Sugar and Vice: A Cookie House Mystery

Enjoyable cozy, great characters, a good mystery. Engaging, nothing heavy but thoroughly entertaining. There is plenty of variety in the characters, the reader does an excellent job, though... if not familiar with Spanish, her friend Maxie's charming accent and Spanish might present a challenge, an extra problem with an audio book, not having the words written to look them up, but, it makes a great variety and Maxie is a wonderful character. Highly recommend as a fun cozy mystery.

Sugar and Vice by Eve Calder has Kate McGuire and her best friend, Maxi planting some vegetable gardens behind Maxi’s flower shop in Coral Cay, Florida. Kate’s dog, Oliver suddenly begins digging frantically and uncovers a skeleton with pirate clothes. They wonder if the skeleton is Sir George Bly, the pirate who founded the town and the reason they have the annual pirate festival. Kate has enough on her plate with baking unique items for the pirate festival and the unknown skeleton. But then her ex-fiancé, Evan arrives in town with an agenda. Kate keeps herself busy (aka avoiding Evan) by investigating the legend of Sir George Bly with the book club hoping they can learn the truth about the gentleman pirate and his long-lost treasure. What happens when they learn the skeleton is more recent than a four-hundred-year-old pirate? Sugar and Vice is the second A Cookie House Mystery. It can be read on its own for those new to the series. Kate is a likeable young woman with a talent for baking. I love her dog, Oliver with his exuberance. Kate loves to bake, and she creates delicious items for the bakery. I enjoy the interactions between Maxi and Kate. I did find the chapters too short and there were too many of them (68). It made the book choppy. The mystery was simple and could easily be solved long before the reveal. But the mystery does suit the book. It is a lighthearted cozy mystery with the focus on baking and friendship than the whodunit. There are lovely descriptions of the town which has friendly residents. I could have done without the Spanish words or phrases used by Maxi. They are not explained which is frustrating (I was never able to master Spanish). I did enjoy the humor and the descriptions of Kate’s baked items. Sugar and Vice is a fun cozy mystery with a peppy pooch, tasty treats, pirate plunder, a bothersome ex-beau, and a screwy skeleton.