Monday, April 3, 2023

Arya Winters and the Tiramisu of Death

Title: Arya Winters and the Tiramisu of Death
Author: Amita Murray
Published: October 26, 2021 by Agora Books
Format: Paperback, 295 pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Arya Winters #1

First Sentence: Loneliness killed my Auntie Meera.

Blurb: Arya Winters is your typical cozy heroine. She lives in a cottage in a small English village, and bakes for a living - well, she specializes in macabre desserts. She has nosy neighbors, who she avoids ruthlessly due to her social anxiety. And she has a keen interest in all things sexy, especially Branwell Beam, the writer next door.

When her neighbor Tobias Yards turns up dead after eating poisoned tiramisu (definitely not poisoned when she baked it), no one seems to connect it to Arya's Auntie Meera's recent death. Instead, they blame her excruciatingly average ex-boyfriend—and Tobias’s nephew—and so she takes matters into her own hands. Now all she has to do to uncover the truth is to get over her aversion to Other People. Besides that, it's just a matter of getting beyond some yellow tape, dodging her former BFF Tallulah from secondary school, and getting into Branwell's pants—he seems strangely reluctant.

What Arya doesn't realize is that the murderer is dangerous, preying on lonely people who've experienced trauma, and that she might have to do all she can not to become the next victim.

My Opinion: This book is not going to be for everyone. Some will find Arya Winters offensive and inappropriate, but I adored her. She is damaged; in so many ways, yet there is something about her view of life that is appealing. She is a completely unapologetic, honestly straightforward, no holds barred baker of macabre cakes in a small town.

When it comes to classifying this book, I have no idea where to begin. Aria is an amateur sleuth, but even with her small town, small business, and two cats that have adopted her -- this is not a cozy mystery; far from it.

There is laughter. Eyebrow-raising moments. Interesting goings-on and eye-rolling comments. Yet, I admired Arya and her non-traditional view of life.

I loved that the “who-done-it” was never on my radar. Usually, books let it slip early, and if Arya Winters and the Tiramisu of Death did, I completely missed it.

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