Pudding Up With Murder (Undercover Dish Mystery, Book 3)
by Julia Buckley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Pudding Up With Murder is the third book in the Undercover Dish Mystery Series.
Lilah Drake has a booming business of undercover catering. Lilah creates and makes wonderful casseroles and pot luck types dishes for her clients, who order them in secret and then pass them off as their own. She is also working at a local catering company, and recently she has started appearing on her ex-boyfriends television cooking show once a week. Life is good.
Recently, Lilah and Detective Jay Parker have started dating, but once again another murder is going to make things difficult for them. Jay Parker is a very upstanding police officer and has a pretty rigid set of ideals. The thing is Lilah is probably not the best girlfriend, she is a little clingy and not understanding, yet she expects complete understanding from Jay.
This story was really good in regards to the mystery and who did it and the characters involved, but the story fell flat for me in regards to the relationship between Lilah and Jay. She expects honesty from Jay, yet she tells him half truths all the time and expects him to accept them. There are always certain things that you don't always want to talk about at the time in a relationship, and Lilah refuses to get that. At one point her ex-boyfriend and her current boyfriend have lunch as they both care about Lilah and want to work out any issues between them that might be causing problems. Lilah flies off the handle at this - instead of seeing that they both care and want to make things better, to have them not fighting with each other so that her career can blossom - she gets mad at them for meeting behind her back and not talking to her. It was stupid, and I really felt I couldn't understand her anymore.
For the third book in the series, it was ok, but if the author ever published a fourth in this series, I am not sure that I would read it at this point.
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Cheddar Off Dead (Undercover Dish Mystery, Book 2)
by Julia Buckley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Cheddar Off Dead is the second book in the cozy mystery series Undercover Dish.
Lilah Drake has created a side business for herself. She creates and makes pot-luck or casserole type dishes for her growing list of clients, then she delivers them to her clients in secret and the client passes off the dish as their own cooking. This has become a lucrative business for Lilah and she loves it, but her dream has always been her own catering company, and now she is finally working part-time for the best catering company in Pine Haven. Life on the business side is going well for Lilah, even if the budding relationship with Detective Jay Parker took a terrible nosedive just as it was beginning.
Now Lilah finds herself face to face with Jay again when she inadverntly finds herself at the scene of another murder. While delivering food to her best friend Jenny at school, she talks to the school Santa for the day and as she is leaving the parking lot, a car drives in and shots the santa. Not exactly how she planned to spend the day.
This story takes even more twists and turns when the local Chicago, supposedly mob family is connected to the shooting. Lilah is in danger, and trust becomes an issue with Jay and Lilah again, even when he doesn't realize that her lie to him before was exactly the same as the lie he told her.
This second book in the series was well written and even more enjoyable. The characters became more in focus and we really learn more about each character. At this point I have high hopes for the third book.
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The Big Chili (Undercover Dish Mystery, Book 1)
by Julia Buckley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was in need of a break from all the paranormal novels that I had been reading lately, so wandering in the library the other day, looking through the shelves, I discovered this Undercover Cooking Series. I have always had a thing for cozy mysteries, so why not.
The Big Chili is the start of this cute, but short series. Liliah Drake works in her parents real estate office, but her passion is cooking, and so she has created this little secret side business for herself. She makes wonderful food creations, usually potluck time dishes and casseroles for her list of clients, and then she delivers them to the people in secret and they in turn pass off the dishes as their own. It's become quite profitable for Lilah.
Trouble starts when at a church bingo night, someone drops dead after tasting her chili, but of course no one knows that she made it because one of her clients, Pet Grundy has been passing this chili off as her own for years. Pet is terrified that someone will discover that she didn't make the chili, and makes Lilah promise not to tell the police that she actually made the chili.
Detective Jay Parker is the lead on this case, and he is smitten with Lilah, but then there is the secret that Lilah is keeping, it is driving her nuts because she feels bad about not telling the truth. What looked like a straight forward case of who-done-it turns into a complicated twists of who and why, with half the town involved in one way or another.
This was a cute book, it was a great start of a new cozy series and it ended with a great number of recipes. Only issue I had with the recipes is that they centered on a gourmet food product brand that came from the story, which leaves readers with no way to actually make any of the dishes.
Aside from that, it was a good story and I look forward to continuing with the second book.
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Slow Cooker Recipes Quick & Easy Cookbook: Mouthwatering Recipes Prepared in 30 Minutes or Less!
by Kathy KNIGHT
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
From some reason I had the idea in my head that as my children got older, cooking for them would become easier and I would be able to make fancy dinners. Now I realize that it was a dream, as my kids get older they are more involved in activities at school and I have even less time to cook. Over the years I have received a couple of slow cookers as gifts, but never really made the best use of them. As I was looking through kindle titles the other day, I came across this book of Slow Cooker Recipes and I knew I had to give it a try.
The book is wonderful in that it gives you some great starting recipes to have you using your slow cooker the same day. Not only are there great recipes that are easy to follow,they use ingredients you already have on hand and can be made on a budget. There are even some healthy eating variations and recipes included in the book as well. Aside from the recipes, there is another chapter devoted to the slow cooker itself. This gives you excellent advice on what to look for in a slow cooker if you don't have one, the best types of slow cookers, and other great information to make it easier for you to use.
Slow-cooked Lasagna is on the menu in our house now on basketball game nights, since we get home from school and have to run out to the game quickly. Now I can have a great dinner ready when they get home from school and we can eat before heading to the game. This means no more concession stand dinners! This book gives you great recipes that will help to make you feel better about what you are feeding your family.
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