Bakeshop #19
Ellie Alexander’s nineteenth Bakeshop Mystery, Sticks and Scones, focuses on the theater. It’s time once more for Shakespeare in the park and other theatrical exploits in Ashland, Oregon. Lance, her friend and the artistic director of the Shakespeare festival, has even started a brand new pet project known as The Fair Verona Players. Always one for the dramatic, Lance is going all out for opening night. Their first play will debut on the new vineyard he partners on with Carlos, Juliet’s husband. There will also be lots of tasty treats provided by Juliet’s bakery, Torte. With so many projects going on, it’s no wonder that Juliet is starting to feel a little overwhelmed, so much so that her physical health is being affected, and strange bouts of dizziness keep throwing her off balance. Determined to delegate some responsibilities and give herself some more down time, Juliet isn’t overly concerned about it just yet.
What does concern her is news that Lance’s The Fair Verona Players are facing some major difficulties before the curtain ever rises. The general public is grumbling about the play chosen for their debut performance, The Taming of the Shrew. Lance promises it will be nothing they expect and that it will change old views, but until the play is unveiled no one can confirm that. As for the set up for the play itself, accidents and mishaps abound — props go missing, stage accidents occur, and the actors themselves are having some personality conflicts. In fact, their lead actor Jimmy Paxton seems to rub nearly everyone who meets him the wrong way. He even makes Juliet so uncomfortable she warns her female staff to be on guard around him. There are, sadly, some women who seem drawn in by his egotistical personality, but for the most part it seems as if The Fair Verona Players would be much more harmonious without him. No one wanted him removed by murder, however.
Murder is bad enough, but it happened on the vineyard and Juliet herself discovered the body. While initially content to leave the investigation to the police, Lance’s desperate plea and her own innate curiosity soon have Juliet on the case. She’s determined to use her exceptional hospitality, tasty treats, and beautifully crafted beverages to get any information she can out of the other actors and anyone else connected to that fateful opening night. Longtime readers of Ellie Alexander’s work will enjoy this latest instalment and new readers will find themselves wanting to pick up the previous volumes to see how such a close-knit food-driven community came together. As always, Ellie Alexander describes the act of baking in an artistic way that draws readers in. More than a few times I found myself putting the book down to engage in some baking myself. Readers can tell how much the craft means to Juliet, and how baking is more than just a job. It brings her peace and helps clear the clutter from the day from her head while also helping her to focus. There are a lot of emotional twists and turns in Sticks and Scones, and readers are left with a more than satisfactory conclusion. – Carla Schantz