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    Sweet Masterpiece
    Sweet Masterpiece
    Sweet Masterpiece
    Audiobook6 hours

    Sweet Masterpiece

    Written by Connie Shelton

    Narrated by Andrea Bates

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Samantha Sweet breaks into houses for a livingall perfectly legal as a caretaker for the USDA. But her real dream is to open her own pastry shop, Sweet's Sweets. Life is a little crazy for Sam right now. At one of her breakin properties a dying woman insists that she take a small wooden box. Sam doesn't realize that the old woman was known locally as a bruja, a witch, until she begins to feel some strange effects from the box, herself. Meanwhile, at another property, she finds an unmarked grave and the authorities come to investigate. The property owner disappeared a few months earlier and Sam wonderswho is the body in the grave? A small mural in the house leads to a connection with a famous artist; a bogus will points to possible fraud; and the handsome deputy investigating the case seems completely enchanted with Sam. While Sam scrambles to fill bakery orders and keep her properties in order, she's equally intrigued with the idea of a new romance. It all makes for a delightful romantic mystery with elements of the paranormal.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBooks in Motion
    Release dateMay 15, 2013
    ISBN9781614533641
    Sweet Masterpiece
    Author

    Connie Shelton

    Connie Shelton has been writing for more than twenty years and has taught writing (both fiction and nonfiction) since 2001. She is the author of the Charlie Parker mystery series and has been a contributor to several anthologies, including Chicken Soup For the Writer's Soul. "My husband and I love to do adventures. He flew helicopters for 35 years, a career that I've borrowed from in my Charlie Parker mysteries. We have traveled quite a lot and now divide our time between the American Southwest and a place on the Sea of Cortez. For relaxation I love art -- painting and drawing can completely consume me. I also really enjoy cooking, with whatever ingredients I find in whatever country we are in at the moment. We walk every day and love watching and photographing wildlife."

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    Reviews for Sweet Masterpiece

    3.5/5

    82 ratings6 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Samantha Sweet is a lady who breaks into houses for a living, and the things she discovers often lead to trouble. When she finds an unmarked grave on a property in a remote spot in Taos County, New Mexico, Sam calls in the authorities. A small mural painted inside a closet in the abandoned house provides clues and Sam is caught up in an investigation. A fortune in artwork, a bogus will, and a wooden box that seems to give Sam powers she never dreamed she possessed--all lead to a genuine mystery for Sam to solve.

      Then there is all that chocolate! Sam's real goal in life is to use her elegant baking skills to open her own pastry shop, Sweet's Sweets. She's gaining quite the reputation as a baker with a magical touch, but a few obstacles stand in her way. Her grown daughter shows up on her doorstep--jobless and homeless; her bank account is at an all-time low; and trying to work from the tiny cramped kitchen in her home is becoming impossible.

      This cosy mystery is a fast read with a clearly defined plot. Her characters are well-drawn, each with a personality and reason for being. It is enjoyable to be able to identify with characters who are real people
    • 5/5
      A great start to the series! And I love the descriptions of all the baked goods. Narrator is terrific.
    • 3/5
      I have to say I wasn't sure what to expect from this read, but it was recommended by a friend who likes a lot of the same books I do, so I gave it a shot. A really well written cozy mystery with elements of the paranormal. The characters were interesting and likeable, although none really stood out. A bit of romance as well, but nothing too intense or edgy. The main character takes care of houses that have been abandoned and foreclosed on, and I can see how this job could lead to a lot of interesting plot lines. I very much liked the art angle of this plot, and even though I guessed the murderer early, it didn't at all detract from the big reveal, so I'll say it was a well written, well thought-out plot. Will probably pick up the next one at some point, and I'll happily recommend this book to lovers of cozy mysteries.
    • 5/5
      This is very much a cozy mystery, so if you don't like them, skip it.I found it very engrossing and readable! Sam, our heroine, is a complex character in her 50s (yay!) who has been scrambling for years and was just about to buy her own bakery- her dream!- when her daughter absconded with her savings. This made me groan, because in far too many cozies, the female protagonists are complete doormats. It made me groan even more when the wayward daughter- in her 30s, by the way- shows up and of COURSE Sam offers her housing and support. Argh!BUT! The daughter is not purely a lazy layabout; in fact, she gets a job, plus helps Sam with some of her own work.This may have had something to do with a magical box that Sam was given when she was pursuing her other career: doing clean-up work on foreclosed properties. This is a fascinating twist and a great way to get Sam to completely naturally get involved in other people's business! And in another property, she finds not only a grave but a mural in a closet, apparently painted by one of the greats...The characters are all individual and well-drawn. The plot was not especially twisty, but it did keep me guessing, although if I'd been more clever I may have guessed better! Sam's love interest is well-handled, as are her other relationships.And I loved the atmosphere!I will definitely be reading more in this series!
    • 2/5
      At age fifty; Samantha Sweet’s dream was to own a bakery featuring cakes, cookies, and cupcakes. Currently, she was doing her baking at home under less than ideal conditions. Until she saved enough money to accomplish that she worked part time for a government agency cleaning and maintaining homes that had gone into default. Her job was to get them into shape to be sold. One day, she found a very ill, very unusual woman lying in bed in one of the houses. The woman gave Sam a box which she said had special powers, then she died. When she was mowing the yard at the next house, she discovered an unidentified grave. Both those finds play major roles in SWEET MASTERPIECE.Her new powers give her more energy and the ability to see things others cannot. The body in the grave is that of a recluse, an elderly man who turned out to have been a famous painter. The sheriff’s department initially believes he may have died from pneumonia or another natural cause.While the book was a fast read and well-written, I found the plot to be very thin. There were some very good descriptions of various locations. It had a lot of filler material about making cakes and cupcakes (no recipes were provided) and an overview, repeated several times, of what Sam did to prepare a house. The book has a lot of characters, primarily some of Sam’s long-time friends. She talks about her daughter Kelly who cleaned out Sam’s savings. Later the daughter returns but the story doesn’t give enough details about why she quit her job or why she suddenly changed.Another main character is the sheriff, Beau Cardwell. The relationship between him and Sam moves too quickly without explanation of Beau’s motivation. Overall, I found the book to be boring because of all the surface attention given to Sam’s jobs.It might have made a better short story.This book was a free Amazon download.
    • 3/5
      The story was fun but suffers in comparison to Kerry Greenwood's Corinna Chapman series. The main characters are both bakers but Samantha Sweet's frenetic pace is exhausting. I will try more in the series.