Book 7, 2019

Doomed by Dessert by CeCe Osgood

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I've just finished reading Doomed by Dessert, which is the first installment in author CeCe Osgood's "Witch Itch" mystery series. Main character is Abby Little, divorced, single mother and owner of Burt's Desserts--the bakery her father opened and ran until his death, when Abby took over.

Abby is not having a good week. She sees Alan, the man she's been dating, with another woman. Her dessert shop burns to the ground, and now Abby can't collect the insurance money, because Alan forgot to mail her payment. Furious, she confronts him at his place of business and tells him she's so angry, she could kill him. When Alan is murdered, via poison, a few days later, Abby becomes the primary suspect in the investigation.

Now she has reporters hounding her, the police are relentless in questioning her, and her ex-husband is side-eyeing Abby as if he thinks she could have done it. Abby takes it upon herself to clear her own name, beginning with The Other Woman. When she learns that Alan was a womanizing man-slut (my words, not the author's!) and had at least one other woman on a string, Abby begins to suspect everyone.

In the meantime, Abby thinks she's hallucinating when her palm begins to itch, and she swears she sees a blue, sparkling orb in the center of her hand. She chalks it up to too much stress. But that's not all. A strange book has appeared in Abby's home, she thinks her neighbor is hiding pointed ears beneath her hair, and a random stranger, whose wolf tattoo seems to have glowing eyes, tells her that things aren't always as they appear.

Abby shoves her fanciful imaginings aside to concentrate on learning who may have wanted Alan dead more than she did. Her questions lead her to some interesting revelations, and into danger as well.

Charming story. Abby was a likable heroine. Other characters weren't as fleshed out, but it was a novella, and the beginning of a series, so I'll let that slide. The plot was intriguing and kept me reading. I'll certainly look for more in this series.

Favorite line: Of course, she didn't seem like a killer. Who does that?