Review

For fans of:  Jessica Beck

When Fairy Tale Cupcakes co-owners Mel Cooper and Angie DeLaura are asked to bake their signature confections for the 75th annual Sweet Tiara contest, Mel’s response is emphatic:  "...baking cupcakes for a beauty pageant? They're everything we're against. They debase women by making them sex objects whose worth is solely based on their outward appearance."  As it turns out, though, the girl who wears the Miss Sweet Tiara crown also gets a full ride to college, which is all it takes to convince tomboy and friend-of-the-bakery Lupe Guzman to enter the competition. So in a reluctant show of support, Fairy Tale Cupcakes takes the gig.

At first it looks like Lupe may actually have a shot at winning, but then a judge with whom she had a very public confrontation is found strangled, and just like that, Lupe goes from top competitor to main suspect. Can Mel and company catch the real killer before the pageant draws to a close, or will Lupe be forced to kiss her college dreams (and quite possibly her freedom) goodbye?

Sugar and Iced is the sixth of Jenn McKinlay’s Cupcake Bakery Mysteries, and I’m sorry to say, it’s my least favorite addition to the series thus far. This book has a very paint-by-numbers feel to it. The mystery takes a long time to get going. You neither love nor hate the murder victim, making it difficult to care whether the killer is brought to justice. You never believe the police truly consider Lupe a suspect, which robs the story of its stakes. And while there’s no shortage of conflict, it all feels manufactured. From the love triangle between Mel, Manny, and Joe, to the disagreement between Mel and her business partners regarding the bakery’s expansion, to the fact that one of Mel and Angie’s employees is dating their chief rival, you never get the sense that any of the characters actually care about the outcomes of their arguments. The end result is a book with no passion, no action, and no narrative drive, and where’s the fun in that?

As with the other Cupcake Bakery Mysteries, the chemistry between the series’ three principal characters – Mel, Angie, and Tate – is one of the strongest things about the book, but it’s decidedly weaker here than in previous installments; gone is their witty banter, and there’s nary a heartfelt conversation to be found. Love interests Joe and Manny have historically helped give McKinlay’s tales drama and heart, but they’re mostly played for laughs in Sugar and Iced (which is bizarre, given how many pages are spent discussing Mel’s troubled love life). And all of the book’s minor characters feel flat, lifeless, and decidedly one-note.

On the upside, McKinlay’s cupcake creations are as mouthwatering as ever, so if you’re hankering for a little food porn with your fiction, then Sugar and Iced might be for you. If you want a mystery that’ll pin you to your seat and keep you guessing, though, you’d best look elsewhere.

Reviewed by Kat