Murder Takes the Cake by Gayle Trent (Book Review)

Title: Murder Takes the Cake
Author: Gayle Trent
Publisher: Gallery Books

A routine cake delivery becomes a culinary nightmare when a small-town baker discovers her first client's dead body in this irresistible new mystery series.

It'll take more than a little sugar to convince folks Daphne Martin's freshly baked spice cake was not to blame for the mysterious death of town gossip Yodel Watson.  Getting her new cake decorating business, Daphne's Delectable Cakes, off the ground is hard enough now that Daphne's moved back to her southern Virginia hometown, but orders have been even slower since she found Yodel's body.  She soon realizes, however, that just about everybody in town had a reason to poison the cantankerous busybody, from the philandering pet shop owner, to Yodel's church potluck nemesis, to the Save-A-Buck's cranky produce manager-turned-bagger.  Now, to help prove she's no confectionary killer, Daphne recruits her old flame, Ben Jacobs, editor of the local newspaper, and quickly stirs up a long-hidden family scandal that just might hold the secret ingredient she needs to solve the case.  All she's got to do is roll up her sleeves and get her hands a little dirty before the real culprit decides that taking sweet revenge on Daphne will be icing on the cake.

My thoughts:  This was a fun cozy mystery to read.  It is the typical small town where everybody knows everybody else's business - or at least they think they do. And the more you learn, the more secrets are uncovered.  Daphne is a fun character and has a good sense of humor.  She tends to plunge into situations without thinking too much about the repercussions - which is, of course, what is necessary in a cozy mystery!  Otherwise how would the crime ever be solved?  :)    This is a revised edition as the original book came out a couple of years ago.  I am glad that it did as I would not have been introduced to this author.  There is a second book out in the series, Dead Pan, which I have added to my TBR list.

The book also contains lots of cake decorating tips which has given me the urge to want to decorate a cake!  She includes the recipes in the back of the book for the cakes in the story as well - YUM!

~I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from Gallery Books.~

Murder Takes the Cake: A Daphne Martin Cake Mystery (Daphne Reynolds Cake Mysteries)
Publisher/Publication Date: Gallery, Reprint edition, March 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4516-0001-8
288 pages