Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have read and enjoyed several of the previous novels in this series, so I jumped at the chance to get a pre-release copy of "Wedding Cake Murder." Unfortunately, this was not the book I had hoped it would be. First of all, after leading two men on for years, Hannah finally has decided to marry--a third man. Of course, the other two are hanging around like little puppy dogs, ready to take care of her cat or come to her rescue in whatever ways are needed. Hannah knows almost nothing about the man she is marrying, including how much money he has or where it comes from. Perhaps the biggest problem with this book is that it is a "murder mystery," but the murder doesn't even take place until about halfway through the book. It is like the author suddenly realized there is supposed to be a murder and hastily killed someone off. The murder is mentioned here and there, between wedding plans and the cooking competition, but it is not the focus of the story. The writing is tedious. For example, here is a small portion of a conversation about cardamom (Yes, that's right. A conversation about cardamom.): ========== (Ross) "You mentioned your great-grandmother's cardamom bread. Does cardamom come from the Nordic countries?" (Hannah) "No, but they use a lot of it in baking sweets. It is also used in Indian cuisine, and it is often found in spice mixtures like curry. Then it's used as a savory in meat dishes." "Where does it grow?" Ross asked, obviously curious. "The biggest exporter of cardamom is Guatemala, but it's not indigenous there. A German planter imported it before the First World War.It's also grown in India, Pakistan and other parts of Indonesia." =========== There is more, but you get the idea. This is the kind of thing a new writer does when they have done a lot of research for a book and want to use every bit of it. The most interesting part of the book is the cooking competition. Even there, however, there are things that make you slap your forehead. Without introducing any spoilers, it is likely that some of the contestants would not have made it through a basic vetting by the network. And do you really think the contest would continue when one of the people involved is murdered in the middle of the competition? The book includes 22 recipes, and several of them look good. This series has some interesting and fun stories, but I will not be reading future books.