Customer Reviews

Murder Takes The Cake

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Daphne Martin has returned to her Virginia hometown and is working at establishing her new business as a freelance cake decorator. When Brea Ridge dies, suspicion turns to the cake Daphne delivered. No one listens to the fact that she found the body while delivering the cake. Daphne sets out to clear her good name and find the murderer.

Who knew a small town could have so many people who wanted Yodel dead, including Daphne's family? Can she find the murderer and make a go of her business?

I really enjoyed this book. I devoured it in a little over a day. It is such a fun, fast cozy read. The author has done a great job of setting it in a small town in Virginia with plenty of suspects and intrigue.

Daphne is a great character with plenty of depth and smarts to be an amateur sleuth. I really enjoyed her.

I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read the next one!

First-person narration, as found in many mysteries, should serve to add tension and convey the narrator's emotions. Murder Takes the Cake misses the opportunity to build tension or express the uneasiness that baker Daphne Martin should feel at finding a woman dead on a couch.

The story is serviceable, with a cute premise. But it lacks tension and drama. The setup introduces both a dead body and Daphne's personal issues, but there is little compulsion for the reader to read more. A murder mystery, even a cozy, needs more than a lifeless body to intrigue the reader. A strong hook would do it.

Author Gayle Trent has a firm grasp on the writing mechanics. She merely needs a stronger story to match her technical strengths.

This is a comfortable, cozy mystery. We are introduced to female-sleuth Daphne Martin. She is divorced, age 40 and has just returned to her home town of Brea Ridge in southwest Virginia. She has bought a home and dreams of starting her own cake decorating business.

Daphne's first customer is Yodel Watson. Unfortunately Yodel is dead as Daphne discovers when she arrives to deliver the cake. She summons the police and tells them "I just brought the cake". Later the police discover that Yodel was poisoned. The book follows Daphne while she finds that she has to convince many of the townsfolk that her cake was not the cause of Yodel's death.

Author Gayle Trent makes Daphne into a very real, likeable character. I feel like she could be my friend and I'm participating in her life.

As a nice bonus, the culprit was not who I thought it would be. I'm looking forward to ready more books in the series.

Not much of a mystery story, and too many plot points going at once. Could really have done without the detailed description of cake making and decorating, which didn't add to the story and grew tedious fast.

In this delightful new series by Gayle Trent, we are introduced to Daphne Martin, now returned to her Virginia hometown and trying to establish her new business as a free lance cake decorator. When Daphne is delivering a spice cake to one of her more difficult customers, Yodel Watson, she finds her reclining on the sofa in her bathrobe. Except for one thing, she is not just resting, she is dead! As Daphne explains to the police over and over after Yodel's death is declared suspicious , I was just delivering a cake. Honest!

Yodel's daughter, Annabelle calls Daphne from Florida and asks her to retrieve her mother's diary and tells Daphne exactly where to find it. Of course, Daphne can't help but peek into the diary and is appalled when she finds some volatile secrets concerning her own family and many others in the town It seems there are a lot of people who would be happy to see the end of Yodel . The suspense is heightened when Daphne finds a warning painted on her walkway to MIND HER OWN BUSINESS.But of course, she just can't do that! The fun begins as Daphne tries to find out who is the real murderer and the truth about her own family.


Trent has written an absolutely captivating cozy, complete with all the traditional elements of the genre. There is the requisite disliked victim, the nosy neighbor, the town blabbermouth and a host of possible suspects in a cast of colorful characters. Motives abound and there are enough red herrings and real clues to keep the reader guessing until the very end. Throw in a town full of petty feuds, the local beauty shop's hot bed of gossip, a little budding romance between characters and you have the recipe for a delicious mystery.

I hadn't even read past page 7 and I had absolutely laughed out loud numerous times. The dialogue in this book is filled with snappy wit that will regale the reader time and time again. The Characters are so well drawn, the reader will feel as if they are real. The plot is well constructed and well paced with just the right amount of subplot to keep up the interest. If you are a fan of the cozy mystery, this is one you will definitely want to read. If you are like Diane Mott Davidson or Joanna Fluke, you will be enthralled as Ms. Trent gives a lot of cake decorating details and the book contains some mouthwatering recipes. Highly recommended.
5*****

"Murder Takes the Cake" is a nicely done mystery. Author Gayle Trent doesn't lose any time setting up the murder, it takes place at the very beginning and pulls the reader right into the story. I'm a fan of themed cozy mysteries and I love the idea of a cake decorator solving mysteries (great title, by the way). Daphne Martin, the heroine of the story, looks like she is going to be a nicely developed character. Trent does an excellent job of depicting the setting of the story and I loved the character of Myra, she's wonderfully done and useful in letting readers know what the murder victim was like. There's a nice underlying sense of humor throughout the excerpt that makes it a delight to read.

"Murder Takes the Cake" looks like it could be a good cozy mystery.

I don't usually write reviews, but this book was such a stinker that I was moved to write one. Simplistic is the best one-word adjective I can use to describe it. I don't know how it's getting rated so highly. The language is irritatingly basic. I should have known what I was getting in to when the forward was about a cat. The book is chock-full of excruciatingly detailed descriptions of cake decorating that do not advance the plot. Even if I knew anything about cake decorating, I would want fewer in a book I'm reading. This is no mystery, either. I had the manner of death and the murderer figured out very early on.
If you are looking for a really easy read, this is it. I did like the fact that the heroine is a normal human with an interesting, or at least non-standard, past.
I downloaded this version as a freebie on my Kindle. The conversion is poor. There are strange characters that mess up the flow of text and there was one point where the text filled only the right half of the screen. There was really nothing to like about the book.

Murder Takes The Cake was easy to read and thoroughly enjoyable. The first-person writing style made me feel like I was tagging along during each day's activities. The book is short, too, which made for a quick weekend read.

I've never lived in a town like Brea Ridge where everyone knows everyone else. Nonetheless, it seems odd that so many people have such an unswerving knowledge of what everyone else in town does, not to mention all of their closets' skeletons. That was somewhat far-fetched to me and the only negative comment I will make about this book.

If you're seeking a light-hearted read with a little mystery and intrigue, but not too much, I'd recommend Murder Takes The Cake. I admit that I downloaded this book to my new Kindle because of the price (free is good!), but decided that I enjoyed the story and the author's manner.

Enjoy your trip to Brea Ridge!

A nice start for a cosy murder series, though a little short on the mystery part. The solution was fairly obvious early on. I did like the characters and think they have staying power for future books, but the author has to make up her mind to either have to stick to the first person voice or an omniscent narrator. Will look forward to the author's developing skills in her next book.

NOTE TO KINDLE: I'm a review reader, and for some reason my DX screws up the reviews. I begin reading one, and when I click to continue reading the DX substitutes a review from an earlier page.. I have to go back to my old original Kindle to see the correct reviews. What's with that?

This is the first book I have read by this author and it was light murder mystery that made me hungry. Daphne moved back to her home town after her ex-husband attempted to kill her. She has opened a cake business and when she is delivering her cake to the biggest busy body in town - she finds her dead. The whole town is full of secrets and Daphne continues to stumble into everyone's business. It was simple Sunday afternoon read - not sure I would pay full price.