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(As you can see, I'm part of the blog tour for Baked Alaska, so go enter the contest, and take a peek at what other bloggers are saying about Baked Alaska,)
This book is another home run for Josi Kilpack in her Sadie Hofmiller series. I love how Sadie just seems to fall into these things in an organic way. Her family is funny and quirky and still has issues, and her boyfriend is always taking what happens to her in stride, although even he raises his eyebrows at her sometimes. It's cute and fun. The mystery always keeps me turning pages and this one was no exception, although I think this is the first one that I've read that really involved her children. (I missed the Boston one. I know, I know, I need to go back and read it, it's pivotal somehow.)
At first I wondered how it would be for a murder mystery to take place on a ship where you can't really run away, but the author does a great job in giving us an edge of your seat whodunit that is made even more tense by the fact that they're on a ship. I didn't guess the killer, which was nice, but I also felt like I wanted a little more motivation from the killer. There were loose ends on why this person would do what they did that left me a little unsettled. But it was still a fun Sadie mystery.
This one also included a good look at Sadie's relationship with her kids, but it hit a little close to home for me. I've never taken an Alaskan cruise, or discovered a dead body, but I am an adoptive mother, like Sadie is, and my son is about where her son is at in the whole "meeting his birth mother" process. Without giving away any spoilers from the book, I feel as anxious as Sadie did to figure out her feelings toward the relationship her son was going to have with the woman who gave birth to him. It's so complicated and hard to explain, but I liked how Sadie dealt realistically with these issues. It was freeing for me in a way and maybe something I needed to read to work it out in my head.
Baked Alaska is a nice twisty mystery with a lot of heart. You'll smile, laugh, and shake your head, but you'll also turn pages long into the night to make sure you don't miss even one beat of this story.
Here's the back liner:
An Alaskan cruise is the setting for amateur detective Sadie Hoffmillers latest adventure. Sadie plans to spend time relaxing with her two grown children, Breanna and Shawn, and her boyfriend, Pete, while enjoying the luxury and cuisine of an elegant cruise ship and helping to plan her daughters upcoming wedding. But even as the crew prepares to leave port, Sadie has suspicions about the voyage ahead and the relationship between her normally easygoing son and a mysterious female passenger he obviously knows but refuses to discuss. When the woman is discovered unconscious during the second night at sea, Sadies apprehension escalates. Over the last few years, Sadie has developed an extreme dislike for secrets and it would seem her son is keeping one from her. *Includes eight new mouthwatering recipes, tested and approved by the official bakers of Sadies Virtual Test Kitchen.
Praise for Baked Alaska
Josi Kilpack has done it again. You would think that all these events that occur in Sadie's life wouldn't be natural, but Josi Kilpack has a way of making you believe that it just "happens" and it is normal. I have grown to love Sadie's character, even if she is a busybody, you can't help but cheer for her as she attempts to solve a mystery or crime. One of my favorite series. :)
~Goodreads Reviewer Lacey McNeill
Josi S. Kilpack grew up hating to read until she was thirteen and her mother handed her a copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond. From that day forward, she read everything she could get her hands on and credits her writing “education” to the many novels she has “studied” since then. She began her first novel in 1998 and hasn’t stopped since. Her seventh novel, Sheep’s Clothing, won the 2007 Whitney Award for Mystery/Suspense, and Lemon Tart, her ninth novel, was a 2009 Whitney Award Finalist. Josi was the Best in State winner in literature for 2012 and currently has two books (Banana Split and Tres Leches Cupcakes) as finalists in the 2012 Whitney awards.
Josi currently lives in Willard, Utah, with her family.
Blog Tour Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 3/20/13
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
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2 comments:
My husband and I took an Alaskan cruise last year. No-it was nearly two years ago this summer. It was really all-you-could-eat kind of fun. Loved the shore excursions, and I even waded in glacier lakes. I could easily see a murder taking place on board ship. Saw many great places to take someone out--if I had wanted to. *grins* I would've thought by this time Pete and Sadie would've been married. I'm kind of disappointed they'd drawn it out for 9 books, or rather 10--if they aren't married by the end of Baked Alaska.
Been a while since I've been on a cruise (and not to Alaska, but the Bahamas) Seems like it would be harder to conceal a body on a tropical boat - wouldn't it hasten decomp? Overboard works in both cases, though. =) Habeas Corpus?
I feel kinda bad that I haven't read the rest of the series after really enjoying the first one. So many books, so little time.
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