Cake Popped Off by Kim Davis

Cupcake caterer Emory Martinez is hosting a Halloween-themed party for her octogenarian employee Tillie. Brian, Tillie’s grandson and Emory witness a tiff between one of the waitresses and Thomas (Emory’s brother-in-law). Minutes later, Emory finds the waitress in her pool house’s bathroom – dead. Carrie, Emory’s twin sister is in tears – with a third baby on the way, Carrie cannot afford to stress herself about the murder so it is up to Emory to prove her brother-in-law’s innocence.

Having read the first book in this series – Sprinkles of Suspicion – I was eagerly waiting to read Cake Popped Off. In the previous book, we saw Emory as a main suspect in her ex-best-friend’s murder. Well, the ex-best friend was sleeping with Emory’s husband. Ouchie! So, Emory had a motive for murdering her. Anyways, Emory was innocent and the real culprit was caught as the story ended. Emory met a handsome man named Randall but before things could heat up… ahem, Randall was called back to Florida.

In this book, Randall makes an appearance or two. After all, he’s moved back to California. Yay! Meanwhile, Emory’s employer has a surprise for everyone. He’s divorced his first two wives, the third one died in a freak accident and now, please welcome, wife no 4! This surely creates a storm in the Styler house.

Emory started working for Styler after her mother’s recommendation. Tillie, Emory’s employer might be in her eighties but she’s as eager as Miss Marple to solve the murder case. It goes without saying that once they start snooping, the killer tries to warn them. The cops try to warn them not to interfere in a murder case. But as we all know, no amateur sleuth has ever paid attention to a warning or two. 😉

Cake Popped Off is a new favorite in the series. Kim is a fantastic writer and I absolutely love her storytelling style. The mystery was well-maintained throughout the book. The identity of the killer was unexpected and the ending was superb. A dash of twist or two and whole lotta mouth-watering cupcakes make Cake Popped Off a complete entertainment package. Did I mention mouth-watering cupcakes? I had a hard time trying not to drool over my kindle while reading the recipes at the end of the book.

Absolutely fantastic cozy mystery. Brilliantly written and well-developed characters. Though this book can be read as a standalone, I recommend you to read the first book – Sprinkles of Suspicion – if you haven’t. Oh yes, it goes without saying that Cake Popped Off is a highly recommended read. 🙂

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