My Series Sunday pick is Murder with a Side of Red Velvet, the second book in the Honeybee Diner Mysteries series by Skylar Warren. We are back to Willow Bluff, Georgia, for a blazing summer with chef Jessie Haynes. She has prepared a tasty wedding buffet. Love is in the air when groom Tommy Prescott takes a bite of the tiered red velvet cake decorated in pearly-white icing. He immediately slumps to the floor dead leaving a shocked young bride. His wedding toast becomes his eulogy.
"She'd learned long ago that folks in Willow Bluff didn't trade in truth; they traded in tales." ~ 8%
Back at Honeybee's Diner, Jessie is fixin' to find the killer fast but the investigation won't be a piece of cake. There are many suspects. The sobbing bride? One of the groom's grown children fearing they would lose their inheritance? Or the wedding planner?
Unfortunately, this second book was too cookie cutter. I love a cozy culinary mystery but this was way too formulaic. Swap the victim's name, a few suspects, and it was like re-reading book one of this series. Same type of murder. Same sleuth tactics. Same gossip. I'm a bit disappointed but not enough to stop reading the series. I'm planning to try reading the next installment in spring 2027 before giving up on Honeybee Diner mysteries.
Happy Early Pub Day, Skylar Warren! Murder with a Side of Red Velvet will be available Tuesday, October 6.
Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins. ~LiteraryMarie
Author: Skylar Warren
Published: October 2026
Pages: 354
Edition: Galley
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 🖤 🖤
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