Brenda H. (booksinvt) - , reviewed on 1/7/2018 + 465 more book reviews

Tart of Darkness is the debut of the Chef-to-Go Mystery series set in the college town of Normalton, Illinois featuring Danielle "Dani" Sloan. Dani has resigned from her position in HR at Homestead Insurance after having issues with the way a sexual harrassment claim was handled. Having a fondness for cooking but not wanting to disappoint her father any further with her career choices, Dani is halfheartedly sending resumes to other HR departments when an envelope arrives at her door.

Geraldine Cook had been Dani's grandmother's best friend. The two women had sworn to each other that they would look after each other's families should something happen to one of them. Upon her death Geraldine has left Dani her Victorian mansion, which is under renovation. The older woman had plans to open a Bed and Breakfast, but Dani isn't fond of having strangers coming in and out of her home.

Having lived in a college townhouse and befriended the trio of girls across the hall, Dani takes the girls into her home when they are kicked out of their apartment. The rent monies and the girls' agreement to help Dani get her fledging business Chef-to-Go up and running will allow them to all to stay in the old mansion.

When Ivy Drake, the youngest of the girls, joins a study group with the spoiled Regina Bourne, Dani has reservations. Regina is obviously using Ivy just to get her work done, and when she plans her annual Summerpalooza she gets Dani to cater the party so the at Ivy and her friends can attend. After a fire ruins the desserts, Regina kicks Dani and the girls out and threatens to destroy Dani's reputation. When Regina is found dead by the pool the next morning, Ivy and Dani become prime suspects.

With the help of Ivy's Uncle Spencer, retired FBI agent and now head of University security, Dani begins her own investigation to find Regina's killer and clear her own name. Dani uncovers plenty of suspects who hated the girl, but she is thwarted at every turn by the nasty Detective Mikeloff.

A well developed plot with interesting characters. The author does mention the name of the town and characters from another of her series quite frequently and not having read that particular series I wasn't too sure what relevance these people played in this series. The middle of the book does bog down a little with the internal musings of both Dani and Spencer on why they don't want to get involved in a personal relationship, they seem to dwell on these thoughts repetitively. Overall, a great start to a series and will look forward to more adventures with Dani, Spence and the girls.

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