REVIEW: The Quiche and The Dead

The Quiche and The Dead
Author: Kirsten Weiss

Val Harris loves her bakery shop, Pie Town. It offers everything from mini pastries to quiche, and almost makes up for the disastrous last five months of her life. She expected to start a new life and marriage when she moved to San Nicholas, CA with her fiance, but now all she has from that relationship is a beautiful wedding gown she never got to wear. Val has been so busy starting her new business that she hasn't had a chance to make friends or really learn much about her new home, but she's hopeful that things will start to come together. When a personal trainer opens a gym next to her shop and shames her for selling products that promote obesity and a customer drops dead in her store while eating one of her breakfast pies, her future seems bleak at best. One of her employees, Charlene, becomes a suspect in the killing. Val realizes to help her and save Pie Town she needs to do some snooping around to discover the murder's identity.

I like Val as a main character. She is intelligent, resilient and spunky. I had to chuckle a bit each time she cringed at seeing her ex-fiance's face plastered all over local real estate signs. That would really suck. I would go around with a sharpie and draws horns on all of them. :) Not mature, I know....but therapeutic. Charlene is also a hoot with her belief in conspiracy theories of all sorts and her white cat that seems to go everywhere with her. The cat reminded me of the Boneless Cat from old Peanuts cartoons.

This mystery is a great start to a new series! It is a nice mix of humor and mystery. The story moved at a nice pace, with plenty of suspects and surprises. I will definitely be reading more of this series! The next book in the series, Bleeding Tarts, will be out in April 2018. :)

For more information about the author and her books, check out her website: http://www.kirstenweiss.com/

I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Kensington via Netgalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**