I was so excited to see Goodbye Cruller World by Ginger Bolton on the shelf at the library. I remembered liking her first one and mentally noting to get the second when it came out.

Basic Summary (Courtesy of Amazon):

Normally, Emily’s eyes tend to glaze over when prospective brides go on about their wedding plans. But when the owner of the clothing shop, Dressed to Kill, asks Emily to design a donut wall for her reception, she’s immediately sweet on the idea. With the help of her father-in-law and business partner—the former police chief of Fallingbrook—she hangs the treats from dowels on the wall so guests can help themselves.

But that night, when the groom ends up on the floor with signs of poisoning, Emily suspects someone has tampered with her treats. When the groom dies, there’s no way to sugarcoat it: she’s got a murder on her hands. Despite a list of suspects as long as the guest list, Emily vows to find out who created the killer confection to save her shop’s reputation and keep the bride out of handcuffs. She’ll have to move fast . . . before the poisoner takes a powder.

My thoughts:

I finished this book more than a week ago. I’ve been debating whether to review it ever since. I have a rule about this. My first year reviewing I was still figuring out the process and I posted a review of every book I read. But by the end I hated putting too much unpleasantness into the world. So this year, if I can’t find three nice things to say about the book, I just won’t review it. Hence my struggle.

I just looked at my review for the first book, the donut thing bothered me again. I get that it’s a donut shop mystery but the sixteen word long description of every donut anyone ever eats in the book is too much for me. And a lot of donut happen in this book. A lot.

It was an enjoyable read, like the first one, up til a point. I was reading along,  smile on my face, ignoring the donuts, enjoying the building budding relationship, the funny ways people lie. And then, wham, the “solution” arrived (totally predictable – I actually thought early in the book I hope it’s not going to be one of those where x did it, it was) without wrapping up any of the loose ends.

I was heinously dissatisfied. Like when I order a Dead Elvis donut and there isn’t enough custard in the middle so the peanut butter frosting overwhelms the whole thing and sticks to the roof of my mouth. Like that.