Sprinkle with Murder

Cupcake Bakery Mystery, Book 1

By: Jenn McKinlay

Narrated by: Susan Boyce

Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura are finally living out their dream as the proud owners of the Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery. But their first big client is a nightmare. She's a bridezilla who wants 500 custom cupcakes for her wedding. When Mel stumbles upon the bride-to-be dead - by cupcake - Mel becomes the prime suspect. To save themselves and their business, the ladies need to find the real murderer, before the cupcake killer ices someone else.

©2010 Jenn McKinlay (P)2016 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Fun and an easy listen

I listen to this genre to relax---I do not expect great fiction but I do want to be mildly entertained; this book did the trick. Cupcakes and murder and a cold glass of milk!

Sweet Cozy Mystery

This was a yummy, cozy mystery! There were many surprises that kept the story from being predictable. I enjoyed the friendship between Melanie, Tate, and Angie.
Angie's brothers were a hoot!
I liked the narrator too.

Such a fun book!!

What made the experience of listening to Sprinkle with Murder the most enjoyable?

I loved the storyline of this fun mystery! I have never read or listened to any books by Jenn McKinlay and I am so thrilled to have found a new author I love!

What did you like best about this story?

Fun little storyline. I did predict the ending, but it was still super fun to listen to! There is no real naughty language, I think they swear a couple of times, but it's not a constant. There's also no love scenes which I am glad for. My kids are around when I'm listening to books so I love books that are clean to listen to!

Which character – as performed by Susan Boyce – was your favorite?

Melanie.

The friendships

I Loved it! Funny scary intriguing. Can’t wait to read more from this author. Excellent work.

Love Jenn McKinlay

I have read other books by Jenn McKinlay and loved the humor and writing and and characters. This book is right up there with the others I have read.

WOW!

Wow! So very nice! It was pleasure listening to this first story of the series. Wow!

Whodunit that was disappointingly predictable!

Would you try another book from Jenn McKinlay and/or Susan Boyce?

Probably not.

What was most disappointing about Jenn McKinlay’s story?

I was really enjoying the book until a certain character was introduced and mannerism were so over-the-top, it was very easy to predict who the killer was. I was hoping to have found a light, but well written mystery, until it was obvious who the murderer was.

Was Sprinkle with Murder worth the listening time?

Yes, up until I easily figured out who the murderer was and it ruined the whole story for me.

fun book to listen to

this was a fun little book it made me hungry here in about all the different cupcakes it would be so neat if this was a real place enjoyed the book I know you will too

Fun, light mystery read

A quick read, fun to guess who the murderer is with some great sarcastic jokes thrown in!

A Fun Cupcake of a Book

In Sprinkle with Murder by Jenn McKinlay, Angie, Melanie, and Tate have been best friends since childhood. So when the two women decide to open a cupcake shop a few years after Melanie has finished culinary school, Tate, who comes from an insanely wealthy family and has made even more money as a successful stock trader, happily invests in the Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery. He then brings them their first catering order, for 500 cupcakes for his upcoming wedding to the fashion designer Christie Stevens. Christie proves to be the worst bridezilla of all bridezillas, insisting that the cupcakes at her wedding must be of totally unique flavors and that Mel must sign a nondisclosure agreement that she will never serve the flavors created for Christie to anyone else. Then, too lazy to go to Fairy Tale Cupcakes to test her new flavors, Christie sends two assistants to pick up the box of new cupcakes. That night, while Melanie, Angie, and Tate are having one of their regular movie nights, Tate gets a call from Christie. The fiancee is upset that he insists on spending time with other women and includes a demand that Mel meet her at Christie’s fashion shop at 7:30 to discuss the changes she wants in her cupcakes. But when Mel shows up at Christie Stevens Designs the next morning, she finds the woman on the floor, dead. A cupcake lies near her outstretched hand.

It doesn’t take long before the coroner gives a preliminary ruling of foul play, and Mel becomes the chief suspect, both because she found the body and because cupcakes seem to figure into the case. Making Mel even more upset is the fact that her own mother thinks she did it, always certain that Mel has been deeply in love with Tate her whole life.

Next, Mel’s police officer uncle comes to investigate her followed by Angie’s older brother Joe, an assistant DA in their city of Scottsdale, AZ and upon whom she has long had a crush, comes by and asks questions that lead to further feelings of being attacked.

Feeling under strong suspicion for this crime, particularly since the media have decided that she, possibly with Tate’s help, committed this murder in a love triangle, Mel decides she must do her own investigating of the crimes. Doing so leads her in different directions, since Christie has created so many enemies for herself. In doing so, Mel connects further with her friends and renews old relationships before finally catching the killer.

This book was a whole lot of fun to listen to. I enjoyed the descriptions of all the types of cupcakes and the way the characters interact with each other. The rivalry between Fairy Tale Cupcakes and the Confectionary, whose owner, Olivia, has a serious (and rather strange) grudge against Mel and Angie, adds a nice touch of comic relief.

This book is performed in its audio edition by Susan Boyce, a fairly popular narrator who does a good job of getting into the heart of each book. She further embodies her characters to make them believable and ones you can become invested in, whether positively or negatively, depending upon the nature of the character. I thought her acting job (since narrating an audio book really is a form of acting, often more challenging than ensemble acting) was highly entertaining and fun.

Sprinkle with Murder is not nearly as developed in its characters or plot as the Library Mystery series by McKinlay, which I really love for its depth and creativity, but I still had a very fun time listening to the book. I give it four stars.