A Batter of Life and Death – Ellie Alexander

5/5 Bakeshop Stars

On The Back:

Welcome to Torte-a small-town family bakeshop where the coffee is hot, the muffins are fresh, and the cakes are definitely to die for…

It’s autumn in Ashland, Oregon-’tis the season for a spiced hot apple cider with a serving (or two) of Torte’s famous peach cobbler. It’s also the perfect time for Jules Capshaw to promote her family’s beloved bake shop by competing in The Pastry Channel’s reality show, Take the Cake. The prize is $25,000. But as Jules quickly learns, some people would kill for that kind of dough. Literally.

Then, just as Jules dusts off her Bavarian Chocolate Cake recipe and cinches up her apron, the corpse of a fellow contestant is discovered-death by buttercream. What began as a fun, tasteful televised adventure has morphed into something of a true-crime detective show for Jules and everybody else on set. Who could have killed Chef Marco, and why? Can Jules sift out the killer before someone else gets burned?

My Thoughts:

A second in a series I can see that I’m going to love; A Batter of Life and Death was a wonderful book that I enjoyed.

The characters are wonderful; they’re three-dimensional, not obnoxious, and realistic, which are all things that I look for in characters. The MC, Jules is strong and independent without being annoying. There’s kind of a love triangle going on, but it works because one corner of the triangle is literally hundreds of miles away. However, I still with Jules would sever ties with him, instead of dragging it out.

The mystery was wonderful. Jules investigated without the “in your face” attitude many MCs have and the mystery wrapped up nicely. There were sufficient clues to point you to the killer, but even with them I didn’t guess the real killer.

Overall a wonderful book. I’ll be continuing this series!