This and That with Karen : Murder at the Bake Sale by Lee Hollis

Nov 13, 2021

Murder at the Bake Sale by Lee Hollis

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing "Murder at the Bake Sale" the 2nd instalment in the "A Maya and Sandra Mystery" by Lee Hollis.

Maya and Sandra are friends, fellow moms, and private-detective partners in the picturesque waterfront city of Portland—where sometimes their cases can get as rocky as the Maine coast...

While private investigator Maya Kendrick is still mentoring her new partner, PTA president Sandra Wallage, in the detective game, the two women don’t need incredible powers of deduction to know their marriages are on the rocks. With Maya’s ex-cop husband in prison and Sandra’s senator spouse separated from her, both find themselves investigating the dating scene. Until Diego Sanchez turns up dead. The flirtatious high school Spanish teacher who had eyes for Maya was poisoned by cookies from a bake sale fundraiser for a Portland High school class trip to Spain.

Hired by the students to find out who killed their popular and beloved teacher—including their own children—Maya and Sandra get a real education in parenting, relationships, and murder as their search for whodunit leads them deep into the unpleasant realities found in the small town politics and gossip of their Maine community...

I really enjoyed book one and wasn’t disappointed with book two. I really liked seeing how Maya and Sandra are adjusting to being partners in Kendrick Investigations and how much they both have grown personally now that they are single parents. The setting is in Portland, Maine which isn’t really a small town but we get the small town vibes anyway.

The mystery is interesting and well plotted, I kept guessing and second-guessing myself on whodunnit right to the very end. I recommend this book to all my cozy lover friends.