Eclair And Present Danger
Emergency Dessert Squad, Book #1
Laura Bradford
5 Stars
Synopsis:
The first book in the delicious new Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery series from national bestselling author Laura Bradford.
With her rent rising faster than her pie crust, bakery owner Winnie Johnson had hoped to be rescued by an inheritance from her wealthy friend and neighbor Gertrude Redenbacher. Instead all she inherits is the widow’s hostile hissing tabby, Lovey, and a vintage ambulance, restored by Gertrude’s late husband. As her dream crumbles, Winnie makes her final delivery—a peach pie to an elderly widower. But she finds Bart Wagner lying on his kitchen floor, smothered by a pillow.
To comfort her frightened and grieving neighbors, Winnie comes to the rescue with her baked goods—and an idea is born: dessert delivery via her ambulance and a new business called the Emergency Dessert Squad. When she’s not speeding to the scenes of dessert emergencies, Winnie is also racing to track down Bart’s killer—before she needs to call a real ambulance for the next victim… (Goodreads)
Review:
Winnie Johnson is not having a good week. She has closed her bakery shop because she cannot afford the rent any longer. Then she finds her neighbor’s dead body lying on the floor in his house. This is the third neighbor that has recently died, although it is the first murdered one. While attending the will reading for one of her other neighbors, she learns that she is now the proud owner of an ambulance and a cat that really hates her. She does not know what she is going to do with her life now, but she knows that she does not want to leave the neighborhood that she loves so much. While doing a nice gesture for one of her nervous neighbor, inspiration hits and she knows what her new business will be: the Emergency Dessert Squad.
The concept behind this book is just a unique and awesome idea. The idea of having desserts delivered to someone who is need of comforting or wanting to celebrate is brilliant. The names of the desserts were so clever and imaginative. I really wish this was an actual business, we could all use their services at some time or another.
The characters are well rounded, well developed and three dimensional. Winnie is a hard worker who happens to have a heart of gold. She loves all of her elderly neighbors and feels right at home with them. Renee is one of her best friends and has a way of keeping her on track, at least in her personal life. I really enjoyed getting to know all of Winnie’s elderly neighbors too. They were quirky and funny and it was great to spend with them.
There is a mystery to solve and plenty of clues and suspects to keep the reader guessing. But the focus of the book was more on Winnie and her life rather than the killer, which was perfect, in my opinion. I would not have cared if there was any mystery, I was so engrossed reading about her business and her relationships. The characters were so entertaining to read about, I just wanted to get to know them better.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted, cleverly written cozy. There is absolutely nothing I would change about this book and I cannot wait for the next book in the series.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. I would like to thank NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.
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