Tres Leches Cupcakes

Tres Leches Cupcakes

By: Josi S. Kilpack

Undercover work.  That’s all Sadie is doing.  Harmless, gather-people’s-name-and-address undercover work.   Then she and her new friend, Margo, uncover two dead bodies at an archeological site in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  It seems Sadie’s safe stay in Santa Fe isn’t too safe after all.

Summary

Jane is still a threat to Sadie.  So Pete ships her off to Santa Fe to stay with his cousin Caro, and to be an undercover informant for the Bureau of Land Management.  It’s dirty work, but Sadie is at least safe, until Sadie and Margo go poking around for answers as to what the bodies were doing in the archeological site, and who put them there. 

Sadie can’t run away from this mystery either.  No matter how hard she tries the mystery follows her against her will.  This time she is forced to solve it. 

Plot Elements

Sadie is slowly learning to control her anxiety attacks.  Even with being in a bar fight, getting arrested, being kidnapped, and chased through the night desert, she keeps calm through every situation.  She knows that if she doesn’t it could cost her, her life.  This shows Sadie’s developing character.  Even a 50 odd year old woman can overcome her weakness and continue to help others.

As mentioned before Sadie isn’t too keen on investigating this mystery.  She wants to watch the hot air balloon fiesta and continue to do her harmless undercover work.   Fate would not have it, and Sadie is literally forced to solve the mystery by none other than the suspects themselves.  This plot element makes Tres Leches Cupcakes different than the other books in the series.

These two elements add the necessary depth that make this mystery entertaining and keep the series moving forward. 

Bonus: A Lesson on Relationships

Caro and her husband, Rex, are going through a tough time in their marriage.  As empty-nesters they each of different ideas of what their life will now be like.  While Caro and Sadie are discussing this relationship it got me thinking of how relationships change when major events happen in our lives.  Both parties must communicate in order to make the relationship last.

This happened recently in my own life.  My husband and I were blessed with a daughter (our first child).  With this new addition to our family our roles shifted, expectations changed, and sometimes tempers ran high.  We both have to come to a middle ground and understand what the other person is going through. 

A similar thing happens in Tres Leches Cupcake with Caro and Rex.  They come to realize they both need to better understand one another to make their marriage work. 

Kilpack often places strained relationships in her books.  Sometimes they are worked out, and other times they are not.  Not every relationship works out the way we want it to.  In addition if we want our relationships to be happy we have to work at it, just as Rex and Caro must do in Tres Leches Cupcakes.

Personal Review

Though Tres Leches Cupcakes was a page-turner, it wasn’t my favorite in the series.  I understand why it was necessary to put in the series—it shows Sadie further overcoming her anxiety.