The Diva Takes the Cake

A Domestic Diva Mystery #2

by Krista Davis

When the groom's ex is found dead before the "I Do"s, Sophie Winston vows to catch the killer before her sister's wedding ends in disaster in the second Domestic Diva mystery. Sophie Winston's sister, Hannah, is getting married—again! And if you ask Sophie, her future brother-in-law is no prince. But is he a killer? That's the question on everyone's mind when his ex-wife is found hanging from a pergola. This is one event Sophie and her sister hadn't planned on. As hidden family secrets begin to come to light, Sophie finds the list of suspects is almost as long as the list of wedding guests. Will the real killer be seated on the groom's side or the bride's? Or will he be standing at the altar? Either way, Sophie must solve the murder in time to stop her sister from making the biggest—and possibly the last—mistake of her life.Includes delicious recipes and entertaining tips!

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Audiobook, Romance, Food

351 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 2, 2009

About the author

Krista Davis lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia where she writes mysteries. She lived in Northern Virginia for many years and resided for a time in Old Town Alexandria where her Domestic Diva Mysteries take place.

Krista also writes the Paws and Claws Mysteries, which debuted with MURDER, SHE BARKED. Her Pen & Ink Mysteries featured covers that can be colored! Read the book and have fun coloring the cover.

WEBSITE: https://www.kristadavis.com

NEWSLETTER: https://bit.ly/3Wi0jcR

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/KristaDavisAu...

INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/kristadavisauthor

Reviews

[Holly B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Library Ebook

Enjoyed the characters who were back in another murder mystery. This time we have two murders that occur and a wedding.

Two murders and a wedding!

It was funny how everyone carried on preparing for the wedding as police put yellow crime tape around the murder scene in the backyard! Choices for the menu and decor continued......... don't mind that one of them is a murderer!!

Enjoyable, but lacked the laugh out loud moments of book one. I'll continue the series though and hope Natasha brings back the diva humor!

[Luffy Sempai · Rating 2 out of 5]

Everybody behaves queerly in this book. The Shakespearean excuses for these behaviors border on the farcical. Most of these occur in the background but some, like the mortician's kiss, are annoying.

It's only now I gather how theatrical the entire book was. I put my money on one suspect to be the criminal, simply by eliminating those who've been dismissed. I was right, but this is just a mean feat. The first murder, which came in very early - 8% in my e-book - faded throughout the tragicomic wedding and all of the elements (the tussle between Natasha and Sophie, the false identities, the immensely annoying pets, the superfluous people) combined to make a less homely book. No, that's not a compliment. But there's enough for me to want more and give the series a chance. I want to know, now the Craig arc is over, who will be the next villain.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boy does a lot of work go into the planning and execution of a wedding. Murder on top of everything else only adds to the complications. I enjoyed the following things in this cozy mystery:
1. Colorful setting in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia
2. Use of the pets (dogs) in the storyline
3. Family interactions, especially between the two sisters and parents
4. Food theme nicely integrated into the plotline
5. Multiple murder suspects
6. First-person point of view narration carries the story

[fleurette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed this book for one of my reading challenges. I've never heard of this author before or read the first volume in this series. Despite this, I am very happy that I came across this story.

It means a lot because cozy mystery is not one of my favourite genres. I like detective stories and all stories with a suspense but I generally prefer thrillers or romantic suspense. Still, I read The Diva Takes the Cake with real pleasure. This book has what I think is the best in cozy mystery - good interesting suspense and well-constructed characters, especially the main character.

Sophie is a strong and intelligent woman who can deal with any problems. And at the same time she is very nice and sincerely cares about the people around her, especially her family. There wasn't one moment in this book that she would irritate me. And this is really rare! Sophie is not nosy, she is not stupid or naive and she does not tend to push herself into dangerous situations. I wish more heroines were like her. For this reason alone it is worth reading this book.

But we also have excellent suspense. For a cozy mystery it is really well-built and thought out. It is also more complicated than we might expect. The author easily casts suspicion on different characters until we are not sure who is who, who tells the truth and who lies and, the most important thing, who killed (and who the victim really is). It is nice to read a well-constructed plot in which we are not entirely sure who the killer is. In the background we still have Mars (ex-husband of Sophie) who suspiciously spends a lot of time at Sophie's house, the strange behaviour of Natasha (Mars's new girlfriend), Wolf’s (Sophie's love interest) sudden coldness and puppy-eyed Humphrey's love dilemmas. And a whole parade of other fascinating characters that wonderfully complement the story.

Yes, I am definitely very happy that it was this book that fulfilled my reading challenge. I spent a very pleasant time with it. I doubt that I will return to the first book in this series, but the next books will definitely be on my TBR list. And this is one more of the great things about this story. Although I haven't read the first book, I don't feel that I missed something, that I don't know enough about the characters or that I lack part of the picture. Everyone who, like me, for some reason starts this series with the second book, I can assure that there is nothing to worry about.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good audiobook, though I have to say that the mc was too much of a softy at a couple of points in the story. Not to mention how often she let her competition roll over, and disregard, the plans she had worked so hard on. I totally disliked that Natasha, btw.

I had read one book out of order earlier this year, and really liked it, so no question that I'll be continuing the series.

[Book Concierge · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5*

Book two in the Domestic Diva series has event planner Sophie Wilson in charge of her sister, Hannah’s, wedding. Of course rival diva Natasha has to insert herself into the event, trashing Sophie’s decorations and color scheme for a “more modern” style. But when the groom’s ex-wife is found hanging in the brand new garden pergola, it seems that the wedding may not happen at all.

I kind of like the rivalry between Sophie and Natasha, including the competing advice given at the beginning of each chapter. But I read mysteries – even cozy mysteries – for the murder plot. And this one is just plain ridiculous. So many things made no sense whatsoever. (Why would a murderer bury a necklace rather than just pocket it?)
Oh well, it satisfied several challenges and it was a fast read.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious. And food. I'm happy.

[Tari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally got to finish listening to this and before the end of the year too. It was a great mystery during what was supposed to be Sophie's younger sister's wedding. There were some really interesting although shady characters, and after two murders it seemed like there was no end to the amount of suspects. I think if I was Sophie, I'd have felt like shutting myself in my room until it all blew over so I'd be safe, but she's a lot braver than I am lol.

The narrator did a great job with the various voices, but I think my favorite person that she portrayed was Darby, the girl from New Jersey. Her role in the whole thing was as complicated as were some of the others' roles. I don't want to say too much due to so many different types of spoilers in the story. The showdown was exciting and justice prevailed once more as the police made their arrests. Another engagement took place, and already Natasha was scheming for them to have a Civil War themed wedding. I'm sure that Sophie had to be rolling her eyes as far as she could!

I enjoyed listening to this courtesy of RB Digital through my local library. I love that audio books are just there, no waiting.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a relative newcomer to this series and I have to say that this second book kept me on my toes. I like Sophie Winston, the main character, and I hope as the series progresses she will start to stand up for herself with more frequency. There were three characters in particular that made me want to throw this book on several occasions. Sophie's sister Hannah acted like a spoiled child. I wanted Sophie to tell Hannah to take her wedding and go somewhere else on a number of occasions. Next was Sophie's mom and her insistence that Sophie and her ex-husband Mars were going to get back together. Sometimes, she was like something out of the 1950s in terms of her outlook. Finally, there's Natasha. She is unbelievable pretentious and rude. I know she is Sophie's frenemy so she will be around for a while. That said, I will probably never like her characters. The mystery kept me on my toes with everyone who was not who they were supposed to be. I like how the author tied things up, but poor Sophie just got battered in this one.

I'll be continuing the series to see what the author has in store for Sophie and the rest of the characters.

[Lisa Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★★✩ (This is a review of the audiobook.) Hillary Huber does a lovely job of narrating this. Characters' voices are differentiated and done well.

I don't know why I keep getting these, as no one appreciates Sophie like I do. It bugs me that her family - especially her mother - doesn't listen to her. And that they all continue to think passive-aggressive, overly-flamboyant, anal-retentive Natasha is wonderful. So glad my family doesn't treat me like that. It absolutely floored me that Natasha reveals in this one that she thinks of Sophie as her best friend. Glad my best friend doesn't treat me like that either! LOL! Still, the action is plentiful, the mystery good, and Ms. Davis makes it all right in the end. Maybe that's why I keep listening to them? Yup. Must be.

[Janell · Rating 2 out of 5]

An OK mystery but I needed a score card to keep track of all the minor characters! I would just start to figure out where one of them fit into the story when another 3 or 4 characters entered the scene. I lost track of how many different people were somehow part of the story. A few were probably introduced in book one but were certainly not that memorable, while others appeared to be new to this story. Accounting for so many different characters also created a very choppy conclusion. Plus, except for the main character, the majority were pretty irritating!

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sophie's sister is getting married again, and everything that can go wrong with the ceremony does go wrong, including murder. The groom disappears, even as his never before seen family arrives.

A very well set up cozy.

[Sally906 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The action in THE DIVA TAKES THE CAKE was relentless – taking place over a few days. Sophie’s sister Hannah is getting married for the umpteenth time – but no-one except for Hannah likes the creepy Craig. The story opens a couple of days before the wedding and the guests have started to arrive. Celebrations are dampened when Craig’s ex-wife is found dead and it turns out to be murder not suicide as first appears. Her’s is not the last body that is wedding associated.

THE DIVA TAKES THE CAKE has family secrets (mostly Craig’s), murder (of course), misunderstandings and betrayal. In fact the plot has so many twists, turns and characters that my head spun on the odd occasion as I struggled to keep up. Fortunately there was lots of humour to keep be glued to the book to see what disaster would happen next. The only thing I thought was unnecessary was the strange storyline between Wolf and Sophie – I thought it didn’t ring true and, in the end, didn’t add to the story.

I enjoy Krista Davis’s work though – and have another book by her ready to read next.

[Melanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

The character has no backbone. It was so annoying to see her just take abuse from everyone around her. I felt bad for her only a few pages because I don’t understand what kind of dummy would allow people to treat her like that. Aside from that as a professional working woman, I take offense that she would give out her services for free to a family member. A discount would be fine, but there would have been no way her sister would have treated her like trash if she would have kept her prices. I’m annoyed that her sister who is supposed to be a grown woman never apologized, or behaved like an adult. There were so many characters that I could not keep them straight. I forgot that I hated this character in the first book and decided to read the second one. I stuck with it because I expected an apology from her brat of a sister, or Natasha who makes me want to use the b word, and I never feel the need to use it. Her mother is delusional and insensitive. Why does she keep wanting her with her ex? What kind of monster would try to force her own daughter into a marriage that failed and ridicule her for him choosing another woman? It is not her job to keep him in line, if he decided to date someone else the ex should not be to blame. Reading women behaving like children, not being able to control themselves, using “love potions”, being unable to be polite, and letting people treat them like trash is sad because women are not like this. The women I know are strong, level headed, capable of making their own decisions and stand up for themselves. I cannot imagine how the author would think this is how people behave to be entertaining.

[Laura Pandorabooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 ⭐️

Un final un poco enrevesado para mi gusto, pero eso no quita que me encante cómo escribe Krista Davis y los personajes que ha creado con esta serie. De verdad, están todos desquiciados, cada uno con su tema, pero son demasiado entrañables para no quererlos tal y como son.

Eso sí, me duele cómo tratan y cómo se saltan los límites de la protagonista y ella siempre se calla por no liarla.

Es una buena continuación. Estoy deseando leer el siguiente ✨️.

[Katie T]

Dnf 70% - enjoy this series but lost interest in my cozy phase

[Cat Freeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This second book is a great follow up to the first. I can't overstate how much I am enjoying this series. The characters are great, the storyline is great, and the mystery is indeed mysterious. I've blown through each of the first two in 1 day each, and am ready to start the third one now.

Highly recommended for any cozy lover, but especially if you like a little tantalizing culinary tidbits in your mystery.

*5 Stars

[JoAnne McMaster (Any Good Book) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sophie Winston's sister, Hannah, is getting married (again) and Sophie is hosting a dinner at her home for the guests. Even though she doesn't like Hannah's fiancé Craig, she's willing to endure it anyway. When Sophie is returning home before setting everything up, a woman appears at her doorstep looking for Craig, Rather than give her name, she leaves telling Sophie she'll come back later.

Then, when Sophie goes to her rival Natasha's home to collect her dog, Daisy, the dog runs to the backyard where Sophie finds the body of the woman hanging from Natasha's new pergola. At first it's suspected the woman committed suicide, but Sophie's friend Humphrey, who is a mortician, tells Sophie the marks don't gibe, and that the woman was murdered. Now that the police are involved, the game is upped, and Sophie is doing her best to save her sister from a possible killer...

I read the first book in this series many years ago (2011), and I must have disliked it immensely to never read another one until now. I re-read my review. I was right. I dislike these characters. All of them.

Sophie is the worst excuse for a woman I can think of. She has no guts, and won't tell people to bug off - she's such a doormat she needs to have "Welcome" tattooed on her back. Her sister is mean and takes advantage of her; her mother likes Natasha much better than her own daughter; Natasha steamrolls over Sophie every chance she gets; etc.; etc. (Not to mention that not only did Natasha wind up with Sophie's ex-husband; she bought a home down the block from Sophie; she has the TV show that should have gone to Sophie; and she covets Sophie's home. Screw off, Nat).

These are horrible people. After Sophie has done a tremendous amount of work planning everything the way her sister wants, then Natasha waltzes in and changes everything to black and brown for a "modern" wedding. Gross. Ugly. And completely disrespectful to Sophie. What's up with Hannah that she would just allow this anyway?

But then it goes farther than that. Not only does everyone treat Sophie like she's a hired maid (and not a well-treated one, either), but Natasha tells Sophie's date - the homicide detective, Wolf - that he's not welcome at the dinner because he brings 'bad memories' to the guests about the murder. So what does this man do? HE DOESN'T GO. He leaves Sophie in the lurch. He's a homicide detective without a pair, if you know what I mean. I don't know of ANY detective in any book that would act this way. They'd tell Natasha to go stuff herself. Not this guy. He has a little a spine as Sophie.

What is wrong with this woman? She allows everyone to push her around, and she takes it. I couldn't stand being around these people at all. The best thing she can do is never invite any of them to her home ever again. Including the spineless detective.

Plus, are we supposed to take the advice at the beginning of every chapter? Most of it was laughable. 1) I'm not giving gift baskets to people who are invited to a wedding. My gift to them is the free food and drink. 2) An "A" list and a "B" list for a wedding? Must be nice to find out you were only invited as a seat filler. 3) You know what? I'm not a tour guide. If people show up early for a wedding and plan to stay a few days, they can go online just like everyone else and find out what the area has to offer. Also, maybe it's trending that a bride can buy two wedding gowns, but it's an extra cost that isn't needed, and is pretentious in the extreme. No thank you. Most of this 'advice' is really out there somewhere.

I couldn't stand any of these people to the extent that I really didn't care about the murders nor why they were committed. I only read the book because I wanted to see just how much abuse Sophie would take before she cracked. She never cracked. Draw your own conclusions.

[Connie N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

#2 in the Domestic Diva cozy mystery series

I read the first book in this series years ago and have finally continued, and I'm glad I did. I especially like the main character Sophie. She is a very talented event planner, but she's also a basically nice person, with insecurities about her looks and worries about her "boyfriend." She had an amicable divorce from Mars, and now that he lives down the street, he pops in as a friend, although everyone thinks that he dumped her for her arch enemy Natasha. Natasha is the woman we love to hate--she's also a talented advisor for wedding and manners advice, with a popular newspaper column and TV show, but she is always trying to one-up Sophie. When Sophie is asked to host her sister's wedding (marriage #3), she goes all out even though she has a bad feeling about the groom. When all the guests are there and the event is proceeding, a murder occurs which upsets everything (of course). I really like the character development and the entertaining "disasters" that keep happening to throw things off. Sophie likes to investigate, but I'm happy that she doesn't take dangerous chances and often calls Wolf (boyfriend/cop) to help. Secondary characters of Natasha, Mars, and various friends/family members provide solid support and some funny stories of their own. Beginning each chapter with dueling advice (sometimes from Natasha, which are always over-the-top and sometimes from Sophie, which are usually clever and much more doable) was fun and set the tone for the chapter ahead. I always enjoy books with a wedding setting, and this one was no exception. I'll definitely continue with the next in this series sooner than it took me to get to this one.

[Cozy Reader Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Diva Takes the Cake (A Domestic Diva Mystery #2)" by Krista Davis has Sophie trying to help her sister with final wedding preparations. Unfortunately, it seems the groom kept a few things from Hannah (Sophie's sister). Then nothing seems to go right, starting with the groom's ex being found dead in Sophie's ex's and his girlfriend/Sofie's rival's backyard. Yeah, their relationship is a bit unusual. Probably part of why Wolf wont commit to make a date with Sophie.

As wedding prep chaos keeps unfolding, Sophie is actually determined to find something to get the groom put away. Or, at least, out of her sister's life. I do have to say that if your family is obviously barely putting up with your significant other for your sake, probably best to end it early. It wont get easier and just drive a wedge between you and someone. But, back to the mystery.

I honestly was bouncing around with who the culprit could be. There were a few people I felt there was something just not right about them. In a way I was right about. I am glad one of my suspects wasn't more involved in the more serious stuff.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun cozy mystery.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I love this series, I just really do not like her sister.

[Liz Parissenti · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has a cast of irritating and unlovable characters, some desultory corpses, and a ton of incredibly immature "adults." Sophie's sister Hannah is getting married for the third time, and her fiance, Craig, has a mysterious past. Their relationship is repeatedly shown to have no substance, but Hannah is obsessed with Craig and a total bridezilla.

As Sophie tries to figure out whether Craig is responsible for murder(s) surrounding the wedding ceremony, the rest of her family and friends prove themselves to be status-driven, marriage-obsessed, completely selfish, and horribly inconsiderate. Sophie is also a pathetic doormat. How is Natasha supposed to be her "friend"? She's the most overly critical and tone-deaf character I've read in ages. Sophie's ex-husband is spineless, her mother is relentless, her friend the mortician is super creepy (and yet Sophie lets him hang around mooning over her?), her sister is unbelievably selfish about the wedding, and all the rest of the side characters (who keep appearing and disappearing with little explanation) are unsupportive and uninteresting. I cannot believe this book is well rated.

Also, no wonder Hannah has been divorced twice! At no point does she ask Craig "Why did you disappear the day before our wedding" or have any other kind of adult conversation with him about what the heck is going on. The lack of mature relationships and basic respect between people is nonexistent.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very enjoyable read, though not as good as the first.

I felt like we saw some major changes with characters, especially Hannah, Mars, and Natasha throughout this book. I also really feel bad for Natasha, I feel like she's not meaning to be mean or rude but she's just ignorant. However, the angst between Sophie and Wolf was kind of pointless to me, I thought that entire minor plotline of the book could have been eliminated quite easily.

The mystery was very well written and the killer was so obvious I never would have guessed him. Usually authors try to hide the killer until later in the book, however, Ms. Davis did an exceptional job of placing the killer in plain sight, but at the same time keeping people from guessing him and the ending right up to where the killer was exposed was really well plotted out. I never would've guessed what had happened.

Overall a really good book. There were a few minor things that I wasn't pleased with and I think these titles are kind of corny, but I'll definitely be reading the next one and I'd readily recommend this one.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
This book doesn't pick up at Christmas, where I expected it would. Instead, it picks up seven months later, in June, just before Hannah's wedding.
As with the first book, this is also told in first-person, and has the lovely touch of Natasha and Sophie's columns at the beginning of each chapter. This book was quite a bit longer than the first, and more interesting as well. Again, I really liked how I felt that I knew each character to the extent that Sophie knew them, which was extremely important in this book. I also liked how the previous characters were expanded and developed on, along with their relationships with one another.
However, the one thing I didn't like was the pacing. In the beginning, the book moved a bit too slowly for my taste and though it improved, I never felt the smoothness that was in the first book.
Overall, I enjoyed the second installment to the series for the writing style and character development, though I felt it was slow at times. I will be continuing with the next one.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED!!! This is the fourth Krista Davis cozy I've read and they are all just wonderful!! (I've read books one and two of the Paws and Claws mysteries as well as book one and now book two of the Domestic Diva series) Many of the characters from the first Domestic Diva story were present along with fun new visitors!! I love wedding themed mysteries and this one is hilarious, chaotic, deadly, and adorable all in one. I had a few moments where had I been Sophie, Wolf would have had to arrest me for murdering Natasha...... that woman is crazy!! And then Hannah.... talk about a Bridezilla!! I never would have put up with that, especially not from both Natasha and Hannah, but Sophie truly exhibits the virtue of patience and all of that craziness really makes the story worth reading!! I LOVED IT!!!! Can't wait to read the next in the series!!

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy this series, but I somehow missed this book #2 - so finally remedied that. However, I didn't like it nearly as much as some of the later books - mostly because Natasha, Hannah, Wolfe, and others are all so mean to Sophie. She's just too nice and I want her to at least retort back or drop these toxic "friends".

[Mortisha Cassavetes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Domestic Diva Mystery series and I am hooked! I really enjoy this series and all the characters. They do make me smile. In this book, Sophie's sister is getting married and her soon to be brother-in-law's exe showed up and is now found dead. No spoilers but lots of twists and turns! I highly recommend it and can't wait to continue on in the series.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this series. Set in Old Town Alexandria, where I lived for 2 years, the landmarks are familiar and I can visualize much of what is happening :-) Well written, good mystery with some twists and a little romance too!

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 2nd in the Domestic Diva series by a local author. I enjoyed this quick read.