Synopsis

Claire DeNardo finally has her own detective agency, DeNardo and Son. The son, being her beloved dog, Charlie. Their first client is the wife of a wealthy Cleveland power broker who hires Claire to find her missing daughter. But Claire soon discovers her client’s family is hiding more secrets than there are sprinkles on Aunt Lena’s doughnuts—secrets that result in several murders.

This dangerously spicy case leads Claire to uncover a widespread criminal enterprise in which the names are changed to protect the guilty. Her easy-to-look-at fiancé, Police Detective Brian Corrigan, and his annoyingly stunning new partner, Abby, warn Claire to drop the investigation. But Claire is driven to uncover the truth and prove her client’s innocence, even if it puts her and her trusty sidekick, Charlie, in danger.

Review

Claire is a tough woman that isn’t afraid to get in there and solve the crime.  It’s a good thing she is a PI because that grants her a little more latitude with potential suspects.  They don’t think twice about answering her questions about the victims or potential murderers.  It doesn’t matter that her fiance is a police detective, he doesn’t like her poking her nose into his cases despite the fact that she is able to unearth details or clues that will help them solve the crime.

This is the first book that I have read in this series and I will say, start with book 1.  While the crime/mystery stands alone, there are details about her relationship with Brian and even the mob that isn’t fully explained in this book.  Setting that aside, I still enjoyed getting to know Claire, Brian, Ed, Lena, and the rest of the gang.  The mystery was well written and while the killer was someone I suspected, I didn’t read anything that really gave it away that it was this character.  There are several different situations happening throughout the book and I liked seeing how it all tied together in the end, or mostly anyway.

There is a character that is somewhat of a threat to Claire and Brian’s relationship, but not too much if these two lovebirds recognize her games and act accordingly.

Overall we thought this was an interesting book but would suggest starting with the first book to understand the relationship between all of the charcters.

We give this 4 paws up.

About the Author

Carole is the author of the new cozy mystery series, The Terrified Detective. She has also written a number of stories for Chicken Soup for the Soul and other similar anthologies. She’s published several books of short stories. She currently lives in Dallas, Tx.

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