Review & Giveaway: The Diva Frosts a Cupcake by Krista Davis (CLOSED)

***Congratulations to Marie, winner of the giveaway!!! Thanks to all who entered!

Title: The Diva Frosts a Cupcake 

Author: Krista Davis 

Series: Domestic Diva Mystery, #7

Published: June 2013, Berkley

Format: Paperback, 289 pages 

Source: Personal copy 

Revenge is sweet…

Sophie
Winston and her BFF, Nina Reid Norwood, share a sweet spot for animals.
So Sophie is delighted to help when Nina cooks up Cupcakes and
Pupcakes—a fundraising event for animal shelters. All the local
bakeries will be selling treats, with the profits going to pups and
kitties in need. But Old Town is in for a whole batch of trouble when a
cupcake war erupts between two bakeries.

Tongues wag and tempers rise
when a partner leaves Sugar Baby Bakery and unveils her competing
cupcakery, Sugar Mama, precisely as the fundraiser gets under way. Just
as it seems nothing else can go wrong, Sugar Baby’s sole remaining
employee is found dead. Suspicion falls on the feuding owners, but the
scrumptious new guy in town is also raising some eyebrows. Now Sophie
and Nina have to sift through the clues and discover who isn’t as sweet
as they seem…

My thoughts: This is the 7th book in Krista Davis’s Domestic Diva Mystery series and I really enjoy this series. I think behind Laura Childs cozy mystery series, this might be my next favorite go-to when I think of a fun cozy mystery.

This time around, Sophie is helping pal Nina with a charity event to benefit local animal shelters. The fundraiser has enlisted bakeries and pet-oriented businesses to sell their wares to raise money for the animals. There is also to be a fancy dinner, each course served as a cupcake, where the guests will then vote on the best cupcake. Little did they know that not only would a cupcake war break out, but someone would end up dead.

Sophie and her pals start sleuthing into the murder, but other issues keep popping up. One of the shelter dogs goes missing, a valuable item also appears to be missing and a few people are suffering from some strange illnesses. There are some new characters that we get to meet along with some familiar faces. Of course, Natasha, Sophie’s arch-nemesis is right in the middle of things – not wanting to be left out. She goes as far as getting herself a dog despite the fact that not only does she not like dogs, but the dog does not like her either.

One of my favorite aspects of this series are the little advice letters that start each chapter. They are either addressed to Sophie or Natasha and in this book either deal with pets or baking cupcakes. I find that these sometimes contain quite helpful tidbits, such as putting the cupcake batter into a freezer bag that has a tip cut off the bottom and then squeezing the amount you want into the cupcake pan – sounds easy and mess-free to me!!! 

What I love about these cozy mysteries is that sometimes I can figure out who-done-it and other times, I’m completely stumped. In this case, I thought I had it figured out a few times, but was completely thrown off by the red herrings the author threw in. To me, that’s good writing and it keeps me coming back!

Books in this series:

1. The Diva Runs Out of Thyme
2. The Diva Takes the Cake
3. The Diva Paints the Town
4. The Diva Cooks a Goose
5. The Diva Haunts the House
6. The Diva Digs Up the Dirt 
7. The Diva Frosts a Cupcake 
8. The Diva Wraps It Up – due out June 2014

  

GIVEAWAY DETAILS – (CLOSED)  (US only)

I have a paperback copy of Krista Davis’s The Diva Frosts a Cupcake to give away…

To enter… 

• For 1 entry leave me a comment entering the giveaway.
• Tweet, share on Facebook, or blog for 2 extra entries.
• Please include email address so I can contact you if you win.

This giveaway is open to US residents only and ends December 10th.  

Good luck!