Review: Stake & Eggs by Laura Childs

Stake & Eggs by Laura Childs

Berkley

November 2012

Format: ARC Paperback, 304 pages

First line: Ice pellets blasted the windows of the Cackleberry Club.

From the back cover: New York Times
bestselling author Laura Childs presents the best way to start your
day—with a hearty breakfast and a side of hard-boiled murder.

Suzanne,
Toni, and Petra found a second life after losing their husbands—opening
their own successful business, the Cackleberry Club cafè. But the three
women never expected sleuthing to be the special of the day…

A KILLER HAS THE TOWN WALKING ON EGG SHELLS

When a snowmobile crashes into the woods behind the Cackleberry Club
cafè, Suzanne finds her town’s most-hated banker beheaded by a wire
staked in the snow. Now some of her best customers are prime suspects
with a bushel of motives, and the murder investigation is snowballing.
An elusive young runaway may be the Cackleberry Club’s only way to crack
the case…provided Suzanne can keep her head long enough to track down
the cold-blooded killer.

My thoughts: This is the 4th book in Laura Child’s Cackleberry Club Mystery series and it was another fast-paced cozy mystery that kept you guessing until the end. The Cackleberry Club Cafe is owned by Suzanne, Toni, and Petra and consists of the cafe, where they specialize in different egg specialties, a book nook, and a yarn shop. Once again, a murder occurs practically in the Club’s backyard and once again Suzanne, along with Toni and Petra, find themselves helping Sheriff Doogie figure things out. It seems that someone has caused the murder of the town banker, a man that Suzanne quickly learns is not all that well-liked by the rest of the town. With some of her regulars on the suspect list, Suzanne soon becomes the sounding board for those trying to plead their innocence. 

Between her investigating, trying to spend time with her beau, Sam, and get ready for their Winter Blaze party, Suzanne is pretty busy and finds herself in some precarious situations. The whole town is abuzz with preparations for the Fire and Ice Festival and there is the possibility that the murder will put a damper on that. But the gang is hoping it will not – they are putting on the final event, the Winter Blaze party, and they’ve been planning this for a while. 

There are some very humorous scenes throughout the book, my favorite involving Toni’s on-again-off-again boyfriend’s car cooker. And then there are the recipes that are included in the back of the book. I’m thinking I might try the Cheddar Ricotta Quiche – it sounds delicious and looks pretty easy to make!

All in all, this was another fun visit with the Cackleberry Club ladies. I’m really glad that I didn’t give up on this series after the first book – it seems that each story gets better and better. My only complaint is that there’s not a place like this near me,which is probably a good thing. After all, I would probably be there all the time – food, yarn and books all in one place – I wouldn’t want to leave! 

Is there a place you’ve come across in a book that you wish really did exist?

Thank you to the author for sending me a copy of this book to review – I really enjoyed it!!!

Books in this series:

1. Eggs in Purgatory
2. Eggs Benedict Arnold
3. Bedeviled Eggs
4. Stake & Eggs