Spoon to Be Dead by Dana Mentink

Available: October 31, 2023

Rating: 4 shakes

Trinidad Jones is trying desperately to keep her milkshake shop going during the cold winter months. A catering gig promises to be the start of something new and profitable but nothing goes according to plan as Christmas looms near.

There's so much going on in this book. A friend, Oscar, is killed and not only does Trinidad's ex-husband appear on her doorstep but his first words are a confession to the man's murder. Trinidad inherits a bird, which she doesn't really want but her precious dog Noodles falls deeply in love with the parrot so she had no choice but to keep him. Bonnie is hiding a terrible secret- though what could be worse than what she's telling everyone out loud which is that she's preparing to remarry their recently released ex? Meanwhile Juliette is falling love with basketball bad boy, Crusher Barrone who (as threatening as his name sounds) is a teddy bear compared to his brother and neither one of them is half as frightening as their mother. And everyone, literally everyone, is out to get Gabe.

This book took place largely in an old steamboat on a big local lake. That was a fun twist and created kind of a locked-room scenario for some of the things that happened. There were also some special new recipes as Trinidad tries to branch out from shakes in an attempt to keep business steady in the cold weather.

This is a good entry in a reliably good series.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.