Killer Sweet Tooth

August 29, 2011
At the start of Trent’s entertaining third Daphne Martin cake cozy (after 2009’s Dead Pan), baker Daphne and her friend, Myra Jenkins, make an emergency visit to the dentist in Brea Ridge, Va., where they discover Dr. Jim Bainsworth dead on the exam room floor. Hearing a noise, they arm themselves with a giant model tooth and toothbrush, useless weapons but enough to persuade the arriving police that they’re guilty of something. After hours being grilled like perps, the two are released, but the surprises aren’t over. Just as Daphne is unlocking her front door, she’s accosted by an Elvis impersonator who wants to order a pink Cadillac cake for the Elvis Impersonators’ Evangelical Interdenominational Outreach convention, but before Daphne starts on the cake, she and Myra need to find a killer. A little jealousy from boyfriend Ben Jacobs and some smalltown gossip add to the mix for a tasty read, despite a few minor plot holes.

October 1, 2011
A Virginia cake maker has a penchant for solving crimes. You never know what might happen over a game of Scrabble. This time, her neighbor Myra breaks a tooth on Daphne Martin's cashew brittle. Her dentist is willing to meet them at his office, but when the ladies arrive, they find the dentist dead. After a long night of police questioning, Daphne finally arrives home, only to be greeted by an Elvis impersonator emerging from a pink Cadillac. Scottie Phillips, a member of Elvis Impersonators' Evangelical Interdenominational Outreach, has come to order a peanut-butter-and-banana cake in the shape of a pink Cadillac for a gala the group is hosting. While Scottie's attentions to Daphne cause problems with her boyfriend, newspaper editor Ben Jacobs, her involvement with EIEIO soon has her searching for the Elvis impersonator who was seen nearby on the night of the murder. The suspects also include the dentist's wife, who'd been in the process of divorcing him over his fling with his hygienist, apparently just one in a long line of affairs. Daphne, still certain that the police suspect her and Myra, is determined to uncover the killer, a task that proves more dangerous than she imagined. Trent (Dead Pan, 2009, etc.) features a pleasant heroine, a middling mystery and several appended dessert recipes fit for the King (Elvis, that is).

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