Rita Lucero, owner of Zydeco Cakes, is a gifted cake
designer and a successful
small business owner. What she's not so great at, though,
is saying "no" to
people, especially her former mother-in-law, Miss Frankie.
Miss Frankie
signed Rita up for the local small business alliance, and,
as such, Rita finds
herself attending meetings she has neither the time nor the
inclination to
attend. As most meetings of this kind tend to be, these
meetings turn
political, especially when it comes to the matter of who to
elect to the board
and the matter of one particular member, Destiny Hazen, who
rarely shows
up.
Rita would love to stay out of the politics of the small
business alliance, but
Moose Hazen drags her into the fray after the meeting.
Moose explains that
Destiny has had a difficult time and desperately needs a
fresh start. He asks
Rita to let Destiny help out at the next event (a
neighbourhood clean-up
event). During the conversation where Rita reluctantly
agrees, a van comes at
them, and nearly runs over them.
When Destiny shows up at the clean-up event, it is clear
that she is under the
influence of something, so Rita does what she can to
minimise Destiny's
interaction with the community and with the other
volunteers. However, as
Destiny becomes too much of a liability, Rita sends her home
but not before
Destiny accuses Rita of of being prejudiced against her
because of her
background. Later, Destiny's dead body is found with Rita's
prescription pain
killers in her hand. While Rita tries to convince the
detective on the case that
she's innocent, she decides to try to solve the case
herself. How are the
attempt on Moose's life and Destiny's murder connected, if
at all?
While Rita is trying to prove herself innocent of murder,
she's also trying to
ensure that a bridal shower for her employee, Edie, goes off
without a hitch.
Miss Frankie has taken over the bridal shower, and while
Miss Frankie has
promised not to invite Edie's family (they don't approve of
the impending
single motherhood), Rita is unconvinced that Miss Frankie
will abide by the
agreement and is worried about Edie's emotional health, as
well as trying to
keep peace in the shop since some there don't agree with how
Edie is
handling her pregnancy. Can Rita balance all the pregnancy
madness, before
she's arrested for murder?
As always, Rita is a fun, feisty character to read, and one
can't help but feel
sympathy for her as she tries to keep peace in the shop
dealing with Edie's
pregnancy situation and trying to keep Miss Frankie on a
proverbial leash. It
was a little frustrating that it took so long for part of
the mystery to be
resolved, as I thought the solution was quite obvious.
However, the ultimate
conclusion was not so obvious, and I was very pleased with
how everything
was concluded.
Rita Lucero, owner of New Orleans cake shop Zydeco Cakes,
can’t seem to stop saying “yes.” Even though things at the
bakery are busy, Rita finds herself accepting a seat on the
local small business alliance—a group full of colorful
characters like Chopper Shop owner Moose Hazen and his wife,
Destiny, whose personal life is messier than a cake someone
left out in the rain.
On the street following a heated alliance meeting, Moose
pulls Rita out of the path of a speeding van. Shaken and
bruised, Rita notices the next day that her prescribed pain
killers are missing. When she discovers Destiny’s body in
the couple’s shop, the stolen pill bottle in her lifeless
hand only adds another layer to her mysterious death. But
getting the frosty NOPD detective to stop focusing on Rita
and look for Destiny’s real killer will be anything but a
cakewalk…
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