Quick story that's a little lacking. Tiff and Ian are on the case looking into a suspicious death of a woman's ex husband. Suspects include the business partner, the lover, the ex wife, the assistant, & the son. Sifting through evidence leads her to the police dept where Elwood actually helps her (he now thinks his wife is cheating on him) and a small run in with Detective Dimitriou (where there's still a shared attraction). Still missing Stone but holding back from texting him on the secret burner phone, Tiff is bereft and facing being fired from her job at the casino since they're instituting weight restrictions on their employees. She'll need cupcakes to survive the current case and find the murderer. ( )

Light hearted cozy mystery. Tiffany Black is a dealer in a casino on the strip in Las Vegas. I really like the setting for this series. The glamour of the strip and then the complete ordinariness of the rest of the town was endearing for some reason. Tiffany can be a lot of ditz (think Stephanie Plum by Janet Evanovich) but it wasn't too bad to start with - I think it may be getting worse. I love Ian though. He makes these books. ( )

It was an okay mystery. I haven't read any previous books in the series and I thought the author did a good job at not losing me, or other readers, in wondering who was who and how they related to the main character. I didn't guess the murderer before it was revealed.

But, at times, I felt both the plot and the writing were more to the amateur side of the writing spectrum. At least twice, a character stated some information and then 6 or so lines later, Ian or Tiffany would say the same information for no apparent reason (while still in conversation with that same character--who already knows that information). Not a recap later, not telling someone else something they might not know, not even reminding the character with a "but I thought you said x explanation might be possible" just the same information regurgitated.

I also felt like several plot lines were not developed:

The stand mixer: Why did the one from Glen not work, then start working again? It almost seems like the author needed a reason for Tiffany and Ian to borrow something from Mary that they'd later need to return (which of course they'd do just in time to hear an argument that reveals some pertinent information for their case). If they truly think Glen's mixer doesn't work, why does Ian haul it out again the next time they plan to make cupcakes? And even if he does, why would he think to try it again? Why not just set it aside to take back to Glen and use the one Mary gave them which probably does work? The explanation of why the mixer didn't work the time before and now works fine was weak, and it just seemed too convenient a reason to take them back to Mary's to return her mixer.

Also, a big deal seemed to be made about the weight controls being instituted at Tiffany's casino, but that mention and some grousing by the employees seemed to be all the development that was made on that plot point. I do understand the need to have a hook into the next book in the series, but I don't think that hook has to reach through the entire previous book without any real development of the plot point. If you're going to mention it, do something with it.

Tiffany claims to love her job at the casino, but I don't see much of that here. When she is at the casino, she is either tuning out her boss at his pre-shift staff meetings or mechanically going about her job while mulling over the case she is on. She doesn't seem to enjoy her job or interacting with the customers at her table in my opinion. ( )