Cathy C. (cathyskye) - , reviewed on 7/5/2016 + 2307 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

First and foremost, the Emergency Dessert Squad concept and the names of Winnie's desserts are an absolute stroke of genius. I loved reading about putting Winnie's new business together and the brain-storming sessions for dessert names every bit as much as I enjoyed the mystery.

Winnie Johnson is a fabulous character as is the secondary cast of-- mainly-- senior citizens. Winnie tends to surround herself with older people, and she has a good reason for doing so. There are so many things to like about Éclair and Present Danger, and one of them is the sense of community and of caring Winnie and her "old folks" have.

Winnie-- like several other heroines in cozy mysteries-- has captured the attention of two very handsome and available men, but she deals with both of them very honestly. I certainly appreciated the fact that there was no real dithering back and forth between Greg and Jay. Romantic triangles have become a bit of a cliché and tend to bore me to insensibility.

The mystery of Bart's death is pretty much kept on the back burner until almost the end of the book, but the solution is very satisfying. Bart had no real part in the book, but I was left wishing that I'd known him better-- a testament to Bradford's writing in that she took just as much care in developing a character who "had no future" as she did with her returning cast.

With such a satisfying mystery, a wonderful cast, and a brilliant concept, is it any wonder that I'm eagerly awaiting the second book in the series?

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