Gluten For Punishment (A Bakers Treat Mystery #1) Review

Gluten for Punishment (A Baker’s Treat Mystery #1)

Nancy J Parra

Publisher: Berkley Crime

With her mother’s death, Toni Ryder returns home to OilTop, Kansas bringing her gluten-free bakery business with her. But Toni has never felt at home in her hometown and cooking wheat-free in the middle of wheat country isn’t making her any less a fish out of water. When Toni becomes a suspect in OilTop’s first homicide investigation in twenty years, she must count on her crazy family and follow the clues to solve the mystery and clear her name 

I picked this up while in Canada purely because one of my cousins over there is Gluten-intolerant and been bemoaning the lack of cakes she can eat now. JWhat I discovered was a fun, sweet mystery with a good bite to it and some great characters. Toni opens a Gluten Free bakery right in the middle of Wheat country, but despite some minor protest at her grand opening, she is surprised when her main opponent is found dead just outside her bakery. With the police focusing on her as the only suspect, she and her Grandmother decide they need to solve the case themselves…

There are some interesting characters – both secondary and minor which helps keep interest in the story. Toni’s grandmother, Ruth is an eccentric old lady, riding a scooter and determined to grow old gracefully. She is the driving force behind Toni’s investigation. But she also adds plenty of colour and joy to the scene every time she shows up. I also loved the description of the various gluten-free goodies Toni bakes which made me feel hungry during most of the book! Toni’s best friend is an intriguing character as she is struggling with her business, a new boyfriend and a child who is autistic and I liked their friendship immensely. 

The investigation itself is fairly simple with just a couple of conversations to other locals rather than any big evidence or sleuthing skills. However, consider the police are not particularly good at their job and don’t even bothering to find out who was also on Main Street the morning of the murder, this seems to do the job nicely. It’s not a complicated mystery but the story is well told with enough amusement from the characters to make an entertaining read!

Recommended for fans of Sofie Kelly and Connie Archer. 7 out of 10

Grave Dance (Alex Craft #2) Review

Grave Dance (Alex Craft #2)

Kalayna Price

Publishers: UK – Berkley

 After a month spent recovering from a vicious fight with a sorcerer, grave witch Alex Craft is ready to get back to solving murders by raising the dead. With her love life in turmoil thanks to the disappearance of Fae Investigation Bureau agent Falin Andrews and a shocking “L” word confession from Death himself, Alex is eager for the distractions of work. But her new case turns out to be a deadly challenge. The police hire Alex to consult on a particularly strange investigation in the nature preserve south of Nekros City. The strange part: There are no corpses, only fragments of them. A serial killer is potentially on the loose, and Alex has no way to raise a shade without a body, so she’ll have to rely on the magic of others to find leads. But as she begins investigating, a creature born of the darkest magic comes after her. Someone very powerful wants to make sure the only thing she finds is a dead end—her own.

This is definitely one of those series that started out strong but has gotten stronger! I was thrown straight back into the world and loved Alex, her friends, her job and even her two potential suitors are great characters that I loved getting to know better. I can completely understand for once why Alex is unable to choose between the two men in her live. Usually love triangles annoy me as one of the men is obviously the one she will choose from the beginning and I just want the heroine to stop stringing them both along, but here both characters have their flaws and both seem to genuinely care for despite the difficulties in perusing a relationship for very different reasons. Neither choice would be an easy option though…

With Alex’s Grave Witch powers explored in the first book, we now get a chance to look at her fey inheritance and explore fae itself. The Winter Court is an intriguing place as is stasis and some of the other areas Alex find on her investigation. One of the elements that I like about that Alex is that she isn’t a loner but has friends and colleagues who’s opinion matters and we get to learn a little more about Alex’s housemates as well…although a few questions were left unanswered which only makes me anxious to read the book in the series!

This is an easy to read Urban Fantasy with great characters and a very satisfying central mystery. More of the world is explored but more questions are raised and I think Alex is rapidly becoming one of my favourite heroines – she’s certainly one character that I would like to be friends with! Highly recommended series for those who like a little witch and fae in their UF and a genuine love triangle.

Recommended for fans of Jeanienne Frost and Kelley Armstrong. 9 out of 10