Revenge Is Sweet
Tally Holt has poured her heart, soul, and bank account into Tally’s Olde Tyme Sweets, specializing in her grandmother’s delicious recipes. Tally’s homemade Mallomars, Twinkies, fudges, and taffy are a hit with visiting tourists—and with Yolanda Bella, the flamboyant owner of Bella’s Baskets next door. But both shops encounter a sour surprise when local handyman Gene Faust is found dead in Tally’s kitchen, stabbed with Yolanda’s scissors.
The mayor’s adopted son, Gene, was a handsome Casanova with a bad habit of borrowing money from the women he wooed. It’s a sticky situation for Yolanda, who was one of his marks. There are plenty of other likely culprits among Fredericksburg’s female population, and even among Gene’s family. But unless Tally can figure out who finally had their fill of Gene’s sweet-talking ways, Yolanda, and both their fledgling businesses, may be destined for a bitter end.
Series: Vintage Sweets Mysteries – Book #1
Author: Kaye George
Genre: Cozy Mystery/Culinary
Publisher: Kensington Books
Page Count: 193
Rating: 
A new culinary/candy cozy series “Vintage Sweets Mysteries” from Kensington Books, Revenge Is Sweet by author Kaye George hits stores this week.
It is always thrilling to read the first book in a series, and culinary or candy cozy’s are among my favorites. They usually have great recipes and mouth-watering descriptions. I understand that new series need time to develop, and character growth is spread out over several books. I know this going in, but… I do expect when a new series is being written by a veteran writer that the time allowed for character and story development shouldn’t be as long or as hard to achieve. Unfortunately, I do not feel that any of this was attained in this new book.
Tally and Yolanda are in their mid 30’s, but they have the emotional maturity of 15-year olds. They do not treat each other as best friends, but more like rivals in high school. In fact, I couldn’t find any character in this book that I liked even a little bit. The two main characters in this candy cozy are supposed to be business owners, Tally owned and ran a thriving bakery previously. Yet, she does not seem capable of hiring her staff or balancing the business accounting books. She gets her advice from Yolanda, who depends on her father’s money to keep her business afloat.
The murder(s) is unique but not exciting. The investigation is not believable. Tally would have been detained immediately, and anyone who was in the shop at the time of the first killing, not to mention the second, would most likely have been taken in for questioning as well. Every inch of the shop would have been searched, and it would have been closed until the police investigation concluded. The fact that the writer has everyone just going home after speaking briefly, if at all with the police, and living their normal lives makes the premise hard to swallow. The resolution and unmasking of the killer is no surprise whatsoever; even the motive was easily known immediately. There is no mystery or real investigation. Although this book is a candy cozy, in other words, based in a candy shop, the candy part seems irrelevant. The setting could have been any retail shop of any type.
I can only hope that the second book in this series will show growth and a real mystery. Revenge Is Sweet is not a book I would recommend to anyone who loves a mystery.
Other tasty candy cozy series readers may enjoy include Amanda Flower’s heartwarming series “An Amish Candy Shop Mystery” or Nancy Coco’s delightful “A Candy-Coated Mystery”.
About the Author:
Kaye has been a janitor in a tractor factory, a mental health center secretary, a bookkeeper, and a short-order cook. She’s been a mainframe computer programmer and a nurse’s aide along the way.
Kaye is also a violinist, an online mystery reviewer, an award-winning short story writer, and the author of four different mystery series with three different publishers and one self-published. She has accrued three Agatha Award nominations and one finalist position for the Silver Falchion, as well as national best-seller status with her Fat Cat series written as Janet Cantrell. She has had over 30 short stories published. Kaye is a member of Sisters in Crime as well as the Guppies chapter.
Represented by Dawn Dowdle of Blue Ridge Literary Agency LLC.
Contact Kaye: kayegeorge@gmail.com
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