Lori C. (dollycas) reviewed on 1/6/2023 + 644 more book reviews

Dollycas's Thoughts

Jules Capshaw and her team at Torte are preparing for a group of business professionals coming for a weekend retreat in the Rogue Valley. Torte has been hired to cater a welcome dinner and then Jules, Carlos, Jules' mom and her husband Doug, aka The Professor, and Carlos' son Ramiro will join the group in the woods to prepare campsite food as their retreat continues with glamping, rafting, ghost stories, and team building.

While Jules had worked out all the details with the CEO's assistant, Miller, when his boss arrives on the scene she micromanages everything. Then as the welcome dinner is served Jules sees huge cracks in the team. When they arrive in the woods the dysfunction is magnified especially when the wine and liquor start to flow.

Jules is a happy camper when the group hits the rapids for an afternoon of rafting. She learns that trip was filled with drama too but she was totally shocked when she finds one of the executives dead in the water the next morning. Thankfully The Professor is quickly on the scene because the death was NOT an accident . . . It Was MURDER!

I get excited every time I start a new book in this series. It is like visiting old friends. As I have said time and time again, Ms. Alexander's characters are genuine and their dialogues are true to life. Jules is so supportive of her employees and they are growing by leaps and bounds. They are so proficient at their jobs that she knows they will go out on their own someday but so far they have been able to take part in new opportunities while keeping their positions at Torte. They truly are like family. And speaking of family, Carlos' son Ramiro has come to the states and is attending school as an exchange student. Jules loves having him in her home and attending her school.

The new characters introduced, members are the Bamboo executive team are quite a group. The CEO is way beyond unlikeable. If she were my boss I think I would run screaming from the building. The rest of the crew seems to be very talented but poorly utilized. It was no surprise that one of them didn't survive the retreat.

In this story, we are taken away from Ashland to explore more of the Rogue Valley. Venturing into the woods and out onto the Rogue River sounds like such a good time. Glamping would be more my style these days and of course, we can skip the dead body. And just because we are outside of his Shakespeare realm doesn't mean Jules's friend Lance doesn't make an appearance. He is around and more than ready to start an investigation with Jules into the murder.

Part of the mystery was an easy solve for me but some of the details were a bit foggy. I knew the who but not the why. Every one of the Bamboo team was suspect and there were some true red herrings. I always have fun tagging along with Jules as she tries to put the clues in order. I enjoy the way she uses Lance as a sounding board and more. But this time there was a difference in how all was revealed. A nice twist!

Muffin But the Truth comes alive with Ms. Alexander's descriptive writing style. I love when she describes what's baking in the kitchen. She always tempts my tastebuds.

While I am a stickler about reading a series in order the author writes the stories to stand on their own. But if you really want to get to know these fabulous characters start at the beginning and enjoy!

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