Belle Meyer, the proprietor of The Wild Goose culinary shop in Walnut Creek Square, knows she sells some great cookware but never thought it was killer cookware until one of her customers is found dead – smacked with a frying pan from her shop. Belle can’t help but do a bit of poking into the matter, much to the consternation of Detective Hawkes.

What a fun, charming little book! It puts the “cozy” in cozy mystery with a cute small town, an adorable cat, fun characters (many of which had food related names, which made me smile. Nathan Eclair!) and lots of food related quips sprinkled liberally throughout. I enjoyed the plot, there were a lot of suspects, some who seemed more likely than others. There were lots of twists to keep me guessing and the reveal at the end was a little surprising and very satisfying.

A very enjoyable book and I look forward to reading the next one in the series. I would’ve loved to see a few recipes at the end of the book, some of the demos Belle made in the shop sounded divine and I love a good baking project. And the measuring spoon necklace given to Belle by her boyfriend Kenneth made me realize this was something I never knew I needed in my life!

Sometimes the only way to move forward… is to go back. 

JAMES 

I don't know what's more shocking—the sudden end to my marriage, or the fact that I'd married a woman at all. But now I'm broke and homeless, kicked out of my Upper West Side apartment while my ex-wife walks away with everything we've ever worked for. 

So what's an executive chef stripped of his dignity gonna do? 

Go back to Jersey with his tail between his legs, that's what. 

BEN 

I can’t say that spending a decade pining after my best friend was the best use of my time. While I'd pretty much become an expert at the whole unrequited love thing, I'd resigned myself to the fact that Jimmy and I were never gonna happen. But when Jimmy turned up on my doorstep in his hour of need, I jumped at the chance to offer him my bed—er, couch. I mean, what are friends for, right? 

Now that he's released from the shackles of matrimony, I can't wait to show him exactly what he's been missing out on all these years. 

What I didn't anticipate was him showing me that maybe I'd been missing out too.

ARGH!!  This "hero" is... is... such a hateful douchebag.

I'm feeling too much, and none of it is positive.  The MC needs to get the hell out of that town asap.