Going, Going, Ganache: A Cupcake Bakery Mystery by Jenn McKinlay

    It seems the Olivia situation may have FINALLY gotten taken care.  The resolution doesn’t come until the end of Going, Going, Ganache, but it gives me hope for the future of the series.  It’s about time.   

    Cupcake bakery owners Mel Cooper and Angie DeLaura are going to be featured in a popular and prestigious local magazine, Southwest Style.  It is a great honor which goes badly from the start.  Instead of being photographed as themselves, Mel and Angie are forced to pose in costumes.  Then rival baker Olivia Puckett crashes the photo shoot.  A fight breaks out, the photo shoot is damaged, and Fairy Tale Cupcakes are the ones blamed.

    To cover the cost of the damages, and to get his publishing team to finally work together, the new owner of Southwest Style, Ian Hannigan, has Mel and Angie hold a cupcake bootcamp.  His team must work together, guided by Mel and Angie, in making the cupcakes for a gala the magazine is putting on.

    That is Hannigan’s plan, but not everyone else’s.  Some of the team is willing to cooperate, while others flat out refuse.  Then Features Director Sam Kelleher is found dead.  With so many grudges amongst the team and with people outside of it, the culprit could really be anyone.

Cupcake/Artwork by Kate Dorsey

    What I found interesting about this book was how little attention there was to the murder.  After a while I forgot about it all together, including who died.  Mostly this book was about the relationships and lives of the main characters.

    Co-owner Tate Harper quits his job, sells his apartment, and disappears; worrying Mel and Angie.

    Once Tate is found and Angie learns more about what is going on in Tate’s head, she blames Mel for his actions and they get into a fight.

    Mel and her boyfriend, Joe DeLaura, break-up when Mel realizes she doesn’t want to marry him, or anybody.

    Then there are the confusing feelings Mel has for Detective Martinez.  He’s interested in Mel, and she may be interested in him, but what Mel really wants is unsure.

    With all this going on, it’s no wonder the mystery was lost.

    I must say, I wasn’t too upset when Mel and Joe broke up.  I’m not anti them being together.  I just don’t care either way.  Although, their relationship was too much about Joe and not enough about Mel.  It was not exactly a 50/50 relationship.

    As for Martinez, I’m not sure he’s for Mel either.  He’s too pushy for my taste.  Especially since he knows Mel is in a relationship with someone else.

    Which brings me back to Olivia.  While she is her usual obnoxious self in the beginning of the book, we find out something is happening in her life in the end that may change her behavior for the better.  At least I certainly hope it does.