Fireworks, A Firecracker & Foul Play Review

Fireworks, A Firecracker & Foul Play is the fifth book in D.E. Haggerty’s Death By Cupcake series. This book is a fast-paced wild ride of a story that follows Anna and her two friends along as they race against the clock to prove that Anna’s fiancé Logan isn’t the guilty party in the murder of the gang leader before her big wedding happening on the 4^th of July.

Fireworks, A Firecracker & Foul Play is the first book that I have read by D.E. Haggerty, but this book can easily be read as a stand-alone novel. The author hits the ground running with this story and doesn’t let off the gas all the way to the end. Anna is eager for her wedding to take place and claim her man for life, but things aren’t going to go as planned. Anna is a real firecracker! She’s small like a pixie and her bright hair color adds to the effect, but she’s not one to take things lying down. So when her wedding preparations are threatened she goes into full steam ahead mode to solve a murder.

Overall I enjoyed this story and how quickly it moves. It’s fun to read and you get plenty of cupcakes to go with it. I have to admit that I’m amused at how Anna’s friends are so addicted to the cupcakes. Anna basically has to keep an eye on them or have cupcakes set aside so that they don’t eat the ones that she has set aside for “bribes.” LOL! It makes me wonder… just how good are these cupcakes? I mean…I like cake…but I can only deal with so much of it before I’m sick of it. Now cookies on the other hand…LOL!

Now, while this book is a lot of fun I felt that Anna was a bit over the top. As I’ve not read the other books in this series I’m not sure if this is her normal character style or if this is her hyped up because of her upcoming nuptials. There are times in the book when she comes off as more than a little juvenile and I wonder…just how old is this girl? There are moments in the book where she really comes off as a teenager when I’m sure that she has to be in her 20s. I feel that one of the perfect examples of this is when they are talking to the ME in the cupcake shop and he's concerned about losing his job. I immediately empathized in my head, but Anna was only concerned about her wedding. What?! I was like...wait...are you serious?! This man could lose his job and standing in his professional community, but the only thing you're concerned about is making sure your wedding goes forward and not in jail?! I hate to say it, but she annoyed me with that. I just wanted a bit more adult behavior out of her.

My only other complaint is that there is no bad guy tie in. It just happens out of the blue, which I was a bit disappointed by. I wanted some bad guy build up. A threatening note, something to point out

that the bad guy has heard rumblings about them "investigating." Because I mean, this isn't their first time doing this, so it wouldn't be a surprise that they are out there sleuthing. I’m pleased to say that I did not notice any editorial errors in this book, so that is a definite plus to this story.

All in all, I am rating this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. For readers who have read this series to this point then I am sure that you are going to enjoy this book. For new readers, this book can be read as a stand-alone, but I think that I will be going back and checking out the first books and the characters that they focus on and see if this is just how everyone is. Haha! If you like a fun, fast-paced cozy mystery with truly animated characters then I encourage you to pick this book up.