A faded dynasty, a mouthy parrot, and a pastry-fueled murder...
It’s February 1998, and Kate McGregor has a system: avoid the town’s eccentric gossip, stay inside her inherited Gilded Age home, and focus on the quirky local crafts in her consignment gallery. Between her meddling Scottish father and her best friend Cindy’s unconventional Hide Tides Bakery regulars, Kate’s introverted life is already louder than she’d like—and that’s before you count her rescued family zoo of cats, dogs, and a macaw.
But the peace of Manatee Bay is fragile. When a widely disliked local figure drops dead at the Spring Berry Festival, the trail leads straight to Cindy’s award-winning pastries. To save her friend and the town’s favorite gossip hub, Kate must step out of the shadows of her family’s dark history and into the spotlight of a murder investigation.
In Manatee Bay, the secrets are as deep as the Gulf.
Backed by a quirky cast of characters, including an 88-year-old attorney who made her grandmother a deathbed promise, Kate must untangle a web of old wealth intrigues, long-standing lies, and new grudges. Can she clear her friend's name, or will the dark history of her own family’s ruined fortune catch up to her first?
This is the first of six books (releasing every 14-18 weeks). While the contemporary murders are solved in each book, an overriding arc explores the clouded family history and scandalous mysteries that have haunted the town since Kate's grandfather’s time. (Summary via Goodreads)
Tides, Lies, and Alibis by Taffy Beach is the first book in her Manatee Bay Cozy Mystery series and it sets the stage beautifully.
In Tides, Lies and Alibis best friends Kate and Cindy are getting ready for a busy weekend with the Spring Berry Festival in Manatee Bay happening. Cindy is preparing her famous cream puffs for the festivities and Kate does her part and delivers them around town.
Unfortunately, even though no one is supposed to eat any until during the actual festival, it seems that Alex Mudd, the primary school principal who nobody likes, may have sampled one. Alex comes across him staggering and acting drunk and shortly dies but she cannot help but notice that there may be traces of a cream puff on his shirt.
Even though he wasn't well liked, Kate knows that she has to investigate for so many reasons .... most importantly to prove her best friend's innocence and save their businesses. But Cindy, Kate's father and her family lawyer and friend won't let her go it alone.
Kate and Cindy have been friends forever, live together with a few cats, a dog and a very vocal parrot, each running a business on the ground floor of their home but now with Mudd's death all of that is in jeopardy. And the local Chief of Police seems to have something against Kate and her family, and it appears that he may already have the case closed.
Readers will love this first book as you get to know the characters and "some" of their secrets. Kate and Cindy have a friendship that you will want, not to mention their home, pets and jobs. You will want to live in Manatee Bay, even with a recent murder there. There is so much you will want to be a part of that you will be wishing you could pack a bag and visit as soon as possible. Luckily, we have more books coming so we have to wait patiently .....
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