Risky Biscuits
Sugar and Spice Cookbooks’ newest project is a fundraiser organized by the St. Ignatius Crack of Dawn Breakfast Club, famous for their all-you-can-eat biscuits and gravy events. But when a group member is found dead, Sugar and Spice’s priorities change from raising dough to figuring out who put murder on the menu.
The return of former bad boy Nick Marchant has stirred the town’s gossips too. Add a few grudges and some old-fashioned greed over a land deal into the mix, and it’s a recipe for mayhem. And when someone serves up a second helping of murder, Sugar and Spice need to sift the guilty from the blameless, or their next breakfast may be their last.
Series: A Sugar & Spice Mystery – Book #2
Author: Mary L Ashford
Genre: Cozy Mystery/Culinary/Literary
Publisher: Kensington Books
Page Count: 252
Rating: 
The second cozy book Risky Biscuits in the series, “A Sugar & Spice Mystery” by Mary Lee Ashford, published by Kensington Books will be released July 9th. This is a fun and exciting series that is turning out to be a hit. Ms. Ashford knows her craft and her audience, and her writing never fails to entertain.
Sugar is always getting herself and her business partner, Dixie into trouble of one sort or another. She seems to attract murder and mayhem for no apparent reason. Contrary to what the residents of St. Ignatius, especially the police, think, she doesn’t do it on purpose. Somehow, no matter what she is doing or not doing, Sugar finds trouble, or a body, most of the time both. She is a thoroughly likable, interesting, and generous of spirit character, who also happens to be nosey.
Other characters in this cozy book and series are people you could find in any small town across the US. Sugar’s wonderful landlady, Greer makes a return, as do other characters that make up the basis of Sugar’s new “family.” A killer and victim(s) show us that we may not know our neighbors, or even our family as well as we think we do.
It isn’t possible for Sugar not to come to the aid of Greer or anyone who needs her help, and when one of Greer’s friends is murdered, it becomes personal. Unfortunately, along the way to finding the killer, Sugar manages to upset a lot of people and almost becomes a victim of a murderer who is hell-bent on eliminating anyone who gets in the way.
The plot is front and center; the book is character-driven. There is action, but not so much that readers lose focus on the main storyline. You will love the recipes in the back almost as much as the story. Giving recipes in this type of cozy book has become almost as important as the characters and the story, and just as delicious. I enjoyed Risky Biscuits and am looking forward to seeing where this series will go with future additions. This is a well-written and well-thought-out story that will leave readers happy and looking forward to the next book. I am pleased to recommend it to readers of the cozy book category.
If you enjoyed Risky Biscuits, you might also enjoy Debra Sennefelder’s http://debrasennefelder.com/ “A Food Blogger Mystery” series https://www.thecozyreview.com/the-hidden-corpse-cozy-book-review/ or Kym Roberts’s https://www.kymroberts.com/ “A Book Barn Mystery” series https://www.thecozyreview.com/killer-classics/.
About the Author:
In addition to writing the Sugar and Spice series for Kensington Books, she also writes as half of the writing team of Sparkle Abbey, author of the national bestselling Pampered Pets mystery series from Bell Bridge Books.
Mary Lee has a passionate interest in creativity and teaches a university-level course in Creative Management to MPA candidates, as well as presenting workshops and blogging about creativity.
She currently resides in the Midwest with her husband, Tim, and Sparkle, the rescue cat namesake of the Sparkle Abbey pseudonym. Her delights are reading and enjoying her two sons and daughter-in-law’s and six grandchildren.
Contact Mary Lee: http://www.maryleeashford.com/
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