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Olivia Greyson is the proud owner of The Gingerbread House-a quaint shop that specializes in all things cookie-and her best friend, Maddie, is her sidekick, baking up scrumptious treats for their cookie-themed parties. But now they must take a break from baking and find a killer, or else their reputation-and quite possibly their lives-will be battered for good.
InspirationalAngel
Posted January 31, 2013
Title: Cookie Dough or Die
Author: Virginia Lowell
(Synopsis)
Olivia "Livie" Grayson, slave to Spunky, a rescued yorkie, is co-propietor of The Gingerbread House along with long time friend Maddie Briggs, a free-spirited, flamboyant, and a cookie mixer extrodinaire. The book quickly goes to the announcement of the discovery of Livie's dear friend and mentor Clarisse Chamberlain, wealthy business woman and a pillar of the community. Sheriff Delroy Jenkins tells her it was either a suicide or accidental overdose. Something Livie has a hard time accepting. The more she learns the more she is convinced Clarisse was murdered.
Livie recieves a letter that convinces her more than ever something was going on in Clarisse's life that may have led to her death. She and Maddie begin investigating on their own, much to the consternation of the sheriff. They interview many of the town's people covertly and check the alibi's of each of her prime suspects. Follow along as Livie and Maddie make cookies, sell new and antique cookie cutters and investigate murder on the side.
(Review)
Welcome to Chatterly Heights, your newest stop on visits to old and new literary friends. If you enjoy Diane Mott Davidson's Goldylock's Catering or Joann Fluke's Hannah Swenson mysteries then you are going to love Virginia Lowell's Cookie Cutter Shop mysteries. You will identify with Livie's hectic life and smile as you imagine Maddie and her zany ways. From beginning to end Cookie Dough or Die will keep you involved in the happenings at The Gingerbread House and eagerly waiting to open A Cookie Before Dying just so you won't have to leave Chatterly Heights.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 16, 2012
Good story from the get go. A nice, easy, enjoyable read.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.threecentsshort
Posted April 20, 2011
For some reason I was very hesitant about buying this book . But after reading it I see what a mistake it would have been to have deprived myself the pleasure of an excellent new read. Without giving away any secrets I would just suggest buying it for yourself & see it you don't agree that this is a great book to spent a quiet night or two curled up reading. I am looking forward to more adventures with the characters in the next Cookie Dough mystery series. I know now I will not hesitate to buy & read #2 in this suspenseful [& delicious] new series.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Olivia Greyson is the owner of The Gingerbread House which occupies the first floor of her Victorian home in Chatterley Heights. It is a shop that features cookie cutters and other baking items. Olivia lives upstairs with her tiny dog Spunky. Olivia (Livie) and her friend Maddie run the shop and Maddie bakes and creates the most yummy cookies. Olivia gets to be close friends with prominent Chatterley Heights citizen and business woman Clarisse Chamberlain who also has a passion for cookie cutters. She often helped out at Livie's shop and gave her business advice.
No one it town is more shocked than Livie when she learns of Clarisse's death. The sheriff calls it an accident, maybe suicide, but Livie can't wrap her head around those ideas. Clarisse was too meticulous and too strong, neither of these options fit. She knows Clarisse had something on her mind of late but until Livie can figure out what that was she can't be sure, but her gut is telling her this was not an accident. Some one killed Clarisse Chamberlain and she is going to find out who before the last cookie crumbles.
I really liked this story. It is a wonderful debut to what I am sure will be a wonderful series. Cozy mysteries are my favorites and I am continually amazed by the variety of settings used for each series. A simple cookie cutter shop is an excellent setting and I can see many possibilities for future mysteries.
The foundation has been well laid in this first story. Letting us get to know just enough about they main characters to want us to keep reading more about them to learn who they are below the surface. The supporting characters in this story were fun, quirky, opinionated, smart, and witty. I hope they are around in future installments.
This is not only a new series but a new author. An author I can't find anything about. Not a web page, a Facebook page or email. Leads me to wonder if this is a new author or an author we already know using a pseudonym. If Virginia Lowell is indeed a brand new author, this is an excellent written mystery for a debut. I hope we can learn more about her in the future and that she continues to write books as good as this one. Through my research I did find out that book two in this series A Cookie Before Dying is slated to be released December 6, 2011.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Berkley Prime Crime, A Division of the Penguin Group. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 22, 2012
Cool title
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 15, 2012
I have no idea why the reviews for this book are so high. I love cozy novels, but I just could not get into this one. The writing itself was bad, the story was poorly told and seemed to randomly jump around, the pacing was slow, the killer(s) (no spoilers) seemed obvious, etc....I had really high hopes for this book based off of all of the reviews, but it was a let down.
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 9, 2011
I Also Recommend:
One of the best "first in a new series" that I have read in the past few years. Great story line, enough characters to make it interesting, and very well written and edited. Looking forward to more in this series - and soon!
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.In the Baltimore suburb Chatterley Heights, Sheriff Delroy Jenkins visits The Gingerbread House co-owners and BFFs Olivia Greyson and Madeline Briggs in the middle of the night to inform the former that her friend Clarisse Chamberlain died from an apparent accidental overdose. Stunned by the pronouncement of Clarisse's death as the woman was the influence who persuaded Olivia to open the cookie shop following her divorce from controlling Ryan the surgeon. However, the autopsy reveals alcohol in the victim's stomach that seemed like it was guzzled in record time; out of the ordinary behavior by Clarisse, which leads Del to reconsider suicide or homicide rather than accident.
At the reading of the will, Clarisse leaves a stunned Olivia with money and her valuable antique cookie cutters. This grand gesture to her friend makes Olivia a person with a motive. At the same tome that Del reluctantly looks at Olivia as a person of interest, Clarisse's sons Edward and Hugh suspect her. When Sam the letter carrier becomes deathly ill from The Gingerbread House cookies, Olivia becomes motivated to prove her innocence on all fronts.
Olivia and Maddie make an amusing amateur sleuth tandem as they bake a new recipe to uncover the identity of a killer who at a minimum tainted their reputation and at a maximum may send the two female cookie makers to join Clarisse at rest. The whodunit is well done as the killer is in plain sight yet just outside the reader's peripheral vision. Fans of cozies will enjoy this Maryland small-town family affair.
Harriet Klausner
1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 17, 2012
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Michelle1948
Posted February 9, 2012
This was an enjoyable cozy read ....so cozy that I wanted to eat a cookie every time the main characters were baking cookies.
I will look for more in this series....it was a fun read!
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 3, 2011
Loved this book! Can't wait for the next in the series.
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Overview
Olivia Greyson is the proud owner of The Gingerbread House-a quaint shop that specializes in all things cookie-and her best friend, Maddie, is her sidekick, baking up scrumptious treats for their cookie-themed parties. But now they must take a break from baking and find a killer, or else their reputation-and quite possibly their lives-will be battered for good.