Book 118, 2024
Murder A La Mode by Lena Gregory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
View all my reviews
Finished reading Murder a la Mode, by Lena Gregory, last night. It's the first in her "Coffee & Cream Café" cozy mystery series. The main character is Danika "Dani" Delaney.
Dani leaves her less than glamorous life in NYC to return to her home in Long Island to take over her Uncle Jimmie's ice cream shop. It's not how she envisioned her homecoming, but after breaking up with her boyfriend and being unable to land a job in her chosen field, it's better than nothing. Dani enjoys reconnecting with family and old friends, until her first encounter with her ex-boyfriend from high school. Luca broke her heart when he kissed Heather at the prom, which is the main reason Dani hightailed it to NYC afterwards. Things only get worse when Dani finds Luca's estranged wife, Heather, dead in the basement of Jimmie's. Now everyone in town is convinced she bumped Heather off so she could reclaim Luca. Dani isn't one to sit back and let things unfold; therefore, she begins asking questions and doing some of her own sleuthing. If she's not careful, however, she may end up as dead as Heather.
This was an entertaining story that kept my attention. There were layers of subplots going on, most of which involved Heather's clique. It was annoying to read how the local gossip mill could weave an entire sordid story out of one small thing. Characterizations were good, and the plot made sense. A few things bugged me:
SPOILERS!!!
- Was Harry Luca's father or his uncle? At various times, Heather was referred to as his daughter-in-law.
- If Dani is still carrying a torch for Luca, why does Detective Barlowe set her lady bits tingling?
- If Heather was the catalyst for breaking Luca and Dani up, lo those many years ago, why did he marry the bitch?!
Favorite lines:
♦ I don't know what I ever did to Karma, but that witch sure had it in for me.
♦ My day was steadily going downhill, and that's pretty hard to do when you start out at the bottom.
♦ "Maybe they got a midnight hankering for ice cream and brawled over vanilla or rocky road."
♦ My idea of ghost hunting involved a bucket of popcorn, Josh Gates, and an Expedition Unknown marathon. Hell yeah!
♦ I went from feeling all righteous Magnum PI to blundering Shaggy and his sidekick Scooby Doo.
Very good, and I'd read more in the series. Four stars.
1. Does the mc work at/as one of the following: baker/bakery/sweet shop/tea shop/coffee shop, library/librarian, antique/vintage shop, book store, fashion/boutique, bed & breakfast? Yes
2. Does the mc live at her (or his) place of occupation? Yes
3. Is the love interest involved in law enforcement? (Police officer, sheriff, detective, PI, FBI) We-ellll, Luca is a computer programmer who's a volunteer firefighter, but Detective Barlow is a detective.
4. Does the mc have a dog/cat as a pet? Yes
5. Is the mc's BFF either a gay guy or a ditzy/zany woman? Yes
6. Did the mc find the body? Yes
7. Did the mc wind up in mortal danger at the end of the book? Yes
8. Is the mc's mother either: dead, absent, far removed, ditzy and dithering, or overbearing/disapproving/meddling? Yes, she's overbearing/disapproving
9. If mother is dead/absent, does the mc have another mother-figure (grandmother, aunt, mom's friend, or an older friend)? N/A
10. Is the mc child-free? (Either no children or else grown children--i.e. no small children to look after) Yes
Wow, 9 out of 10 yeses. Eesh.