From USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bruns comes a hilarious holiday whodunit!It’s the most wonderful time of the year… Unless you’re Sally Muccio.The full-time baker and sometime sleuth is ready to burst into song. She and her husband are expecting a bundle of joy, her sister’s wedding is just around the corner, and it’s Christmas, her favorite time of year. But when Sal’s the victim of a … Sal’s the victim of a carjacking by Santa himself and a forgotten item links her to a murder, she doesn’t feel like ho-ho-hoing anymore.
Damian Ruger was a drug user, womanizer and first-class jerk. And unfortunately for Sal, she once had a connection to him in high school. The dough really hits the fan when her bakery’s gingerbread cookies are found next to his dead body, and Sal’s cake server is used as a murder weapon. Someone is trying to frame the expectant mother, but why? Sal has no choice but to try to clear her name…before she and the baby are singing Christmas carols in prison!
Recipes Included!
The Cookies & Chance Mysteries:
Tastes Like Murder (book #1)
A Spot of Murder (short story in the “Killer Beach Reads” collection)
Baked to Death (book #2)
Burned to a Crisp (book #3)
Frosted With Revenge (book #4)
Silenced by Sugar (book #5)
A Drizzle Before Dying (short story in the “Pushing Up Daisies” collection)
Crumbled to Pieces (book #6)
Sprinkled in Malice (book #7)
Gingersnapped to Death (book #8)
What critics are saying:
“A fantastic cozy mystery!”
—InD’Tale Magazine
“I want to visit more with all of the quirky characters just to see what crazy and outrageous things they will do next!”
—Fresh Fiction
“The Cookies and Chance Mystery series is more than just a series….it’s a family !! Once you read the first book, you are hooked and feel like a member of the crazy Muccio family.”
—Cozy Mystery Book Reviews
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I love this addition to the series. I have no idea how Ms. Bruns comes up with these plots but she has outdone herself in Ginger Snapped to Death. All of Sally’s zany family is back. It is Christmas and Sally keeps tripping over Jolly-less Santas. Sally is nine months pregnant, the matron of honor in her sister’s upcoming Christmas eve wedding, carjacked, a suspect in a murder, and has no customers at Sally’s Samples. You do not want to miss this book! I could not put it down.
Holidays, weddings & babies are a great reason to celebrate! It is almost Christmas, it is almost time for Sally to have her baby & her sister is finally getting married. Nothing is ever simple and easy for Sally. She finds herself on a wild & scary ride to motherhood. Well written. story, great characters & setting. Love each & every book in this series! I look forward to reading the next book.
Ginger Snapped to Death earns 5/5 Ginger-Spiced Men…Engaging Fun!
Santa Set Up…Deluxe! I am a big fan of Catherine Brun’s Cookies & Chance series and always look forward to the adventures of Sally Muccio-Donovan along with what prophetic message is found in her signature fortune cookies….and it’s Christmas. BFF Josie gives Sally an early gift meant also to recognize Sally’s greatly improved baking abilities: an engraved “six-inch serrated silver cake server.” Ok, I know my cozies, and this is incriminating evidence in the making! Sally is also pregnant with her first child, and although behind schedule (her due date has come and gone) and feeling clumsy, she is still in good spirits. Then a burned batch of fortune cookies, a cryptic fortune “You better watch out—Santa Claus is coming…for you,” a subsequent carjacking by said “Santa Clauses,” and a mysterious “Nick” puts Sally on edge and the baby in “high-gear” kicking. She gets her car back, but finds something the forensic techs missed…a note, an address, a threat! All this leads to a past not-friend, dead, surrounded by Sally’s speciality gingerbread cookies along with the murder weapon “a six-inch serrated silver cake server.” I told you so! Do they really think a very pregnant woman committed murderous revenge! Brilliant! Catherine’s signature clever drama with contemporary issues, well-developed characters including quirky, “pazza” neighbor, humorous predicaments, personal peril, and an “exciting” ending make this eighth book a delightful page-turner. And recipes! Chocolate-filled Cookie Cups, Candy Cane Brownies, the infamous Gingerbread Cookies, and Almond-And-Lemon-Flavored Macaroons. I love it all!
Ginger Snapped To Death
The Cookies Chance Mystery Series
Catherine Bruns
5 Stars
Synopsis:
From USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bruns comes a hilarious holiday whodunit!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…Unless you’re Sally Muccio.
The full-time baker and sometime sleuth is ready to burst into song. She and her husband are expecting a bundle of joy, her sister’s wedding is just around the corner, and it’s Christmas, her favorite time of year. But when Sal’s the victim of a carjacking by Santa himself and a forgotten item links her to a murder, she doesn’t feel like ho-ho-hoing anymore.
Damian Ruger was a drug user, womanizer and first-class jerk. And unfortunately for Sal, she once had a connection to him in high school. The dough really hits the fan when her bakery’s gingerbread cookies are found next to his dead body, and Sal’s cake server is used as a murder weapon. Someone is trying to frame the expectant mother, but why? Sal has no choice but to try to clear her name…before she and the baby are singing Christmas carols in prison!
*Recipes Included!*
The Cookies Chance Mysteries:
Tastes Like Murder (book #1)
A Spot of Murder (short story in the “Killer Beach Reads” collection)
Baked to Death (book #2)
Burned to a Crisp (book #3)
Frosted With Revenge (book #4)
Silenced by Sugar (book #5)
A Drizzle Before Dying (short story in the “Pushing Up Daisies” collection)
Crumbled to Pieces (book #6)
Sprinkled in Malice (book #7)
Ginger Snapped to Death (book #8)
What critics are saying:
“A fantastic cozy mystery!”
—InD’Tale Magazine
“I want to visit more with all of the quirky characters just to see what crazy and outrageous things they will do next!”
—Fresh Fiction
“The Cookies and Chance Mystery series is more than just a series….it’s a family !! Once you read the first book, you are hooked and feel like a member of the crazy Muccio family.”
—Cozy Mystery Book Reviews (less)
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Review:
The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and these descriptions pulled me into the story from the very beginning. Through much of the book I felt like I was right there, watching all the action taking place and listening to conversations. The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read.
The characters are well developed and well rounded. Whenever I read a book from this series, I feel like I am visiting old friends. I really enjoy spending time with them and catching up on their lives. Sally’s grandmother is so sweet and she loves her granddaughters so much. Sally’s parents are crazy and they bring humor to the story. Josie is the bestest of best friends her and Sally get into all kinds of trouble.
There were a couple of mysteries in this book: who the killer was and who the Jolly-less Santas were. The mysteries were carried out well throughout the book and were not easily solved. That is the way I like my mysteries.
I would recommend this book (and series) to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. If you like great characters and lots of humor, this is a must read series.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book and provided my honest review.
A Fortune Cookie Predicts the Arrival of Jolly-less Santas
Ginger Snapped to Death is the eighth book in Catherine Bruns’ Cookies & Chance Mystery series. The storyline flows smoothly in this fast-paced cozy whodunit. The three-dimensional characters are affable, the well-plotted mystery is interesting, and there’s a great mix of mystery, family, friendship, and humor. There’s no shortage of twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. I recommend this delightful series to readers who enjoy well-crafted cozy mysteries.
It’s almost Christmas, and Sally “Sal” Donovan and her husband, Mike, who owns a small construction company, are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their first child. Sal is the owner of Sally’s Samples in Colwestern, New York, and Josie Sullivan, her best friend since childhood, is the shop’s talented baker. Sal’s sister, Gianna, a successful attorney, and her fiancé, Johnny Gavelli, a history teacher, are planning a Christmas wedding. Gianna and Johnny are the parents of nine-month-old Alex. Grandma Rosa lives with Sal’s parents, Domenic and Maria, and has the adorable habit of mixing up the words in everyday clichés, always offers sage advice, and helps hold the family together.
While on her way home from the bakery, Sal is carjacked by two men dressed as Santa Claus, one of whom points a gun at her. A good Samaritan named Nick came to her rescue and called 911 before he disappeared. Trouble seems to follow Sal wherever she goes, so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that the carjacking wasn’t the only thing that would happen. When Damian Ruger is murdered, Sal becomes a suspect, mainly because she had a history with him, her cookies were found at the crime scene, and the murder weapon is an engraved silver cake server that Josie recently gave her. Someone is framing Sal, and she is determined to find out who and why before the birth of her child.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.