Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Review: SWEET MASTERPIECE: THE FIRST SAMANTHA SWEET MYSTERY (Connie Shelton)

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Samantha Sweet breaks into houses for a living--all perfectly legal as a caretaker for the USDA. But her real dream is to open her own pastry shop, Sweet's Sweets.

Life is a little crazy for Sam right now. At one of her break-in properties a dying woman insists that she take a small wooden box. Sam doesn't realize that the old woman was known locally as a bruja, a witch, until she begins to feel some strange effects from the box, herself.

Meanwhile, at another property, she finds an unmarked grave and the authorities come to investigate. The property owner disappeared a few months earlier and Sam wonders--who is the body in the grave? A small mural in the house leads to a connection with a famous artist; a bogus will points to possible fraud; and the handsome deputy investigating the case seems completely enchanted with Sam.

While Sam scrambles to fill bakery orders and keep her properties in order, she's equally intrigued with the idea of a new romance. It all makes for a delightful romantic mystery with elements of the paranormal.


Review
Sam is a hardworking, motivated woman trying to get ahead, and life keeps throwing her curve balls.  The tale spun by Shelton has a bit of everything. A dead body buried in a back yard.  New art work by a famous artist gone missing many years ago. The prodigal daughter who returns home. Some kind of spell from a wooden box that gives Sam more energy to get all she needs done. And the handsome detective.  Sweet Masterpiece grabbed my attention and I had trouble putting it down.  I just hope that some of the loose ends get tied up in the second in the series, SWEET'S SWEETS!  (now on my TBR list!) It looks like there are 6 in the Samantha Sweet series so far. 

This is a second series by Connie Shelton.  Her first series (10 in all) featured Charlie Parker. 

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