Book ~ "Murder has a Sweet Tooth" (2009) - Miranda Bliss

From Goodreads ~ Annie Capshaw has found that the way to a man's heart is through his cooking class. But just as she and her best friend, Eve, are planning Annie's big day with Jim, her former cooking instructor turned boss, murder takes the cake. Make that the wedding cake ...

This is the fifth book in the series (and the third that I've read) and I enjoyed it.

Just as Annie and Jim are about to get married, Alex (Jim's cousin who is visiting from Scotland) gets arrested for murder. It doesn't look good that he was found in an alley, with a knife in his hand, and laying on the victim, Vicki.

He asks Annie, who is the business manager of Jim's pub, to find out what happened. She fancies herself as an amateur detective and everyone encourages her ... even Tyler, Eve's bad-ass cop boyfriend. Though I like the series, this is the one thing I have a hard time with given her profession. She bungles along, always putting herself in danger, until she solves the whodunnit.

Anyway, Annie befriends Vicki's best friends to get closer to the situation and find out who really killed her. Along the way, she takes her life in her hands a few times but carries on.

I liked the characters. And I bought the ending so had closure. The only thing that wasn't revealed was how Alex ended up blacking out and waking up on the victim (it should come to no one's surprise that Alex didn't do it). Given who the murderer was, it would have been tricky to accomplish that. That's just a loose end that needed to be tied up for me.

Considered a "cozy mystery", the writing and story are light and fluffy.

Book ~ "Dying for Dinner" (2008) - Miranda Bliss

From fictiondb.com ~ Things are really cooking for Annie with her transition to the restaurant biz full time. But what's meant to be the first day of the rest of her life might be the last day of someone else's.

Annie is finally leaving the safety of her old bank job to work at her boyfriend Jim's restaurant, Bellywasher's. Lucky for Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, she's working as the manager and staying safely away from the flames. And lucky for Annie, she's working with her best friend, Eve, the hostess.

Things start taking a turn for the worse when Jim's old friend, legendary cook Jacques Lavoie, doesn't show up to teach their cooking class. When Annie goes to fetch him, she finds his assistant dead and Lavoie nowhere to be found. With his odd disappearance and evidence mounting up against him, it looks like the cook has really landed in the soup. Now Annie must sift through every morsel of evidence--before someone else gets served their last course.

This is the fourth in the Cooking Class Series ... I finished the first one on Sunday. You don't need to have read the others to know what's going on ... things from the other books are mentioned but not in great deal so as to not give too much away.

As in the first book, I still don't understand why she and her friend, Eve, are encouraged to investigate murder. Annie is a teller turned office manager of a restaurant and Eve worked in a department store and is now the hostess of the restaurant. They have no experience or background ... they are just told over and over (and over!) that they are good at investigating.

Other than that, I don't mind this series. The books are light and I enjoyed the writing style.

Some characters from the first book are expanded (like Annie's ex-husband, Peter, and Chef Lavoie ... I don't know how big their roles were in the last two books since I haven't read them).

I found the storyline believeable and I bought the ending.

Book ~ "Cooking Up Murder" (2006) - Miranda Bliss

From Amazon ~ Annie and Eve are lifelong best friends who have absolutely nothing in common - except a lack of skill in the kitchen. So when they sign up for a cooking class at the local gourmet shop, they figure the only things at risk are a few innocent fruits and vegetables. But on the first night, Annie and Eve see their fellow student Beyla arguing with a man - a man who later turns up dead in the parking lot. Now the friends feel bound to uncover whatever secrets she's hiding, before someone else's goose - perhaps one of their own - gets cooked.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it.

The premise is kind of silly. Annie works as a teller in a bank and Eve works in a department store. They come across this predicament and decide to solve the mystery.

But I enjoyed the writing style ... it's casual and funny. Definitely light reading if that's what you are looking for.

It's the first in a series and I look forward to reading the others.