Title: Dough or Die
Author: Winnie Archer
Series: A Bread Shop Mystery #5
Publisher: Kensington
Release Date: August 25, 2020
Pages: 227
Book Source: ARC
“People come to the beach town of Santa Sofia as much for the healing properties of Yeast of Eden’s breads as for a vacation getaway. And now a cable food channel has selected the bakery as a featured culinary delight for a new show. Baking apprentice Ivy Culpepper is excited as the crew arrives, ready to capture all the ins and outs of the renowned bread shop. But instead they capture something much harder to stomach: the attempted murdered of the show’s cameraman just outside Yeast of Eden …
_ _
With no motive and no clues, and the town craving answers, it will be up to Ivy to sift through the evidence to find the truth. But she’ll have to move quickly before someone else is targeted or the wrong person gets the heat—and the business collapses like a deflated soufflé, right before her eyes.” – Amazon
Kim’s Review
I really enjoyed the The Bread for Life program that takes place at the Yeast of Eden. I love how supportive it is of women from other cultures, bringing them together to share their recipes and help them to make better lives for themselves. And I really liked that Winnie Archer incorporated a Women’s Shelter into Dough or Die. It’s unfortunate that shelters are so needed, but for Archer to highlight them, it might encourage some readers to volunteer however they can at one of them.
In this one it felt like Ivy did all of the detecting and just handed the case over to her best friend and sheriff, Emmeline. I thought this was a bit far fetched, even for a cozy mystery. And it felt like Ivy was just accusing everyone and the sheriff just took her word, but this wouldn’t stop me from reading future books in the Bread Shop Mysteries.
As far as the mystery, it was interesting how it all tied together. There were so many suspects and different things happening to get the mystery to make sense that I actually had to read slower and stop and think a bit to see how it all combined. I don’t remember having to do this before when I’ve read a cozy, so I’m not sure if this is good or bad?!
The support that the characters have for each other and the wonderful descriptions of Yeast of Eden and all the yummy breads will have me returning to Santa Sofia.
Disclosure: Some of the links we use are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, we will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.