That Old Black Magic -Tepid at Best

				That Old Black Magic (Piper Donovan/Wedding Cake Mysteries) Offered by HarperCollins Publishers Price: $11.47
Tepid Who-Done-It, January 23, 2014     Book Description Publication Date: January 21, 2014 That Old Black Magic is New York Times bestselling author Mary Jane Clark’s savory and suspenseful confection filled with murder, mystery, history and voodoo, in which Piper Donovan must unmask a devious killer striking in New Orleans’s legendary French Quarter. Aspiring actress and wedding-cake decorator Piper Donovan has barely arrived in New Orleans to perfect her pastry skills at the renowned French Quarter bakery, Boulangerie Bertrand, when a ghastly murder rocks the magical city. Intrigued by the case, Piper can’t help but look for the “Hoodoo Killer” among the faces around her. Could it be the handsome guide eager to give her special private tours? Or the inscrutable jazz musician who plays on historic Royal Street? What about the ratings-starved radio talk-show host? Or even the amiable owner of the local Gris-Gris Bar? Though Piper has a full plate decorating cakes for upcoming wedding celebrations, she’s also landed an exciting but unnerving role in a movie being shot in the Big Easy. When the murderer strikes again, leaving macabre clues, she thinks she can unmask the killer. But Piper will have to conjure up some old black magic of her own if she hopes to live long enough to reveal the truth.   This review is from: That Old Black Magic (Piper Donovan/Wedding Cake Mysteries) (Kindle Edition) For someone like me who has never read this author, you may find her style of writing confusing, the large amounts of characters and red herrings annoying and the main character Piper, silly and naïve. For those of you who like this very sweet form of cozy mystery, you will most likely love this novel AND if you follow this author you will love this book! I will say that the author did do a very good job of deflecting the reader from figuring out who done it. I don't think there was even the barest whisper of a hint as to who committed the three murders and tried for a possible fourth. There are many very short chapters and I found that somewhat annoying, but it sure made it easy for me to put down this book, as I got bored with it. Unfortunately this happened all too frequently for my taste. I found the story tepid, the fact that Piper is a cake decorator AND an actress is a little too much to swallow in this particular instance and there are to many plot lines that didn't seem to have enough closure for my taste. *ARC SUPPLIED BY PUBLISHER*