January 2, 2011
To Have and To Kill by Mary Jane Clark is a fun and satisfying read. The first in the Wedding Cake mystery series by a veteran of such writing (Clark has written twelve installments in her KEY News series, which feature anchorwoman Eliza Blake as the on-the-scene sleuth), Clark introduces the very likable character of Piper Donovan. Piper is an actress in New York City. Although she has known a modicum of success (enough to have twitter and Facebook followers who eagerly wait for her every posting), a slowdown in jobs leads her to move back in with her parents in suburban New Jersey, where she helps out when she can in her mother's bake shop (hence, the "Wedding Cake" aspect of the series).
Piper attends an auction at an elite private school in Manhattan at the suggestion of her former soap opera cohort Glenna Brooks, star of the show A Little Rain Must Fall (clever title), where she witnesses her first murder -- and all of a sudden, the self-defense and be-prepared manifesto of her ever-vigilant father make sense. Piper will need everything her father ever taught her plus the help of Jack, her hunky FBI agent friend, to figure out why a murderer is stalking the cast of the soap and what the wedding cake she plans to bake for Glenna has do with it all.
Offering a tantalizing glimpse into soap opera productions, a mouth-watering taste of what goes into professional cake baking (including cupcakes!), and even a final recipe for buttercream frosting (my favorite -- leave the fondants, the cream cheeses, and the whipped creams to others), To Have and To Kill is a lively and entertaining book, easy to please and very tasty.
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