Monday, January 8, 2018

DIAL M FOR MOUSSE by Laura Bradford



Publisher:     Berkley
Published:     January 2, 2018   
ISBN:        978-0425281253
Genre:      Cozy Mystery
Format:     Print
Obtained via:  Publisher
Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  myreviewbooks@aol.com

FOUR HEARTS 



Winnie Johnson and her Emergency Dessert Squad are called on to make an “emergency rescue” to inspire attendees at an artist retreat.  The retreat owner, Sally Davenport has brought together a unique group of people – a poet, a magician, a puppeteer, a mime and a comedian.  Winnie quickly pulls together desserts that Sally has requested and brings them out to the retreat center.  When none of the recipients are there to receive their desserts Winnie goes in search of them and Sally.  When she arrives at the main building it is to find Sally dead with the attendees surrounding her.  Almost immediately Winnie notices several things that just don’t add up.  When she returns home she shares her suspicions with her squad—Renee, Mr. Nelson and Bridged.  When they put their heads together the story that unfolds is no kind of treat. 

I really enjoyed the latest entry in Laura Bradford’s Emergency Dessert Squad series, DIAL M FOR MOUSSE.  Winnie and the squad spent a good amount of time tracking down the killer and using the talents of the suspects made for a fun read.  Winnie is an awesome character – someone I’d like to know in real life.  She’s smart, compassionate, creative and just a really nice person.  I like Renee, Ty and Greg as secondary characters.  They are good friends – and smart and creative as well. 

Bridged is a little too much like one of my real life co-workers with her never ending ailments—all seemingly there to garner attention.  Someone needs to tell her that if she keeps crying wolf, one day when she’s really hurt no one will listen.  Mr. Nelson comes across a little too needy – while he tells Winnie to work on her relationship with Jay he demands more and more of her time.  The competition between he and Bridged to gain Winnie’s attention shows how when we get into our senior years we do seem to regress to our childhoods. 

On the plus side Bradford is doing a decent job of not going down the love triangle road that is so annoying in so many cozy series.  Instead she has developed a solid friendship between Winnie and Greg and added some wonderful changes and growth in her relationship with Jay.

As a series this one does need to be read in order if you want to see how the characters develop both in themselves and in relation to each other.  There are some yummy sounding recipes at the end of each book that look fairly easy to make.  That said, I wish there really was an Emergency Dessert Squad to call on for some unique gifts.


This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

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