Murder Made to Order

Murder Made to Order by Lena Gregory is the second book in An All-Day Breakfast Café Mystery series. Gia Morelli has been settling into her new life in Boggy Creek, Florida when she receives a startling letter from Marcia Steers, the president of the city council. It seems that the building for the café is zoned residential and Gia will have to close the café. Before Gia can act, a nervous Marcia stops by and schedules a meeting with Gia for Monday. Before their meeting can take place, Gia and Thor stumble over a dead Marcia half submerged in muck in the woods. Captain Hayes and Detective Quinn Hunter quickly arrive, but after a disagreement, Captain Hayes tosses Quinn off the case. Following the clues, Gia finds that the issue regarding her café started twenty years ago and can be related to the death of Savannah Mill’s mother. But someone is not happy with Gia’s snooping and attempts to shut her down permanently. Murder Made to Order can be read alone. Everything a reader needs to know is included in this installment in the series. Murder Made to Order is easy to read and has a steady pace throughout. I thought Murder Made to Order was an improvement over Scone Cold Killer. Gia is settling into life in Boggy Creek, but she has doubts when the future of her café is in jeopardy. One of my favorite characters is Earl. He was the café’s first customer and has been a loyal customer as well as friend ever since. There are many cozy moments in Murder Made to Order. Cooking, visiting with Savannah, spending time with Quinn, taking care of Thor (her large and adorable dog), kayaking, eating, hiking and chatting. I am still having trouble warming up to Gia. Her terror of things related to nature continues in this book. Gia should have moved into the apartment over the café instead of finding a home surrounded by woods (which she walks in regularly). She is afraid of bears, spiders, ticks, snakes (I can relate to this one), and tornadoes in Murder Made to Order. Gia overreacts (panic attacks, hyperventilates) when confronted with things that scare her. The author intends it to be humorous, but it loses its humor the more times it happens. The mystery had some good aspects (multiple suspects, misdirection, good clues), but it was a cinch to pick out the guilty party. It is nice how the townspeople rally around to help each other out in troubling times. I like the small-town atmosphere of Boggy Creek. My rating for Murder Made to Order is 3.5 out of 5 stars. I am curious to see what happens to Gia next in An All-Day Breakfast Café Mystery series (let’s hope she does not encounter a panther).

I loved Murder Made to Order, the second book in the All-Day Breakfast Café series, as much as I loved Stone Cold Murder. Lena Gregory is spot-on with Gia’s reactions and concerns about living on the edge of a nature area in Florida, and Savannah’s response is absolutely perfect. It is the warmth and character of the other towns people as well as Gia’s that drew me back to the second book in the All-Day Breakfast Café series. I will be following this series as long as there are new books. I see this as a reread-series since the mystery, while intriguing, is only part of what makes me want to read the book. I think I could live happily in that town in spite of the recent murders.

This was a fun cozy read. This is my first chance to meet Gia and her friends and 'family' in her small town in Florida. Although Murder Made To Order is book 2 in the series it is written as a stand alone. Gia's cafe in this installment is being threatened. She along with her friends and patrons want to save the cafe. But before they get before the city council the President of the Council is murdered and guess who stumbles upon the body? None other than Gia. In a refreshing note Gia is not considered a suspect. And actually none of her friends are either. Which tends to be a typical scenario in so many Cozy's. Thank you Lena Gregory for giving us something a little different. I enjoyed Gia and her close friends and the diner patrons. There is a great cast of folks that end up making Gia feel like part of the community. Savannah who is a friend from college and is the one that got Gia to move to Florida after her divorce. Savannah is a good southern girl. But she has some issues of her own. One being her fear of commitment. She is in a relationship with Leo one of the town police officers who is another character who plays a big part in the story. And then there is the handsome detective Quinn that Amy is seeing. Except lately he's acting a little more aloof than usual so she begins to question if there is a relationship. There were a lot of interesting characters including Willow the waitress at the cafe. Harley the homeless man, Cole and Earl older gentlemen patrons that watch Gia's back and end up helping out at the cafe. And then of course there was Thor Amy's puppy. He's a big 'ole sweet dog that saves the day a few times. Murder Made To Order was a great cozy read. I am looking forward to more in the series. I might have enjoyed even more if recipes were included! If you like a good 'clean' read with a little mystery, some great characters you'll enjoy the All-Day Cafe Mystery series. I received a complimentary copy.