This post contains affiliate links.
Thank you Netgalley and Kensington for the advance copy of The Diva Says Cheesecake! by Krista Davis.
I love the Domestic Diva Mystery series and when I saw the advanced copy available, I had to request it. Sophie Winston is one of my absolute favorite amateur sleuths.
Old Town’s midsummer festivities are getting a tasty addition this year. To coincide with a public performance of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Bobbie Sue Bodoin, the Queen of Cheesecake, has hired Sophie to organize a dinner with a dessert buffet on the waterfront. Bobbie Sue’s homegrown company is thriving, and since her baking dish overfloweth, she wants to reward her employees.
Bobbie Sue has only one menu demand: no cheesecake! But her specialty isn’t the only thing missing from the evening—Tate, Bobbie Sue’s husband, is too, much to her annoyance. Next morning, however, Tate’s dead body is discovered. Bobbie Sue insists she didn’t kick her spouse to the curb and begs for Sophie’s help finding the real killer. Digging in, Sophie discovers an assortment of Old Town locals who all had reason to want a piece of Tate. Can she gather together the crumbs the killer left behind in time to prevent a second helping of murder
The Diva Says Cheesecake! is a fun, quick cozy mystery. While this book is the fifteenth in the series you do not have to read the prior books but I definitely would since this is one of my favorite cozy mystery series.
Sophie Winston is a great main character. I love watching her work her jobs and solving the mystery. Sophie is a smart amateur sleuth and I love how as the books have expanded that the residence of Old Town Virginia come to her for advice and help finding the murder.
The supporting cast is a reason why I really love these books. I love Sophie’s friends and I think it is hard to find a cozy mystery with such well developed and loyal friendships as these books. Every one of my favorite characters were in the book as supporting casts, while you didn’t get a lot of time with some it was still great to see them. While Natasha is not my favorite character, she is well developed and makes the perfect “villain” outside the suspect.
The Diva Says Cheesecake! transported me to Old Town Virginia and I can see the streets and restaurants and want to visit. The recipes included in the book also sound delicious and I will have to try making them sometime.
The mystery was interesting with several suspects that kept you guessing. When Bernie turns up as a suspect you know Sophie and gang would not rest until the real killer was found. While I figured out the suspect relatively early, I do not believe that this was due to the writing of the book. I think when you read as many cozy mysteries as I have you start to pick up clues faster than most. However, I was not sure of the reasoning for the murder so it kept me guessing.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and hope that I will get another Diva Mystery Series book next year.
Have you read The Diva Says Cheesecake!? If not, I hope you will give it a try and preorder it for its May 31st publication.
The Spinny Bookworm Mama 