Red Velvet Revenge: 09/11/21

Red Velvet Revenge by Jenn McKinlay is the fourth book in the Cupcake Bakery mystery series. Mel and Angie have plans to close up shop for the summer since the heat keeps away the customers. Their plans change when the store is suddenly gifted a four wheeled money pit in the form of an old ice cream truck.

To recoop the money sunk into repairing and rebuilding the ice cream truck into a cupcake truck, Mel, Angie and their crew decide to head up into the mountains to the Juniper Pass rodeo. While there they end up in a head to head sales contest with a pair of BBQ dudes and find themselves investigating yet another murder.

I'm often skeptical when a mystery series with a well established cast of characters decides to take it on the road. See my review of Bloodroot by Susan Wittig Albert (2003) and Title Wave by Lorna Barrett (2018) for other examples I've reviewed. Red Velvet avoids the pitfalls by keeping the trip nearby and associated with the business.

The mystery itself has a skeleton in the closet twist to it. Figuring out what that old secret is and how it relates to the present day murder is a bit part of the fun.

The fifth book in the series is Going, Going, Ganache (2013).

Five stars

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