New York Times bestselling author Krista Davis delights with the 14th in her enormously popular and completely charming Domestic Diva Mystery series, as entertaining maven Sophie Winston must cut to the core of another murder investigation when members of an international tour group begin dropping like flies all over Old Town, Virginia...
With Old Town's DIY Home Decorating Festival in full swing, Sophie's swamped, juggling a bumper crop of artisans, antique dealers, and decorators for the busy street fair. Still, when her best friend Nina suddenly needs a ride from the airport, Sophie is happy to help...until she sees Nina disembarking in a state of disarray. It's obvious the trip to Portugal soured somewhere along the way. But after one of Nina's traveling companions turns up murdered the following day, Sophie knows something is truly rotten...
Though the crime scene is staged to look like an accident, Sophie isn't fooled and peels off to conduct her own investigation. Her only clue is a strange image the victim scratched into the soil before dying. Could it point to a cryptic killer in Old Town? A bitter travel adversary? Or a cursed artifact smuggled back from the trip? As the mystery grows, so does the body count, and if Sophie doesn't pluck the murderer soon, her best friend may be the next to fall.
The Diva Serves Forbidden Fruit by Krista Davis is the 14th A Domestic Diva Mystery. This cozy can be read as a standalone if you are new to this entertaining series. Sophie Winston is organizing Old Town Alexandria’s DIY Home Decorating Festival. When Paisley needs Sophie to locate her mother for help with her rowdy brood of boys, she is happy to help. Unfortunately, Lark is found dead in her back garden and is not from natural causes. Lark left them a cryptic clue to help. When another woman is found dead in a similar manner, Sophie wonders if something happened on their recent trip to Portugal. Sophie must gather the clues and sift through them so she can identify the guilty party.
I thought The Diva Serves Forbidden Fruit was well-written with developed characters. Sophie Winston is a friendly and relatable character. I like how various characters are still friendly despite previous relationships and residents of the community are there for each other in times of need. I love the setting of this book. The author provided beautiful descriptions of Old Town with its beautiful old homes. The DIY Home Decorating Festival was fun. There were some great items being sold along with some interesting demonstrations (I want a festival like that in my town). I especially loved the word images of Paisley’s hand painted furniture. The whodunit was a delight. I enjoy a good mystery that is thought out and complex. I had a good time solving this mystery. It was fun following Sophie as she asked questions and collected clues. I appreciated that Officer Wong and Detective Wolf are friendly. Detective Wolf does not discount Sophie There was a lot going on in The Diva Serves Forbidden Fruit. Besides the whodunit and the festival, Sophie has houseguests, Paisley’s rowdy children (I do not know how she does it) plus her irritating husband (she needs to get a divorce), Natasha carrying on about her house, and the dashing new medical examiner Dr. Chryssos who takes an interest in Sophie. There are mouthwatering food descriptions (made me hungry). There are recipes at the end of the book. I enjoyed reading The Diva Serves Forbidden Fruit and did not want it to end. Cozy mysteries like this one are rare. The Diva Serves Forbidden Fruit is a diverting tale with cute canines, a fun festival, tasty treats, a clever clue, boisterous boys, a dashing doctor, and an astute amateur sleuth.
Kris
The Avid Reader
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