My Series-ous Reading takes a second slice of Pizza Lovers Mystery

My theme for this round of Series-ous Reading has been highlighting the second title in a mystery series, which is just as important as the first, for what I call Second Acts.

It's like comparing the first season of a TV show to the second, where most of the awkward moments have been smoothed out and major arcs are beginning to take focus. I bring up TV because the tone of Chris Cavender's Pizza Lovers Mysteries has that friendly feel of a beloved sitcom or lighthearted drama.

Upon reading A Slice of Murder, it was only natural that book two would be an entry(a last minute one but nonetheless...)here. Pepperoni Pizza Can be Murder has widowed pizza parlor owner Eleanor Swift, along with her sassy sister Maddy, dealing with another case of unexpected death as she does her best to serve up slices.

This time out, the death dealing is way too close for comfort as the body of Wade Hatcher is found in the kitchen of her place, A Slice of Delight, with one of Eleanor's best rolling pins as the murder weapon. Wade happens to be the brother of Gregg, a regular employee at ASOD, whose relationship with his sibling has never been on the best of terms.

In addition to a prolonged battle over a family inheritance, Wade decided to get back at his brother by flirting with Greg's former girlfriend Katy, timing that encounter just so in order to have Gregg walk in on them both. This ,of course, lead to a fistfight with Gregg's current girlfriend Sandi becoming furious over the whole situation as well. Under these circumstances, Gregg is not inclined to talk to the cops once his brother's murder is major news:

You can't blame Gregg for avoiding the police, since Sheriff Kevin Hurley was all too quick to blame Eleanor for the murder of a less than desirable customer on her delivery route(in A Slice of Murder) and now is fixated on Gregg as the killer.

Considering that Wade owned money to a local loan shark and was skimming off the books at his accounting job, you might want to widen your suspect pool there! I really can't stand Kevin, as his status as former high school beau of Eleanor's (who cheated on her back then with the woman he later married!) makes him get way too personal in Eleanor's business at times.

Mind you, Eleanor is no shrinking violet, even managing to keep her cool during an armed robbery after hours and her sister Maddy always has her back, whether it's gathering information on potential suspects or using what pull she has over ex-lovers to get what she wants. Eleanor will not be bullied, not by Kevin or anyone else but she can get in over her head upon hunting down a killer.

What I really like about these books is the sense of camaraderie among the characters, from the banter between Eleanor and Maddy to the loyalty shown by employees Gregg and Josh(Kevin's son, who fights with his dad over when and if he can work at ASOD due to whatever case is being investigated) and their various friends.  The connections feel authentic and draws you into the story with amiable style.

Also seeing the pizza parlor day-to-day concerns as part of the story line is a nice bonus; it does help that Eleanor can make her own hours when it comes to chasing down clues and suspects.

Worries over how the latest murder can affect her profits and handling a vengeful customer claiming that a bug was in her food all add to the engaging background here,plus Eleanor truly does love making pizza(recipes are included at the end of the story) and that alone makes this a mouth watering read indeed:

So,yes, the Pizza Lovers Mystery series is one that I will be reading more of and may be including more reviews for next year's Series-ous Reading(I'm thinking an all culinary crime TBR!). After all, who can resist a good slice of pizza, especially when it comes with a side of charming characters and some tasty laughs along the way?:

Meanwhile, my Series-ous Reading selection for July is Frances Brody's Death of an Avid Reader, which is the sixth title in her series of Kate Shackleton mysteries set in post-WWI England.

Yes, I do intend to read the second book(A Medal for Murder) as part of my Second Acts feature but it's hard to resist such a tempting title for a bookworm like me! Anyway, I did start this series with book seven(Death in the Dales) so it only makes sense to work my way backwards here.

The plot of this particular mystery has Kate being hired to find the secret daughter of a noble woman whose husband is close to death's door. This search brings to Kate's attention the death of a librarian who may have been murdered and a possibly innocent man being blamed for that crime, all of which connects to the long lost daughter.

So far, I'm enjoying the book very much-the cover art for this series is just gorgeous!-and it's nice to have a bookish mystery to cool off with these days: