Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder: A Delicious and Charming Cozy Mystery

Valerie Burns always exceeds my expectations and she has kept up that record with the first book in her newest series set to release in August. Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder brings together all of the elements that makes V.M. (Valerie) Burns one of my favorite authors. Her characters are delightful, although when we first met Maddie Montgomery, I wondered for just a bit if the Louboutin wearing blogger was going to be a letdown. Nope, Maddie is as strong and delightful a protagonist as the main characters in the earlier series, but she sure has her own style. It wasn't long before I fell in love with Maddie and the people who befriended her. Burns revealed the awesome aunt from whom Maddie inherited a house, a bakery and an English Mastiff, and I fell for the late Aunt Octavia, whom our protagonist barely knew, right along with the Maddie. With the first murder, I was more concerned about that bakery than I was for the deceased! Watching the new group of friends step up and work together truly touched my hearts. Watching several people in that group come to realize that they had more to offer than they realized was even more heartwarming. Not all of the characters were great guys by any means, so I was pleased to see that the young newcomers wasn't fooled for long by anyone. Action began almost from the first page and flowed from beginning to end. Some of it had me holding my breath; some of it had me laughing out loud. I like that balance in a story. The adorable but realistic 250 pound Baby could have carried the book by himself, but I appreciate that he allowed the strong ensemble to share the tale with him. My thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane for accepting my request to read an ARC of Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder by the amazing Valerie Burns. My review is my own thoughts. I loved this book! #NetGalley #CrookedLane #ValerieBurns #VMBurns #TwoPartsSugarOnePartMurder

multigenerational, murder, murder-investigation, Michigan, small-business, small-town, greed, bakery, arson, inheritance, situational-humor, verbal-humor, cooking-lessons***** The social media guru wearing Louboutin's shoes was left at the altar in front of all of YouTube. Raised by her father the admiral and never having any kind of limits she was recovering from this when she discovered that she had inherited from a great aunt. In Michigan. In a small town. Where she had to live and run the bakery (and doesn't even know how to turn on a stove) for a year. With a massive English Mastiff (worth big bucks in stud fees) who gives "droolworthy" a whole new meaning. She gets propositioned to sell the bakery by several slimy locals, but she doesn't really meet a lot of new true friends until the mayor gets killed after hours in the bakery and arson is also involved and she is taken to the police station. In a lily-white rural community. But not to worry, the chief and most of the community are totally in favor of her aunt (and by extension, Madison herself). Especially since aunt and select others read Sherlock Holmes and do sleuthing on real life cases. And that accounts for only the first third of the book! Great fun! Fine whodunit! Loved it! I requested and received a free e-book copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

This was such a fun series debut by Valerie Burns! A good portion of it was because the main character, Maddy, is not your conventional wholesome amateur sleuth you find in most cozy mysteries. I enjoyed the character growth Maddy displayed throughout the story. The red herrings were great and I love that there is this alternative continual mystery that was still not solved after the murder of the main mystery was figured out by Maddy.