One Dead Cookie by Virginia Lowell

One Dead Cookie (Cookie Cutter Shop Mystery, #4)

by Virginia Lowell

Olivia Greyson is the proud owner of The Gingerbread House—a quaint shop that specializes in all things cookie—and her best friend, Maddie, is her sidekick, baking up scrumptious treats for their cookie-themed parties. But a dead body on their front porch might put their bake shop in a truly sticky situation…
 
Olivia is busy baking up special cookies for Maddie’s upcoming engagement party when soap star Trevor Lane shows up unexpectedly in town. It soon becomes clear that Trevor, who grew up in the neighboring town of Twiterton, left behind a number of enemies with long memories. Even Trevor’s assistant and childhood friend, Dougie, seems to harbor a grudge against him. 
 
Soon after his arrival, Trevor is found dead on The Gingerbread House porch, his handsome face branded with the image of a cookie cutter. When their friend Stacey is implicated in the murder, Olivia and Maddie rush to find the killer. Because it seems someone in Chatterley Heights has a sweet tooth for revenge... 

Reviewed by MurderByDeath on

2 of 5 stars

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Just so-so.

I really like to the two main characters, Olivia and Maddie. And Olivia's mother is a joy. The dialogue between these three is really well written and there are more than a few good one-liners. Del is sweet and I think he could be a great character if he was around more.

The plot of the mystery, at it's bones, was well done. Old clues, new clues, lots of suspects and an ending that wasn't the total cliched "cozy ending number 2". I liked the ending.

So what was the problem? The story just didn't flow well at all. It felt disjointed and clunky; disorganised. And while I'm an animal lover to an extreme, if I had to hear one more time about Spunky's days on the "mean streets of Baltimore" or his begging eyes I was gonna scream. It was too much.

If the next book came out right now, I wouldn't pick it up. We'll see how I feel X months from now when it does come out.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 20 July, 2013: Finished reading
  • 20 July, 2013: Reviewed