From USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bruns comes a boxed set of the next three exciting mysteries featuring baker turned sleuth Sally Muccio. This boxed set includes three full-length novels-and tasty recipes!-from the #1 bestselling Cookies & Chance series, including: Frosted With Revenge (book #4), Silenced by Sugar (book #5), Crumbled to Pieces (book #6)
The “Cookies & Chance Mystery” 3-book set earns 5+/5 Cryptic Fortune Cookies!
Catherine Bruns has again baked up a great set of entertaining mysteries for us ‘cozy-holics’ and cookie connoisseurs, and I had to pick up the set for a bit of a reread, too.. In this second volume Sally Muccio has made a great success of her cookie shop, her BFF is still baking up deliciousness, Sally and Mike have evolved from dating to engaging to marrying, and of course, more murders popped up putting friends and family at risk. Catherine’s books are well written, loaded with twists, and sprinkled with worrisome predicaments, cryptic fortune cookies, twisting and turning investigations, and Karma always waiting in the wings to take a big bite out of somebody’s cookie! Along with three marvelous mysteries involving a bridezilla, old school nemesis, and a renter from hell, we continue enjoyment of a great bunch of well-developed colorful, ok…quirky characters: Sally’s odd Italian mom and dad, successful sister/lawyer, Grandma Rosa’s pillar of strength and comfort food, a BFF that is Ethel to your Lucy, and a blood-boiling neighbor who better get one of those free fortune cookies or watch out! And in true ‘cozy’ fashion, Catherine always includes a few easy-to-follow recipes for treats often from Sally’s Samples, the Muccio family, or connected to a character in the story: Maamoul Cookies, Lemon Crisp Cookies, and Double Chocolate Chili Cookies to only name a few…Ok, it’s a great cookbook, too!
Book 4—“Frosted with Revenge” 5/5 Red Velvet Cakes with Vanilla Frosting!
A recent fire causes Sally to relocate the cookie shop into her parent’s home, the long awaited wedding is only a week away, and while waiting to sample wedding cake, CRASH! the “Do you know who I am?!” bridezilla falls dead…a bullet expertly placed between her eyes! The investigation points to several suspects who would have wanted her dead, however, later, a shower gift note offers a different take on the murder, “Bang, bang. Next time I won’t miss.”
Book 5—“Silenced by Sugar” earns 5/5 Sweet Treats…Karma 5, old Nemeses 0!
Sally Donovan (finally married to Mike) and Josie Sullivan (her BFF and head baker at Sally’s Samples) are invited to be guests on a popular Food Network show. But, Josie’s former culinary school nemesis and personal assistant to the host ends up Karma’s next victim, and Josie’s well witnessed ‘cat fight’ puts her as suspect number one.
Book 6—“Crumbled to Pieces” earns 5/5 Sweet Karma Bites…Delightfully Satisfying!
Sally Muccio Donovan has learned the messages inside her shop’s signature fortune cookie have proved to be both “a curse and a blessing.” The woman renting the rooms upstairs from the shop has become the renter from “hell” with evidence she may be using BFF Josie’s kitchen, taken fortune cookies, harassed Sally’s husband, and surprise…caught selling cookies oddly familiar to Josie’s own recipes for cut-rate prices. After confronting her, the threats fly and the woman storms out into an oncoming car…dead! What does the fortune cookie say about that?
I have enjoyed all the books in the Cookies & Chance series. Sal’s family is a real hoot – wonderful grandmother, size 4, sexy dressing mother, death obsessed father who wants to write a book based on his successful death blog, etc. The characters are amazingly real.
In Crumbled to Pieces, Sal rents the apartment above her bakery to a real witch of a woman who steals the bakeries recipes, uses the bakery ovens, and sells the knock offs cheaper than Sal. She also harasses Sal’s husband. When the renter turns up dead, Sal is embroiled in another mystery. There is a mad trip to Las Vegas where Sal finds her parents, many red herrings and finally a satisfying conclusion.
Plan to spend some time with this because you will not be able to put it down!