Secrets in the Cellar

The North End Mysteries #2

by Priscilla Baker

After her exciting adventure uncovering a murderer, Lucy Moretti is back to business at the Italian restaurant she owns and operates in Boston’s historic North End neighborhood. Lucy and her best friend, Ally Pope, are ready to do all the hard work it takes to put their restaurant on the map. In fact, Ally has recently been nominated for the Outstanding Young Chef award, given every year to an executive chef under thirty. Will Lucy’s jealousy divide the long time friends?

Between wrangling employees and crazy customers, Lucy doesn’t have much time for anything else, especially not after reluctantly adding a kitten to the mix. But Lucy’s neighbor, Lucas, soon discovers a document that may change everything. He claims to own the building that holds both Alba, Lucy’s restaurant, and her home. Even worse, he accuses Lucy’s grandfather of a long-ago murder. Will Lucy be able to uncover the truth in time to save her livelihood, and her family’s reputation? Join Lucy and Ally as they work to uncover the secrets hidden by family, long ago.

Includes recipe and cooking techniques!

94 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 18, 2020

About the author

Priscilla Baker lives in Boston, Massachusetts with her partner and two cats. She works full time in the restaurant industry and has finally found an outlet for all of her crazy stories – writing! She released her debut novel, Murder at St. Mark’s, in the spring of 2020. When she’s not writing, Priscilla enjoys reading, knitting, and traveling.

Priscilla writes cozy mystery novels, combining her love of food and writing into one. Her North End Mystery series focuses on Lucy Moretti, a young woman who has taken over her family’s long-running Italian restaurant. The books take place in Boston’s historic North End neighborhood, known for it’s delicious food, Italian heritage, and a dark past.

Visit Priscilla online at www.priscillabakerauthor.com.

Reviews

[QNPoohBear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things are going well for Lucy at the Alba. She and Ally work well together and since the death of Donovan, nothing else eventful has happened other than weird, cranky customers. However, Ally has recently been nominated for the Outstanding Young Chef award, given every year to an executive chef under thirty and Ally announces if she wins, she will be moving on to bigger and better things. Lucy is heartbroken and jealous. Can their friendship survive? To add to her relationship woes, her date with kind police officer Charlie Fritz seemed to go OK but he's ghosted her. Then Lucy's next door neighbor, Lucas Ricci, owner of Bella Luna, announces he found some documents in an old safe that prove Lucy's grandfather killed his grandfather and took advantage of the widow by not paying rent for his half of the building. Lucas intends to reclaim Lucy's half and expand his own restaurant. Lucy is gutted. She knows her Nonno would never do anything like that and he worked hard to build up his reputation as a restauranteur. Can she prove her Nonno legally owned the building? It won't be easy as Nonno was crazy and liked to hide his papers around the building. Can Lucy find the right documents in time to save Alba?

This was a fun mystery that sucked me in right away. I love historical mysteries and this one strongly appealed to be being Italian-American from Massachusetts myself. I found the story a little bit improbable but I loved learning more about Lucy's grandparents, especially since my nieces and nephews call my dad Nonno! I stayed up late speed reading this when I had intended to go to sleep early.

Lucy is still a relatable character. This time the mystery is personal and the murder is a cold case from just before WWII when anti-Italian sentiment was high. I was shocked and horrified at what happened. My family never talked about anything like that happening to them or anyone they knew. I'm glad they moved out of Boston if they were safer where they were. It made me mad and sad that someone killed Lucas's grandfather and Lucy's grandfather is blamed. The friendship woes annoyed me. Lucy and Ally should have had that conversation when Lucy hired Ally. "Are you in it for the long haul or is this just a stopover?" Ally comes across as a bit arrogant here while Lucy is doing her best to carry on family tradition. I don't agree with the decision she seems to make at the end. I would have said no. No to both.

Mary, the head sever, doesn't seem very competent. She doesn't know how to restart the computer or how to deal with cranky customers. She's a longtime employee and should know these things. Lucas Ricci is a two-dimensional villain. He's vain, self-important and nasty. Lucy admits to the role she played in their childhood animosity but why is he still so nasty to her? There aren't that many family-owned and operated authentic Italian restaurants in the North End anymore so they should be working together for the betterment of the community. Lucas loses his temper with Lucy and calls her a really nasty name. That was completely uncalled for and unnecessary for the author to use that kind of language even if it's in Italian.

The romance is still kind of blah. Charlie is nice but bland and boring. I liked the kitten subplot better but even so, it seems weird that Lucy had no idea how to even pick up a kitten or what to do with it. She was so afraid of the poor little thing!

The food sounds amazing and I don't even eat any of it! I could even smell it cooking. (OK so my mom cooks a lot of Italian food for my dad and the house tends to smell).

I am eager to read the third book but it looks like publication has been delayed! Rats!

[Heather W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Secrets in the Cellar is the second book in The North End Mysteries series and is a short but enjoyable cozy mystery.

I really enjoyed this book. Lucy Moretti and her bestie Ally Pope are back at the restaurant doing what they do best... creating incredible meals. A neighbour wants to put a stop to that and claims that the property is his. Can Lucy and Ally find the truth of the secrets from the past in time to save the restaurant and the family?

I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jodi Sweet · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title says it all. There are definitely secrets hidden in the cellar, both at Lucy’s restaurant and the one owned next door. Finding these secrets will determine who owns the building.
I loved that there was no murder to investigate. Well, an old one, but it didn’t really take much investigating. The mystery was in finding the transfer of ownership so that Lucy didn’t lose her restaurant to the creep next door. It was really fun to read about Lucy’s past and her growing up. Oh, she also found a kitten!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Dorothy Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucy is carrying on the restaurant her family started. However, her date never called back and her best friend and executive chef, Ally, may decide to move on. Even worse, her next door neighbor is threatening to take over the building and claims to have proof her grandfather committed murder to steal the restaurant from his family. Lucy must find the truth to save her business. I enjoyed this mystery, and how determined Lucy is to save her Nonno’s reputation.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Lisa]

Seemingly ghosted by Charlie, the policeman from book 1, Lucy is back and is in a tither about finding (and rescuing) a kitten outside the restaurant. While she sorts out the kitten situation, the owner of the neighboring restaurant shows up all of a sudden demanding decades worth of rent checks since he can't find a record of her grandfather buying the building, so clearly they must owe him rent for all those years. Bizarre situation, but she and Ally and eventually Charlie get the mystery solved.

[D Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good and quick read. I’m not a fan of Lucy but Ally more than makes up for her. The atmosphere at Alba is great and they made a small family of the employees. This was a good mystery and I wasn’t sure if Nonno was guilty. Lucas was horrible and held grudges like it was a job. Overall, I would recommend this book.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jeanne Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 2nd book I've read written by Priscilla Baker; she has done a great job at writing a good book; I can’t wait to read more of her books.

The story line caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.

I loved the characters.

I received a free copy of this book via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.

[Cherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed learning more about the main character's past and more about running the restaurant. Absolutely despised Lucas and his greed. I also enjoyed getting to meet Lucy's parents a little in this book and getting to know Ally more. Would have liked a little more of Charlie. All in all a great story with fun characters. Would love to see more than one recipe in future books.

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and interesting characters. Good story with some secrets and drama. Page turning mystery full of twists and turns that keep you hanging on until the end! Good read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.