The quip about doughnuts instead of
cake was the first time Carla had mentioned the big day on her own without
being prompted by Amy.
Carla grinned. “June fifteenth.”
Amy plopped the overly glazed blueberry
doughnut onto the square of waxed paper and set the extra-gooey baked good on
the metal-topped table in front of Carla. They were in the smaller, original
kitchen of Riverbend Café that housed the doughnut makers and a pastry
decorating area. Carla had stopped in for breakfast, like she often did after
she finished a night shift at the hospital. She ate and chatted while Amy
worked through her morning baking tasks.
“So we have a year to plan? That should
be enough time to come up with a fabulous wedding,” Amy said as she resumed her
icing duties. She needed to catch up. Sophie, the café’s owner, had been
quietly churning out doughnuts while Amy was distracted by the big wedding
announcement. She deposited two, perfectly glazed doughnuts onto a cooling rack
and turned to look at Carla as she grabbed two more naked doughnuts. Her friend
was pretending to be completely engrossed in studying the newly delivered sweet
treat. Amy cleared her throat.
“Not a year.” Carla looked up and met
her gaze. “About three weeks from now.”
This time both of the unusually
slippery doughnuts escaped from Amy’s grasp. They ricocheted off the edge of
the stainless steel worktable then rolled across the white tile floor before
ending their journey in front of the convection oven. Her mind would likely
follow suit with all of her mental marbles rolling away, possibly never to be
found again.
My Thoughts:
Amy is thrilled to
be planning Carla and Bruce’s wedding. But when Carla finally decides on a date
and it’s only 3 weeks away she nearly flips. Carla wants something simple and
informal… and quirky, like a doughnut tower instead of a wedding cake. After
all, Bruce is a police detective.
In fact, Bruce ends
up being the lead detective in the murder investigation of one of the owners of
the men’s formal wear shop where he was ordering his wedding suit. If the case
isn’t solved before the nuptials, Bruce won’t be able to concentrate on his
honeymoon. So Amy and Carla vow to help track down the killer.
This cozy mystery
involved much more than just one murder as Amy and Carla discover. The twists
and turns come fast and furious. It’s as though the killer is toying with his
subjects.
Getting all the
details sorted out for Carla and Bruce’s wedding is no mean feat either and
there are a number of twists and turns that take place for that to happen. The
author does an excellent job of bringing these two storylines (the wedding and
the murder) together in an interesting and sometimes humorous way.
There are a few big
surprises in the story that I won’t share, but I will tell you that there are a
few recipes in the back of the book included for you to try out as in all of
the Culinary Competition Series books.
I thoroughly enjoyed
this cozy mystery. It was fast-paced and fun to read. I gave it 5 stars out of
5.
Thank you to the
author who provided a copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest
review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.
About
the Author:
Janel Gradowski lives in a
land that looks like a cold weather fashion accessory, the mitten-shaped state
of Michigan. She is a wife and mom to two kids and one Golden Retriever. Her
journey to becoming an author is littered with odd jobs like renting apartments
to college students and programming commercials for an AM radio station.
Somewhere along the way she also became a beadwork designer and teacher. She
enjoys cooking recipes found in her formidable cookbook and culinary fiction
collection. Searching for unique treasures at art fairs, flea markets and
thrift stores is also a favorite pastime. Coffee is an essential part of her
life. She writes the Culinary Competition Mystery Series, along with The
Bartonville Series (women’s fiction) and the 6:1 Series (flash fiction). She
has also had many short stories published in both online and print
publications.
Author
Links
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