Arsenic and Old Cake (A Piece of Cake Mystery, #3)

by Jacklyn Brady

[MurderByDeath]

The best of the series so far. Previous books have left me feeling flat, but this one held my attention once I got past the ludicrousness of the initial setup: Old Dog Leg thinks his missing-for-40-years brother is back in town but doesn't know if it's really him. The only solution: Rita MUST go undercover as a newlywed at a honeymoon b&b to find out. Really? Flimsy. Even for a cozy.

BUT once you get past that the story behind the residents of the b&b is interesting, the mystery tied to old secrets. I really enjoyed it, and the ending was unexpected - I never guessed the murderer.

The characters have improved as well, Rita's employees not quite so insolent. Although Rita is still weak as a business owner. She seems to prefer stressing out about problems over actually fixing them or even confronting them.

I was ready to give up this series before reading this book, but I'll definitely check out the next one and hope this is a sign of great books to come.