THE POPPY PETERS MYSTERIES

A. GARDNER

This is one of the most delicious, super yummy, scrumptious, highly exciting and very interesting mystery series. How could the books be so delicious? Yes, they can depending on the writing skills (penmanship) of the author and because it mostly involves the culinary skills of Poppy Peters, the protagonist. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all the books in the series which are absolutely fabulous and highly irresistible to put down. What I loved the most about the series was the special relationship that Poppy Peters has with her best friend, Bree from the Calle Pastry Academy. They are constantly in touch with each other even if they go on their separate ways. There’s everything in this series that’s required for a good cozy mystery. Thrill, fun, flirting, humor and unexpected twists and turns. I highly recommend this series for reading.

Book 1
Southern Peach Pie and a Dead Guy
Poppy Peters from Portland, Oregon joins Calle
Pastry Academy in Georgia, where she meets Cole, her classmate and they have an interesting chat over a light snack at the cafe. She happens to see a MISSING STUDENT notice on the community board. The student Tom Fox, has been missing since last semester. She checks out her room and her roommate, Bree, who’s on a baking spree.
Their classes begin the following day. A handsome guy,Jeff, befriends Poppy. Their pastry chef is a French guy named Chef Sellers. She also notices a bully, Georgina, trying her level best to be on the good books of Chef Sellers. Poor Poppy has a disastrous start to her academic year. She ruins a peach pie. Later, that night she goes for a walk but gets frozen in fear after listening to weird noises coming from the students’ kitchen after the class hours. Her second day is even worse because the oven in which she had made her cupcakes is on smoke.

To make the matters worse, she gets accused of stealing black truffles from the kitchen because Chef Sellers mentions seeing her near the students’ kitchen after the class hours . Chef Sellers ends up dead, leaving Poppy no other choice but to investigate the crime to clear her name and prove her innocence. This is a splendid story with more twists coming and you can’t help but continue to read what happens next.

Book 2
Chocolate Macaroons and a Dead Groom
Poppy Peters has won a dessert making contest and is visiting Paris to intern with the famous chef, Jean Pierre Gautier at Le Croissant Bakery. She meets the staff, Marta, the sous chef, Destin and Dandre, the other chefs who are cousins as well.

She learns from Michel Rolph, the general manager that Chef Pierre had thought of taking her with his crew to England to cater the wedding of Lord Dovington at Dovington Manor but dropped the idea. Poppy takes it as a challenge and requests to be given chance to visit England. Her request is accepted.
When she meets the would be groom, she’s shocked to find that he is the same guy, Sam who spilled coffee on her blouse when she entered Paris and sent her an expensive diamond pendant for seeking apology. Then, follows a mayhem after he is found dead by Poppy who drops her tea tray in surprise. The Detectives Case and Detective Berry question the staff. Poppy is shocked to learn that the same pendant was found beside the corpse. She’s now a primary suspect. But this case is not so simple because the victim was living a dangerous life. He cheated on many women. Could anyone of them have pushed him to fall off the cliff to death? This book has even more surprises than the first one. It keeps getting excellent and more excellent.

Book 3 Bananas Foster and a Dead Mobster. This time Calle Pastry Academy has a new instructor, Chef Otto Chimenti, who’s a TV celebrity, having a reality show Bonbon Voyage. He pairs up students and unfortunately, Poppy gets her nemesis, Georgina, for a partner. They are forced to co-operate with each other. The Academy is holding a permanent booth at the local farmers’ market to rebuild the image of the academy marred by the arrest and the murder. Poppy has prepared banana foster while her best friend, Bree is paired with Karl, and has made key lime coconut cupcakes. An elderly woman, Miss Hattie Mae Scott, appreciates Poppy’ s banana foster and Bree’s coconut cupcakes . A heavyset man in a chocolate pinstripe suit approaches them and buys banana foster from Poppy but is discovered dead with a knife belonging to Poppy on his back. Someone has framed Poppy and her life is under a great threat because the dead man is identified as Gino Milani, an associate of the infamous mobster, Vito Bianco. Poppy must flush out the actual killer before it’s too late.

Book 4

Strawberry Tartlets and a Dead Starlet

After graduating from Calle Pastry Academy, Poppy Peters and her friend, Bree, get a temporary job at Magnolia Harbor Inn and Spa, Gator Bay. Their employer is none other than Miss Hattie Mae Scott, a dear old lady and her daughter, Cherie, who manages the inn. A local celebrity, country music star, Lacy Leigh Nichols comes to stay at the inn and her bodyguard is none other than Poppy’s old flame at high school, Presley.

Luck runs out on them as Lacy’s found dead in Presley’s room with a strawberry tart made by Poppy. Presley is scared because he feels that someone wanted him dead but killed Lacy by mistake because they had swapped their rooms. He confides in Poppy that Lacy felt someone stalking her and asked for a room change. Now that she’s dead, he wants Poppy’s help to find out the culprit and prevent him from murdering him. Meanwhile, Frankie, the hotel maid, starts exhibiting a weird behavior. Something fishy is going on. The detective, Bob Sugars, is rather incompetent. It’s upto Poppy to prove her innocence because the strawberry tart had been poisoned. Is Lacy the actual victim or someone wanted Presley dead? If so, why? Catch this superb edge of the seat thriller with secrets tumbling out of the closet.

Book 5
Wedding Souffle and a Dead Valet
Poppy Peters is in England to attend the wedding of her friend, Marta from Le Croissant, Paris with Detective Lewis Berry. Marta’s mom, Sandra, is romantically involved with Lord Chutney, a local aristocrat, who’s despised by most of the villagers.

When they ( Marta and Poppy) arrive at the manor for dinner, Poppy meets a handsome valet, Ethan Taylor who flirts with her and unfortunately found dead in Lord Chutney’s Rolls Royce. There’s more to the story. Tamsin, Marta’s best friend and another bridesmaid is rather displaying a weird behavior. Moreover, her room at Rose’s Inn gets ransacked and her laptop and important documents get stolen.

Marta’s very worried as Tamsin doesn’t show up for wedding rehearsal and the police arrest Catherine, the local baker, for Taylor’s murder because her DNA was found all over the car in which Taylor’s body was discovered. With Tamsin missing, will Marta get married at all to her sweetheart? Awesome story. It’s a must read.

Book 6
Gingerbread Fudge and a Holiday Grudge
Poppy Peters’ Christmas holidays plan with her parents gets cancelled because they are on a vacation to the Bahamas sponsored by her brother Mark. She accepts a job with Narine Montgomery, the sister of Mr. Dixon from the Calle Pastry Academy where she’s now working as an instructor. She is on her way to Buttercup Ridge near Georgia when her car breaks down and Narine sends a handsome mechanic, Brant, to her aid.

They briefly stop outside Brant’s father’s garage and Poppy wanders around to enjoy the scenery. She stumbles upon a dead body near the riverbank. For the first time, she decides not to involve herself and get ready for her new job.  They proceed towards Buttercup manor. Narine gives her a warm welcome. She gets down to the business and goes shopping for peppermint candy for Christmas dessert preparation. She visits Alpine Bakery, whose owner, Ethel is detested by Narine for bagging the bakery rightfully belonging to Mary Booker,  Hank Booker’s wife.
A series of incidents crop up from the Sabotage of Ethel’s bakery, to the  kidnapping of another local girl, Rowena, daughter of Winnie Delford, the owner of Tipsy’s tavern, to the sabotage of Christmas Party dinner at Buttercup  manor and the attempted arson at Buttercup Manor. This is truly a delightful read. I am sure I must have gained 5 pounds after reading this yummy, super delicious, mouthwatering story. Kudos to author A Gardner.

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