Title:	Beignets, Brides and Bodies: A cozy mystery set in small-town Arizona
	Author:	J.R. Ripley
	Published:	November 1, 2016, Severn House Publishers
	No. of Pages:	240
	Cover Price:	$28.99 Hardcover, $14.99 Kindle

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In the second installment of the Maggie Miller mystery series, Beignets, Brides and Bodies by J.R Ripley, Maggie Miller, the protagonist, agrees to help her friend, Clive Rothschild, who runs The Hitching Post, a wedding shop next door to her beignet restaurant. Maggie and Clive arrive at Markie’s Masterpieces to discover a dead body under a wedding cake. Clive is arrested for the murder, and confesses, thinking that his partner, Johnny, had actually done the deed. Maggie is sure Clive and Johnny aren’t guilty and feels like she must investigate and find the real murderer in order to exonerate her friends.

The Maggie Miller series is definitely light hearted, and can be considered a cozy mystery. However, Maggie is so pushy and indefatigable (which is a bit irritating, since she refuses to follow rules and instructions from law enforcement), that she gets herself and others in trouble at every turn, and like serious thriller books, it seems she is always in danger. Maggie has no qualms about breaking into apartments, grilling people until they are highly uncomfortable and defensive, or “borrowing” cars and wrecking them; she is not making herself popular in the small town of Table Rock, Arizona.

The book has the feel of a farce, and like the previous book in the series, Buried in Beignets the characters are quite humorous. Maggie’s sister is a diehard tree hugger, and makes terrible food. Her mother is a yoga aficionado and is constantly putting her body into pretzel-like positions, which makes for extra humor.iuu

It was a bit disappointing that this novel didn’t have a recipe – the previous one did – and those of us who enjoy culinary mysteries always like the recipes. However, this is a fun, humorous book for thriller/mystery lovers who enjoy stories that aren’t too serious.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

This book may be purchased at Amazon: Beignets, Brides and Bodies: A cozy mystery set in small-town Arizona (A Maggie Miller Mystery)