Bread Over Troubled Water
A regular who used Yeast of Eden as a workspace, Josh Prentiss always turned heads with his startlingly good looks and a thousand-watt smile. But Ivy can’t help noticing one morning that he seems distracted and off his game. Later, during a visit to the park where she and Miguel plan to hold their engagement party, with plenty of baked goods on the menu, her rescue pug, Agatha, sniffs out Josh lying in a bed of poppies…scone cold dead, and rumors begin to swirl.
There’s no reason for Ivy to get involved. She’s busy enough holding down the fort as the shop’s owner, Olaya, cares for her recently orphaned niece, not to mention the stress when a new employee is fired and storms out in a rage. Then a band of rabble-rousers starts picketing the bakery, claiming that Olaya’s sourdough roll killed Josh, and Ivy hears some salacious gossip about her beloved boss. She doesn’t think there’s a grain of truth to the seedy rumors, but she’ll have to start sleuthing to prove it.
The Details
Series: Bread Shop Mystery – Book #8
Author: Winnie Archer
Genre/Category: Cozy – Culinary/Hobby
Publisher: Kensington Cozies
ISBN: 1496733568
Page Count: 304
Rating: 
The Review
Bread Over Troubled Water is a bit on the convoluted side. There are too many characters to track, and some scenarios are not logical. Yeast of Eden, the prime location, sounds delightful if you are really into bread. It is also a place rampant with rumors and the gossip mill. The suspects almost outnumber the main characters, and the evidence is practically non-existent. However, all of that said, it is still a good mystery.
Ivy has long been a character the reader either loves or hates. The bread shop she works at, Yeast of Eden, is always the focal point of this series. I’m not sure why her profession is stated to be a photographer when she rarely seems to have a paying client. The need for her to work at the bread shop might be financial, but it’s doubtful the shop pays much other than in bread, or maybe it’s so she can hear the latest rumor about who is sleeping with whom. For whatever reason, Ivy works there; the best characters in this story are the employees and the customers.
This time around, a customer is poisoned, and all fingers point at the sister of Yeast of Eden’s owner. The rumor mill is circulating one crazy idea after another, and Ivy decides to find the killer to save Olaya’s reputation and possibly her business. As she begins her investigation, she discovers that the victim, Josh, is not the sweet, generous, handsome lady’s man everyone thought he was. Josh is a cold, calculating fraud. The suspects are all women and businesses that trusted the victim, some with their life savings, and all were swindled and have a motive for murder. There are plenty of twists and turns throughout the story. The evidence is slim, and many readers cannot figure out who the killer is. No amount of bread or rumor will help you figure it out.
Overall, Bread Over Troubled Water has good chapters and a few that would have been better left out. Ivy’s engagement party with Yeast of Eden taking center stage will happen, and everyone will be happy, but something about the concussion of this story will linger in readers’ minds. The rumor mill misses quite a few opportunities where Olaya and her sister are concerned. Ivy’s lovely husband-to-be plays a minor part in this story, which is a shame as he is one of the best characters in the series. I had hoped for better from this installment and definitely hope the next book has fewer characters and more intrigue.
The Author
Melissa Bourbon Ramirez is the national bestselling author of seventeen mystery books, including the Lola Cruz Mysteries, A Magical Dressmaking Mystery series, and the Bread Shop Mysteries, written as Winnie Archer. She is a former middle school English teacher who gave up the classroom to live in her imagination full time. Melissa, a California native who has lived in Texas and Colorado, now calls the southeast home. She hikes, practices yoga, cooks, and is slowly but surely discovering all the great restaurants in the Carolinas. Since four of her five amazing kids are living their lives scattered throughout the country, her dogs, Bean, the pug; Dobby, the chug; and Jasper, a cattle dog/lab, keep her company while she writes. Melissa lives in North Carolina with her educator husband, Carlos, and their youngest son. She is beyond fortunate to be living the life of her dreams.
Other books in the “ Bread Shop Mystery” series that readers will enjoy are Death Gone A-Rye or the delightful holiday installment, A Murder Yule Regret.
Represented by: Root Literary Agency
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