Santa Fe Cafe Mystery, Book 1
Synopsis: Trick or treat—and murder—are on the menu in this first in a new culinary mystery series
Life couldn’t be sweeter for Tres Amigas Café chef Rita Lafitte, decorating sugar skulls and taste-testing rich, buttery pan de muerto in anticipation of Santa Fe’s Day of the Dead bread-baking contest. That is, until her friendly landlord, Victor, is found dead next door.
Although the police deem Victor’s death a suicide, Rita knows something is amiss. To uncover the truth, she teams up with her octogenarian boss, Flori, the town’s most celebrated snoop. The duo begins to sift through long-buried secrets and to take full measure of duplicitous neighbors, but the clock is ticking and their list of suspects is growing ever longer. Just as the clues get hotter than a New Mexican chili, one of their main suspects winds up dead. Rita fears that the killer is dishing out seconds—and her order might be up.
Review: It’s been awhile since I had not read a cozy mystery novel, and it’s true that when I came across this novel, I was quickly intrigued. Murders, food and an investigation, what more could we ask for?
We meet with Rita, a young woman working in a restaurant and trying to get her life on trail after breaking up with her husband. Having left her home for a small apartment to accommodate her daughter, she thought she could finally live in peace. Yet all this will change once her owner dies next to her home. While the police (including her husband, the detective in charge) concludes on a suicide, the protests began to rain, including that of Rita and her boss, Flori. Forced to team up together, they will try to understand what happened and to discover the identity of the killer. But the tracks are quite numerous between the neighbors who threatened him the day before for him to leave for his land or his ex-wife who tells everyone that she is the heir and that everything belongs to her now.
I was quickly swept away by the story, I had a good time and it’s true that I was curious to learn the truth about what really happened. We follow with pleasure the assumptions of our heroine, agreeing on her ideas and being surprised by the revelations purposes. I confess that I did not expect at all at the end and I really enjoyed the way the author had directed her history.
I also expected to see a love triangle here with former husband and the new possible pretender, but this is not the case and I admit that it was nice to see Rita focusing on one person. It’s a pretty interesting character who does not hesitate to confront the most dangerous situations to help her friends. But despite that, she takes her role as mother to heart and it was nice to see her interaction with her daughter.
As you can see, there is a good novel, I took pleasure in discovering. To read.
blodeuedd
IS this an oldie? The cover looks that way
Melliane
no it’s a new one
Silvia
Sounds like you had a great time with this one, I’m glad! It’s always good when a book surprises you like that 🙂
Melliane
yes it was a good one!
Tracy Terry
It sounds like this has an awful lot to offer in both plot and characters. I’m so glad that you enjoyed it and seemed to have fun doing so
Melliane
yes it was fun
kimbacaffeinate
Awesome review, I think I am going to recommend this to my book club provided the retail price is on budget for them.
Melliane
I hope you’ll enjoy it if you try it!
kindlemom1
I’ve been seeing this around and it definitely looks perfect for this time of year!
Melliane
yes! totally!
ShootingStarsMag
I love cozy mysteries. I’m glad you liked this one overall. It sounds like a nice start to a new series.
Melliane
yes I’m curious about book 2
Lily B
this cozy is like everywhere, i am going to be forced to read it, lol. glad there is no triangle!
Melliane
yes I was anxious about that
Heidi
I really liked this one as well, and I was happy with the romance too. Loved the setting and the food. I am looking forward to the next one which I was lucky enough to snag a copy of P)
Melliane
yes!
Sarah @ One Curvy Blogger
I’m not a big fan of cozy msteries but this one is soooo cute! And perfect for halloween!
Melliane
right?
LilyElement
Glad to see you enjoyed this one, the cover caught my attention.
Braine
You liked this more than I did. I did love the recipes in the end though and Ann M. shared her Pan De Muerte recipe on the blog. Want to try it!
Melliane
yes ut was fun to have them
Ramona
This one sounds like good fun, and a lot of people seem to like it. After all, it’s the right season for cozy mysteries 🙂
Melliane
yes
anna (herding cats & burning soup)
Ahh good. This one was on my watch list 😀 I’ve seen another good review for it today too!
Carole Rae
Sounds like a good Halloween book. 🙂
Joy // Joyousreads
Oh I like this. After reading the compilation of novellas from Darynda Jones, I’m inspired to read another murder/mystery.
Melliane
it’s fun
Melissa (My World...in words and pages)
Oh I love the cover! 😀 I need to try to work some cozy mysteries into my reading schedule. This sounds like a great read. 🙂