The Secret Ingredient to Murder by Terry Ambrose

Item: The Secret Ingredient to Murder
Rating: 5
Author: karenbaron

Posted March 27, 2024 by karenbaron in Mystery, Review / 1 Comment

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Secret Ingredient to Murder

by Terry Ambrose

Series: Seaside Cove Bed and Breakfast Mystery #8
Series Rating:

Published by Satori on March 28, 2024
Setting: Seaside Cove, California
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 323
Format: Kindle
Source: the Author
Goodreads
BookBub
Get Your Copy at: Amazon
Also in this series: Secrets of the Treasure King, Treasure Most Deadly, Lies, Spies, and the Baker's Surprise, Dead Men Need No Reservations, A Treasure to Die For, Clues in the Sand

In Seaside Cove, every truffle has a dark side.

The peaceful paradise of Seaside Cove gets a rude awakening when the home of newcomers Tyler Winkle and his spirited niece, Veronica Campbell, gets turned upside down. The only thing missing? The family’s secret chocolate recipe that Tyler kept in a safe.

When a man who wanted to buy the recipe is murdered, B&B owner Rick Atwood joins forces with the police once again. Rick quickly discovers two disturbing facts. First, the case is as hard to crack as a good truffle. Second, his thirteen-year-old daughter, Alex, has launched a shadow investigation.

Out of desperation to solve the case, Police Chief Adam Cunningham asks Alex to go undercover. But that's not Rick's worst fear. He's also discovered that Veronica and Alex are bonding despite their age difference. Caught between his roles as a father and an investigator, Rick faces a tough put a stop to Alex's involvement or crack the case.

The Secret Ingredient to Murder by Terry Ambrose sets Rick and Alex Atwood on a quest to solve another mystery by helping out the police department.

Will Alex, Rick, and Chief Adam find out who would rob a house and kill someone?

Rick, Alex, Marquetta, and Baby Jack

This small family unit went from just Rick and Alex to them adding Marquetta to the mix. Now, finally, in the last book, we have Baby Jack. Rick, Marquetta, and Alex all seem to be settling into things well, even though the baby keeps Rick and Marquetta up. I love how Alex is tackling being a big sister. She is maturing well.

Another thing that I like about Alex is that she follows her instincts when she believes someone is innocent. She either proves she is right or admits she is wrong. Rick and Marquetta are doing well, taking things into stride with raising a preteen daughter and a newborn boy and running their business. Baby Jack asks just like any newborn, especially around new people.

Chief Adam Cunningham

Chief Adam Cunningham is improving at solving murder cases with Rick’s. Although he won’t admit it, he knows Alex’s assistance is valuable too. Adam has a great friendship with Rick, and it keeps getting better the further they go in solving murders here in Seaside Cove. He does a great job of getting answers now without Rick in the interrogation room. Adam gets a bit frustrated at some things that he has to deal with, but he loves his small town. I think that Adam is becoming a better police officer. Thanks to Rick for helping him with the cases and showing him how to conduct a great investigation so that Adam can eventually lead one himself.

The Mysteries

Alex meets Veronica Campbell and brings her home to the B&B to get patched up. Once Rick brings her back to her place with her uncle, they discover that it’s ransacked and that the recipe the family used is gone. Adam gets a phone call while at the scene of the burglarized home to come to another crime scene. Rick, Alex, and Adam have difficulty thumbing through the clues that keep turning up and how Veronica and Tyler, Veronica’s stories keep changing. Well, mostly Veronica’s keeps changing depending on which one is asking. Alex helps by keeping tabs on Veronica and Tyler and trying to see if they will tell her the truth. Except things are never easy.

I thought I figured it out but was stuck on a major red herring. Except it wasn’t at all when Mr. Ambrose made that red herring easy to keep on the suspect list.

Five Stars

I am giving five stars to The Secret Ingredient to Murder by Terry Ambrose and also recommending it. Mr. Ambrose has created a fantastic, cozy mystery series that I love returning to. The Secret Ingredient to Murder by Terry Ambrose has a great family unit still finding its way and some awesome mysteries to solve. Mr. Ambrose has a great way of storytelling that hooks you, keeps you entertained, and makes you think you got the right killer when you might not.

The Series

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of The Secret Ingredient to Murder by Terry Ambrose.

Until the next time,

Happy Reading!

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About Terry Ambrose

Terry Ambrose has written and published fourteen mysteries. His Seaside Cove Mystery series new releases have risen to the Amazon genre Top 100. In 2014, Con Game, Terry’s second thriller in the License to Lie series received the San Diego Book Awards Best Mystery/Thriller award. Terry also writes the McKenna Trouble in Paradise mysteries and organized an anthology written by bestselling mystery writers to benefit a literacy nonprofit in Hawaii.

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