(4.5/5)

( )

Mel and Angie are doing a photo shoot for a magazine, but things goes haywire, and cupcakes start sailing through the air, wielded by Mel and Angie at their mutual enemy. To avoid a lawsuit or having to pay damages for the wasted shoot, they agree with the demands of the magazine’s owner. For a week, they will run a cupcake bootcamp, and supervise the baking of a thousand cupcakes for a charity affair, baked by the magazine staff. The owner hopes this will foster camaraderie among his staff, but it ends up with one of them murdered. This engaging tale is peopled by delightful characters, and some not quite so charming villains. In this well-written cozy, the interaction between the characters adds as much enjoyment to the story as following the clues to solve the mystery does. ( )

Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura are doing a photo shoot for Southwest Style magazine. If only the photo shoot didn't involve high heels, bouffant hair, and an invasion by Olivia Puckett. Olivia's intrusion unfortunately causes Angie and Mel to get into a food fight with Olivia which causes damage and gets them in trouble with the magazine to the tune of thousands of dollars. Luckily, Tate is able to help smooth away the trouble with the owner, Ian Hannigan. The magazine staff will come to Fairy Tale Cupcakes for a cupcake boot camp to make cupcakes for a charity gala. Not everyone is cooperative or happy about the boot camp . Brigit MacLeod, editor-in-chief only wants to run the magazine and Amy Pierson has an uncooperative chip on her shoulder and features director Sam isn't too thrilled with the idea of cupcakes at all. When Sam ends up dead right outside the bakery, Mel's convinced it has to be one of the boot camp participants, but which one and why? Meanwhile, Tate has been acting strange just as he and Angie are finally realizing their feelings for each other and Mel's boyfriend Joe wants to get married really soon! Mel finds herself trying to find the killer before she loses her bakery or her life.

The author makes the characters in these books come alive, and they continue to grow and we learn new things about them in every new book. The magazine employees are all a piece of work, the back stabbing and infighting put every one of them on the suspect list. The twists and turns keep you guessing until the very end when the killer is revealed. ( )

Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura are doing a photo shoot for Southwest Style magazine. If only the photo shoot didn't involve high heels, bouffant hair, and an invasion by Olivia Puckett. Olivia's intrusion unfortunately causes Angie and Mel to get into a food fight with Olivia which causes damage and gets them in trouble with the magazine to the tune of thousands of dollars. Luckily, Tate is able to help smooth away the trouble with the owner, Ian Hannigan. The magazine staff will come to Fairy Tale Cupcakes for a cupcake boot camp to make cupcakes for a charity gala. Not everyone is cooperative or happy about the boot camp . Brigit MacLeod, editor-in-chief only wants to run the magazine and Amy Pierson has an uncooperative chip on her shoulder and features director Sam isn't too thrilled with the idea of cupcakes at all. When Sam ends up dead right outside the bakery, Mel's convinced it has to be one of the boot camp participants, but which one and why? Meanwhile, Tate has been acting strange just as he and Angie are finally realizing their feelings for each other and Mel's boyfriend Joe wants to get married really soon! Mel finds herself trying to find the killer before she loses her bakery or her life.

The author makes the characters in these books come alive, and they continue to grow and we learn new things about them in every new book. The magazine employees are all a piece of work, the back stabbing and infighting put every one of them on the suspect list. The twists and turns keep you guessing until the very end when the killer is revealed. ( )

A magazine staff is "bonding" by working on cupcakes for a gala together. Mel discovers the body of one of the writers outside the bakery. His head has been bashed in. Uncle Stan responds to the call. Detective Martinez transferred to the Scottsdale police where he's now her uncle's partner. It's clear he is interested in Mel, but Mel is secretly engaged to Angie's brother Joe. In the meantime Tate quit his job, moved out of his upscale penthouse, and is nowhere to be found. When he's finally discovered, he's trying to prove himself worthy of Angie. The book is as much about the romantic relationships and triangles as it is about the mystery. Still it's an enjoyable read, even if it got off to a sluggish start.

I listened to the audio version of this in 2022. I thought it sounded like a familiar plot. I think I liked it a little better than I did in 2017, possibly because I'd read more installments between. I'm upping my stars from the 3 stars I gave it in 2017 to 3.5. ( )