REVIEW: Murder Made to Order

Murder Made To Order
Author: Lena Gregory

Gia Morelli runs the All-Day Breakfast Cafe in Boggy Creek, FL. It's a far cry from her former life in New York but the small town and its quirky residents are growing on her. Gia is having a bit of a stressful time though....the local cop she likes is being weird and distant and she received a letter from the town council informing her the cafe had to close due to a zoning problem. She's still trying to figure out those problems when she stumbles into a dead body while walking her dog. Things get very complicated because the woman is the president of the town council, Marcia Steers. And her sheriff's deputy love interest has had a long-term ongoing affair with the woman. Gia soon finds herself pulled into a murder investigation involving greed, lies and corruption.

Murder Made To Order is the second book in the All-Day Breakfast Cafe mystery series. I haven't read book one yet, but was easily able to jump in and enjoy this cozy mystery. It isn't necessary to have read the first book to enjoy this one. The mystery is pretty much stand-alone, and there are enough hints and explanations of character background to fill in development from the first book. Gia is an interesting main character. She works hard to make her business succeed and is making friends with the locals, despite missing New York. But, she has a lot of fears and insecurities. She has flaws but is a strong and intelligent woman. Her dog, Thor, is awesome! All of the other side characters are quirky and interesting. They all come together as a great amateur sleuthing team. The mystery moved along at a good pace with plenty of suspects, action and surprises.

I will definitely be reading more of this series to see how the characters develop. The mix of humor, background theme and mystery definitely keeps my attention from beginning to end!

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy from Kensington via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**