Meh. Cozy with a protagonist who cannot keep her mouth shut to save her life. And I could give a crap about all the cake decorating stuff. ( )

This is a snappy, cozy read right from the start.

Daphne Martin has left a failed marriage, crummy apartment and dead-end job and moved back to her hometown, Brea Ridge, Virginia, to start over. She has started her own cake decorating business and her first customer is Yodel Watson, the meanest gossip in town.

When Daphne goes to deliver the cake, which is #3 in trying to satisfy Yodel’s vague request, a voice yells “Come in! It’s open! Come in!” in response to her knock. What she finds is Yodel lying on the sofa — dead. The voice is a grey parrot named Banjo. What a great start for a new business.

Daphne’s notoriety from finding Yodel dead isn’t the only thing that dampens her business. Seems the police chief’s wife is a blabber mouth and Daphne is her prime subject.

The suspects are many — almost everyone in town has suffered from Yodel’s vicious tongue. When it becomes known Yodel kept a diary, things get a bit more hairy.

Brea Ridge is a small town and it has its own secrets, but some are not as secret as their owners would like.
The characters are good and there is even a budding romance. Daphne does have a problem with her Mom and a past event, but things do get ironed out.

My only rough spot is when Daphne sets up to work on her cakes and becomes a little more detailed in the particular tips she uses for her designs. If you’re into cake decorating, this would be of interest. With that written — I’d still read more books from this author and series. ( )

A cozy mystery featuring a baker who specializes in cakes. When her first customer is murdered and the police say “poison” Daphne starts to snoop and detect to clear her business.

I did learn 2 clever tricks when baking cakes:
1. for “smooth” icing of the side of cakes – use “iced” knife.
2. a cake layer can be frozen for 3-4 months just thaw; be sure it comes to room temperature then frost. ( )

Author's guest post at my blog:
https://bookfare.blogspot.com/2018/12/foodfic-please-welcome-gayle-trent.html

Daphne Martin has moved back to her hometown to start a new chapter in her life. After her abusive husband tries to kill her after a fight, she files for divorce while he's in prison and moves back to her hometown to start her own cake decorating business. While delivering a cake to her first customer, Yodel Watson, Daphne finds Yodel is laying on the floor dead. Even though the cake she was delivering never got taken out of the box, the neighbors start blaming Daphne's cake for the death. Soon Daphne learns that almost everyone in town in had a reason to dislike Yodel. She was a very cranky, nosy, and annoying busybody who kept a diary of all the happenings good and bad going on around town. When Daphne finds the diary and takes a inside she learns about a deep, dark secret about her family. While Daphne speaks with her family members and her neighbors, trying to find the truth, she discovers information about Yodel's death.

This is an intriguing mystery with. The relationships between the family members are realistically portrayed with feelings or love, jealously, and togetherness. The relationships between all the town characters is believable. ( )