A Batter of Life and Death: A Bakeshop Mystery by Ellie Alexander

                  I’ve been going a bit mystery series crazy lately.  For the most part that is all I want to read right now.  Not much else is holding my interest.  The down side of this is I could reach a point where I have read too many mysteries and I burn out on them.  I’m hoping that doesn’t happen, because I am in the middle of some really good series.  One is The Bakeshop Mysteries.  While I struggled with the first book in the series, I now find myself trying to read as fast as I can to see what happens next.

                Juliet “Jules” Capshaw has decided the best thing for her is to stay in her hometown for a while.  Not only will it give her the space from her husband that she needs, but she will also be able to help get her mother’s bakery, Torte, back on its feet.  One way Jules is doing this is by letting a pastry competition show use Torte’s kitchen for their contestants.  She does not expect to become a contestant herself, but then one of the competitors is forced to drop out.  Thinking of the possible publicity this could mean for Torte, Jules agrees to fill in and compete.  She very quickly wishes she hadn’t.

                It does not take long for Jules to realize she does not like the TV world.  The excess of make-up, the superficial nature of those involved, and the general personalities that Jules must deal with are not what she is used to.  Also, unlike the other contestants, Jules still has daily work she must do in the bakery.  Balancing the two responsibilities is enough for Jules to handle.  She does not need a murder to be added to her plate, but that is exactly what she gets.

                At first Jules’s mind is not set on solving the murder, even though she found the body and it was another competitor.  That does not mean other’s do not try to pull her in, though, because they do.  Then, when the bakery is vandalized, everything surrounding the murder investigation becomes personal.  With the bakery now a target, there is not any way Jules is going to stay away from the case this time. 

             As I said earlier, I had some difficulty with the first book in this series, Meet Your Baker. With this second one, I had hardly any problems at all. The tensions between Jules and those around her have definitely lessened. Jules is also starting to relax and settle into her surroundings now that she has made some decisions in her life. Not all of Jules’s personal problems are resolved, of course, but they’re not so front and center as they are in the first book. This change made it a lot easier for me to get wrapped up in the mystery. I still have different things I want to happen with each character, but I am glad to have the mystery as the center of attention. That is what made this such a great book to read.