Review: The Usual Family Mayhem

The Usual Family Mayhem by HelenKay Dimon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I nearly stopped reading this book a couple of chapters in because of the annoyance I felt with the main character, Kasey. However, I'm delighted I stuck with it becuase this turned out to be a fun read with fantastic supporting characters.

This book combines several tropes. The older ladies are portrayed as wise and nosey but deadly. The romantic interest was shown as being a stick up the butt lawyer, with an impossible father. Kasey's bosses, well, I can't even describe them, but you will love seeing how things work out with them.

This will be a great summer beach read, one that will take you out of your problems and entertain you.

*ARC supplied by the publisher Avon/HarperCollins, the author, and NetGalley.

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SYNOPSIS: "Revenge is a dish best served cold—especially when it comes in the form of one of Grandma’s “special” pies. Get the best of family hijinks, girl power, and hilariously justifiable crime in the latest novel from award-winning author HelenKay Dimon.

Kasey Nottingham needs a splashy idea at her company where they find and develop the next big thing for investors—her job depends on it. Impulsively, she pitches Mags’ Desserts, a beloved small-town business run by her grandma Mags and live-in “best friend” Celia, two women who overcame deadbeat husbands and financial ruin to build a word-of-mouth clientele. Kasey expects her boss to say no. Instead, he sends her home to North Carolina to land the deal…and now she has a problem.

Mags and Celia aren’t interested, which isn’t a surprise, but something else is going on in their kitchen. Locked cabinets. Cryptic conversations. Unexpected notations on business records. The ladies have secrets and whatever they’re hiding is big. As reports of mysterious deaths of abusive men in the area surface—all in households that recently received a delivery from Mags’ Desserts—Kasey worries Gram and Celia have gone into the poison pie business.

As investors start circling, Kasey enlists Jackson Quaid, Celia’s nephew and Kasey’s long-time crush, as her reluctant investigation assistant. Jackson is practical. Kasey has a wild imagination. Together, they dodge Kasey’s boss and gather intel. And kiss. Lots of kissing, though probably not the best idea to start an unexpected romance. Doing it while keeping two feisty ladies from going to jail for knocking off bad husbands—even if those husbands deserve it—might be impossible…but Kasey never shied away from a challenge.