A Calculated Whisk: 08/25/22

A Calculated Whisk by Victoria Hamilton is the tenth book in the Vintage Kitchen Mystery series. Jaymie Layton's step-daughter is friends with a girl who has a pink prosthetic leg. Why she wears it is tied up with a series of unfortunate events that have hit her family.

The girl's mother is accused of murdering her husband. He died in a suspicious accident at the family's garage. Jaymie, believing she can help, hopes she can get the woman to open up. Unfortunately the woman is murdered on her way to talk.

The rest of the book is a mix of Jaymie feeling terribly guilty and worried about the now orphaned friend, and investigating in her usual ways. Compared to previous volumes, this one felt more disjointed and more melodramatic.

The mystery itself involved wading through a ton of gossip. Beyond the gossip comes the work of sorting through various stories to find possible facts and motives. Ultimately, though, it comes down to people being horrible to those closest to them.

Save for the murder weapon, a mangled whisk, there isn't much of Jaymie's work with either vintage recipes or vintage cookware. These missing details removed the usual fun of these books.

Four stars

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