Devil's Food Cake

Devil’s Food Cake

By: Josi. S. Kilpack

Would you look at that cover?  If nothing else drew me to read this book it was the cover.  Chocolate is it’s own food group in my mind.  Especially when you have layers and layers of rich chocolate.   Some people can’t handle that rich chocolate flavor.  I’m definitely not one of them. 

Devil’s Food Cake, like the actual treat, has more layers and more twists and turns than the previous two books in the Sadie Hoffmiller series.  New characters pop up who stay with Sadie for several more books; something that Kilpack hasn’t done in her previous two books (minus Sadie’s children and boyfriend).

Summary

Thom Mortensen has returned to Garrison to speak at a fundraising event.  Things don’t turn out smoothly for Thom when his manager, Mr. Ogreski is murdered in front of at least 100 people, including Sadie. At the scene of the crime Sadie immediately starts to investigate.  She incorrectly guesses that since she has twice successfully solved murder, her boyfriend, Detective Pete Cunningham, would love the help of her armature detective work.  However, after she answers the police’s questions Pete tells her to go home.  He doesn’t want her involved.  Sadie tries to do as she is told, except as she is leaving she finds more questions to be answer and more clues to uncover, which eventually lead her to finding new friends who’ll help with solving the case, because the Garrison police are once again looking in all the wrong places and unwilling to listen to her.

New Characters

Devil’s Food Cake introduces two key characters who play bigger parts in the following books.  Eric, a fellow citizen of Garrison, quickly becomes Sadie’s friend and co-investigator in the case.   Jane, a reporter for the Denver Post, is looking to dig something delicious up when it comes to Thom’s new book.

These two characters are responsible for much of the change that takes place in Sadie’s character over the next few books.

A Development of Sadie’s Character

We also meet Shawn, Sadie’s son, who is a huge help to Sadie in solving this mystery.  We have now seen Sadie interact with her two children, which further develops her character.  By watching, or reading in this case, someone interact with their grown children you learn more about them.  How important is family to them?  Do their children trust them with the things going on in their adult life?  Does Sadie treat her children like she did when they were at home—looking over their shoulders to make sure they dotted all their “I’s” and crossed all their “T’s”?  Or does she give them the space they need? 

Introducing more characters for Sadie to interact with gives Sadie more depth, which deepens as the series continues. 

Personal Review

For this reason I loved this book.  Devil’s Food Cake is the first book in which characters in the book begin to shape Sadie, and when we see Sadie begin to change from a retired widow who is happy to live in a small community, volunteering at fundraisers and baking in her kitchen, to a woman who is realizing there is more to life than staying in one spot and doing the same things over and over again.  Sadie is coming to understand there is more to life than making chocolate cake.

English Trifle

English Trifle

By Josi S. Kilpack

There are many ways to make an English Trifle, Sadie informs her host.  In fact she once gave her English Trifle recipe to several women who all intended to make it for a community gathering.  Instead of layering the fruits, Danish dessert and pudding, one lady mixed them all together, and another used only one type of fruit.  They all tasted lovely. 

Just like there are many ways to make an English Trifle, there are many ways to solve a mystery.  The English police have their way, and Sadie has hers.  Sadie’s includes Crumpets, Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Macaroons, and Wake’Em Up Breakfast Casserole, among other delicious foods. 

Summary

Thus Sadie finds herself in another murder mystery, this time in England where she and her grown daughter, Breanna, are visiting her daughter’s boyfriend, Liam.  Things for Breanna and Liam aren’t going too smoothly when, upon leaving Liam’s estate, Sadie and Breanna find the body of Liam’s father’s nurse, John Henry.

After successfully solving one murder mystery Sadie has no doubt she can successfully solve another one, especially when no one seems to be taking this mystery seriously.  With her daughter at her side, and some new recipes to try, Sadie is determined to capture the culprit.

Sadie soon comes to suspect that Breanna not only doesn’t want to get involved in solving this mystery, but is also hiding something from Sadie.  Sadie soon suspects most everyone in Liam’s estate has a secret they aren’t willing to tell, especially when it comes to the murder of John Henry. 

Personal Review

English Trifle doesn’t necessarily build off of Lemon Tart.  You can get away with reading English Trifle without having read Lemon Tart.  I was slightly disappointed that some of the characters from Lemon Tart weren’t mentioned in this book.  I was hoping to find out what happened to Jack and Trevor, and if Jack ever made his marriage work out.  I could see why Sadie’s new boyfriend, Pete, wasn’t mentioned in every other chapter.  Pete wasn’t supposed to be a part of this book.  If he were than Kilpack wouldn’t have separated Pete and Sadie by the Atlantic Ocean.

This book lacks some of the depth that Lemon Tart had.  I found Lemon Tart much more enticing than English Trifle, especially when it came to Sadie solving the mystery.  Sadie meets very little resistance in solving the mystery, and she doesn’t discover anything about herself in English Trifle.   

Lemon Tart

Lemon Tart

By Josi S. Kilpack

Summary

Sadie Hoffmiller lives in Garrison, Colorado.  She loves baking and cooking and keeps up to date with everything going on in her neighborhood.  Being a widow and empty nester doesn’t mean she stays out of trouble though.

When her new friend and neighbor, Anne Lemon, is found dead in the field behind her house, and her two-year-old son, Trevor, is missing, Sadie is one of the first to know.  Sadie is convinced she has valuable information for investigators in regards to Anne’s murder and Trevor’s kidnapping.  However, they, especially a particularly I’m-better-than-you investigators, don’t want to hear what Sadie has to say.  In fact she becomes a suspect!  Sadie will not put up with this!  Sadie has two choices: 1) leave the investigation to the police. 2) Take matters into her own hands.  Sadie chooses option number two. 

She bakes her way through scrumptious cookies to delicious brownies in order to find out who is really behind the murder and to clear her own name.

In the process of solving the mystery Sadie finds out some things about her own family she never knew.  Things she probably didn’t want to know.  Her trust in her family is tried and she must hold onto the hope that there is good in every person, and a motive behind every action.  Sadie must keep her sights on the end prize: find out who killed Anne, and who took Trevor.

If you are looking for a book to simply enjoy pick up Lemon Tart.  There isn’t an underlying meaning.  It’s simply a book about a fiery widow who solves a mystery. 

An Introduction to the Sadie Hoffmiller Culinary Mystery Series

 I usually don’t finish a 300+ page book in a day.  I like to spread my read over several days.  Enjoy the book.  Think about the characters.  Predict what will happen next. 

Lemon Tart by Josi S. Kilpack was a different story.  It may have been because I was sick the day I read it and didn’t feel like doing anything else but curling up on the couch and reading.  Or it could also have been because Kilpack is a gifted suspense writer.  While reading I would keep telling myself, “One more chapter and I’ll go do something else.”  At the end of the next chapter, “Okay, this is really the last chapter, then I’ll put the book down.”  I didn’t put the book down until the last page was turned and the mystery solved.

After finishing the book I discovered there were eleven books in this series, and every single one of them had the same main character, Sadie Hoffmiller, who solves a different murder mystery.  In a way it reminded me of Louis L’Amour.  L’Amour is a wonderful storyteller.  But lets face it, when it comes down to it, most of his plots and characters are the same.  Some people can read ten of his books in a row without getting bored.  Not me.  I need a change in the literature I read.  I never thought I’d be able to finish the Sadie Hoffmiller series, or even be interested in finishing the series.  As of right now I’m waiting for an email from the library telling me that book 10 is waiting for me to pick up and read.

The first couple of books were similar in plot and type of mystery Sadie was solving.  I thought for sure by the 4^th or 5^th book I would become bored with the series. However, by book four the plot of the series turns a corner.  It’s not only about the mysteries themselves, but also about Sadie’s character.   She slowly evolves, becoming a different person from the 53 year old widow we met in Lemon Tart who liked to stay busy in her own community.  By book seven Sadie is having personal struggles in which readers see her overcome throughout the proceeding books.  These eleven books also explore the changing relationships she has with her grown children and her boyfriend.  As the series continues I believe the books become more about Sadie’s own life then they are about the mysteries themselves.  The mysteries provide a background setting for the story and keep the reader flipping the pages even when they tell themselves, “Just one more chapter, then I’ll go fold laundry.” 

Let’s be honest though.  Fold laundry, or read about a murder mystery? 

Books in the Sadie Hoffmiller series:

1. Lemon Tart

2. English Trifle

3. Devil's Food Cake

4. Key Lime Pie

5. Blackberry Crumble

6. Pumpkin Roll

7. Banana Split

8. Tres Leches Cupcakes

9. Baked Alaska

10. Rocky Road
11. Fortune Cookie (coming February 2014)

Notice they all have to do with food.  Sadie not only loves solving mysteries, she also loves baking and cooking.  Throughout the books she either bakes treats in order to obtain information from people, or she tries foods from the different places she visits.  All of these recipes are included in the books.

If you’re sick, don’t feel like cleaning the house, or need a distraction of some kind, I would pick up this series and start reading.   Warning: You may not be able to put the books down.

Rating

I would rate this series PG.  There are no swear words, no sexual scenes, and even though people are murdered, there are hardly any graphic details.  Sadie’s character gives some lightheartedness to some serious situations.

To read more about Josi S. Kilpack and her Culinary Mysteries click here.