On Thin Icing

I have become fond of 5he characters. Not just the stories. The mysteries are fairly good, but the human interactions keep,the story going? Will Jules go back to Carlos? Or isnThomas in her future? Will Torte be successful? I am enjoying the other characters- like Sterling!

Dollycas’s ThoughtsWinter in Oregon can be temperamental and the means business is a bit slow with no tourists visiting the Torte bakery. So when Jules is asked to cater a retreat by Lance, the head of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for the board of directors at a resort up in the woods she gladly accepts.A huge snowstorm sets in soon after everyone arrives, but that does stop 1 surprise guest from arriving just a bit later. Jules is shocked when her estranged husband Carlos comes walking through the door. They have so many things to work through and she doesn’t know how they can do that with all the responsibilities she has for the retreat. Thankfully she has brought along Torte employee and aspiring chef Sterling who immediately hits it off with Carlos.Things take a deadly turn when Jules discovers the body of the bartender that had been pushy, obnoxious, and flirtatious since the moment she arrived the next morning. He was definitely up to something underhanded too. With the snow, it is going to take time for the police to arrive but Jules calls in her favorite officers Thomas, her high school boyfriend, now deputy detective, and the Professor, her mother’s boyfriend, and lead Ashland detective, who slog through the snow to come to her aid. She is totally taken aback when they think Carlos is a prime suspect. Jules is juggling a lot but she knows there are better suspects than her husband so she is going to cut through all the clues and figure out who really iced the bartender.______I really got a kick out of this story and my mouth was watering too! The food created in this story was so tempting, oh to have a wood stove!But I am getting ahead of myself.The focus this time was really on Carlos and Jules with Sterling really striving. Sterling becomes Jules’ sounding board while twisting around the clues to the murder and her true right hand in the kitchen. They make a great team. He also gives Jules the time she needs to try to set her relationship with Carlos in a better direction.We also meet the owner of the retreat and the maintenance man along with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival board of directors and Lance’s new assistant. All the characters are defined and most continue to develop throughout the story. I wanted to know more about one character but maybe they will show up in a future story. The dialogue is snappy and believable.The story had a great flow and the mystery was strong and well-plotted. My focus was pulled to three characters but I was still surprised by the big reveal.I really enjoy the author’s writing style. It is very descriptive. She really brought everything so clear in my mind’s eye, the Lake of the Woods Resort, the weather, even the ride up to the resort, the kitchen, the food, and the people. It was so easy to escape right into this story.The author leaves Carlos and Jules’ relationship still in flux which made me pick up book four, Caught Bread Handed almost immediately. I am very excited to get all caught up on this series!

Great read-I like the characters and the plot. The cooking and baking are a real draw and I love the recipes at the end of the books.

This was my favorite Bakeshop Mystery thus far. I think the appearance of Carlos, the heroine's estranged husband, spiced up the romance, added needed depth to Jules' character, and brought enjoyment to the overall plot. Jules and Sterling (a want-to-be chef at Torte, the restaurant in Ashland, Oregon), head up to a mountain lodge to cater the weekend for the board of the theater in Ashland. Not a barrage of characters, which was good, and a quick murder. All in the middle of a blizzard. No cell phone service. Even the ancient land line goes dead thanks to trees clobbering the power lines. Everyone stranded with a murderer in the crew. Reminded me of the best old gothic mysteries.The book lost a star from me because the author repeated, nearly verbatim, several paragraphs through the book. One about Jules' coffee mug preferences was particularly annoying. Someone should have caught the error before the book went to print. Might sound like nothing to a lot of people, but it annoyed me.Otherwise, this was a delightful cozy, and I look forward to more of Jules' Carlos vs. Thomas problems.

Jules Capshaw is thrilled to be catering the board retreat for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival at the Lake of the Woods center in the mountains above Ashland, Oregon. However, the weekend doesn’t go nearly as smoothly as Jules hopes. First, her estranged husband shows up, proving to be both a help and a distraction. Then the center’s bar tender is killed and stuffed in a freezer. Now, as a winter storm rages, Jules can’t help but wonder if she is catering to a killer.Obviously, this is a classic mystery set up, but it failed to fully deliver for me. The mystery was too thin, and the book covers with too many cooking scenes. Still, Jules does piece things together, and the ending is logical. I also appreciated the time spent on Jules’s relationship with her husband since that’s been in the background in the first two books in the series. Obviously, we don’t get all the series regulars, but everyone at least gets a cameo, which makes me happy since I do like them. We get seven recipes at the end, and they range from dinner options to plenty of pastries and desserts. I hope the plot in the next in the series is stronger.

It’s been many years since I experienced a blizzard and reading On Thin Icing had me shivering and very happy that I live in the desert. Alexander’s descriptions of the miserable weather makes you feel as if you are there – be it in the kitchen with the power threatening to go out, trying to keep warm while sleeping in an unheated cabin, or walking knee deep in fresh snow. I was as surprised as Jules to find her estranged husband, Carlos, making an unexpected visit. The tension between Carlos, the romantic Spaniard, and Thomas, the local no-nonsense detective, is so thick it could be cut with one of Jules’ bread knives. The descriptions of wines were enough to cause drooling, and of course, the food is to die for. Thank you, Ellie, for the recipe for Orange Cardamom Rolls. I will be trying them soon. As with any really good mystery, everything (well, almost everything) was wrapped up by the end, but we are left to wonder what will happen between Jules and Carlos. The idea of waiting months for the next installment is almost painful. Once again, a fabulous read!

Life and love could change peoples lives characters are unpredictable follow your heart and instincts

👍

Urgh go away Carlos! I really enjoyed the first two books in the series and was looking forward to this until the arrival of Carlos. I don't usually have such a strong dislike of a new character but he instantly got my back up and I found him too smarmy for my liking. Maybe it's just because I'm rooting for Thomas but it also made me like Jules a little less. Her reaction to him made her appear weak. The story was ok, as other reviewers have said the book has far too much description of the food cooked and how it's cooked. I miss Torte as the central base for the story too. Hopefully Carlos will get back on his cruise ship to make all the waitresses swoon *blurgh* and normal service will be resumed in the next book.

If your into baking and mysteries try this book.