Murder Made To Order by Lena Gregory Great Escapes Tour Book Review

 

About the book 

To save her cozy Florida diner, Gia Morelli must choke down a heaping helping of murder . . .

New York native Gia Morelli is just getting used to life in Florida when she gets word that the town government wants to shut down her pride and joy: the charming little diner known as the All-Day Breakfast Café. A forgotten zoning regulation means that the café was opened illegally, and hardboiled council president Marcia Steers refuses to budge. Gia is considering hanging up her apron and going back to New York, but before she gives up on her dream, she discovers something shocking in the local swamp: Marcia Steers, dead in the water. There’s a secret buried in the books at town hall, and someone killed to keep it hidden. To save her café and bring a killer to justice, Gia and her friends will have to figure outpi a killer’s recipe for murder . . .

And others are saying

Murder Made to Order is easy to read and has a steady pace throughout . . . I like the small-town atmosphere of Boggy Creek.
~The Avid Reader

This is a fast-paced mystery with a wide array of characters. Gia and her friends began to feel like old friends.
~Socrates’ Book Reviews…

I do believe I enjoyed this book even more than I enjoyed the first! The story again is fast-paced and lively and characters that make you feel like you have known them for, forever.
~The Montana Bookaholic

Gregory constructs a riveting mystery that is much more layered than it first appears and keeps you fully engaged.
~Reading is My SuperPower

Author Lena Gregory sure didn’t disappoint. She cooked up tale so tasty I devoured it!
~Lisa Ks Book Reviews

The story is well written and I loved the twists the author puts in to keep readers on their toes.
~Texas Book-aholic

Lena has done it again with another incredible installment is this cozy mystery series . . . A must-read for fans of the genre.
~Books a Plenty Book Reviews

This was a great story. Fun characters with a fantastic whodunit made this cozy mystery top-notch. It checked all my cozy boxes!
~Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book

The writing style flows smoothly and the book is a quick easy read. It allowed me to live the lives of the characters, letting me know what they were thinking and feeling.
~MJB Reviewers

Character Guest Post

Hi, I’m Savannah Mills, and I am so excited! My best friend, Gia Morelli, recently moved to my hometown of Boggy Creek, Florida. She was having a bit of trouble, thanks to her no-good, cheating, lying, scheming ex-husband, a man I never wanted her to marry in the first place, but what are you gonna do? She made her mistakes, just like we all do, and now it’s time to move on. Thankfully, she came to her senses.

So, Gia opened an All-Day Breakfast café. She bought a beautiful historic building right on Main Street, just down the road from the park. She could only fly down for an occasional weekend, thanks to the mess her ex made up in New York, so I helped her out.

After she ordered tables for the café dining room, my brother, Joey, and I set them up. I spread navy blue cloths over them and made matching covers for the seat cushions. I even found a gorgeous, hand-painted wooden open/closed sign for the front window and picked up some paintings of local scenery at the street fair last weekend.

She was thrilled with how cozy and homey everything looked. Now, glass cake dishes line the counter. I can’t wait for a piece of the breakfast pies that fills them. Gia makes an amazing breakfast! I can smell the bacon cooking already, and her home fries. Mmmm…out of this world.

Oops, now my stomach’s growling. I probably shouldn’t have thought of the home fries.

I do have to admit, though, I was a nervous wreck. Gia loved the building that houses the café, but she hadn’t yet seen her house when she moved down. Don’t get me wrong, it’s adorable, but it’s a little out of the way. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much money left after buying the café, so I had to do my best.

The development is beautiful, acre after acre of woods, filled with thickly wooded, huge pine trees that brush the clouds. And I’m pretty sure she’ll get used to the abundance of critters that roam the development that sits right on the edge of the Ocala National Forest. I saw a couple of bear cubs playing in an open field last time I was out there, and I pulled over just to sit and watch them. But the drive to the café takes about twenty-five minutes, and, well, Gia’s from Manhattan, where you can find almost anything you need, any time of the day or night, without traveling twenty-five minutes.

That was one of the things I loved about the five years I lived with Gia in New York. One of the hardest things for me to get used to was the lack of trees. I’d look up, and instead of trees dripping with moss, I’d find buildings that pierced the clouds and sometimes seemed like they were about to fall over on me.

Anyway, after all of that, all I wanted was a vacation, so I decided to drag Gia down to the Keys with me for a few days. And what do you think happens? Well, you’ll have to read Murder Made to Order to find out, but I will say she messed up royally! 

And I thought

This was a fun cozy read.  This is my first chance to meet 

Gia and her friends and 'family' in her small town in Florida. 

Although Murder Made To Order is book 2 in the series it is written as a stand alone. 

Gia's cafe in this installment is being threatened.  She along with her friends and patrons want to save the cafe. 

But before they get before the city council the President of the Council is murdered and guess who stumbles upon the body?

None other than Gia. 

 In a refreshing note Gia is not considered a suspect.  And actually none of her friends are either.  Which tends to be a typical scenario in so many Cozy's.  Thank you Lena Gregory for giving us something a little different. 

I enjoyed Gia and her close friends and the diner patrons.  

There is a great cast of folks that end up making Gia feel like 

part of the community.

  Savannah who is a friend from college and is the one that got Gia to move to Florida after her divorce.   Savannah is a good southern girl.  But she has some issues of her own.   One being her fear of commitment.  She is in a relationship with Leo one of the town police officers who is another character who plays a big part in the story.  

And then there is the handsome detective Quinn that Amy is seeing.  Except lately he's acting a little more aloof than usual so she begins to question if there is a relationship.    

There were a lot of interesting characters including Willow the 

waitress at the cafe.  Harley the homeless man,  Cole and Earl older gentlemen patrons that watch Gia's back and end up helping out at the cafe.  

And then of course there was Thor Amy's puppy.  He's a big 'ole sweet dog that saves the day a few times. 

Murder Made To Order was a great cozy read.  I am looking forward to more in the series.  

I might have enjoyed even more if recipes were included!   

If you like a good 'clean' read with a little mystery, some great characters you'll enjoy the All-Day Cafe Mystery series.

I received a complimentary copy. 

My review will appear on retail sites, Good Reads  & Net Galley.

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