Trick or Thief by D. E. Haggerty – Book Review

Book: Trick or Thief

Series: Book 6 in The Death by Cupcake Series

Author: D. E. Haggerty

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Publisher: Independently Published
Number of pages (digital edition): 120 pages
ASIN: B0878QF5V9

Synopsis:

A little haunting sounds like innocent fun until a ghost plunders your stockroom.

Kristie is convinced ghosts don’t exist until food starts disappearing without a trace from the Youth Center storage. There are zero clues as to who’s been inside the building. The security guard hasn’t seen a thing, and the security tapes are mysteriously blank. 

When the ghost widens his hocus-pocus to include Kristie’s office, the gals of Callie’s Cakes jump in to find the culprit before Kristie can get in a whole mess of spooky trouble. 

Will the gals of Callie’s Cakes expose the ghost before Kristie’s facility is destroyed?

 

Book Review by Nadaness In Motion

I've wanted to read D. E. Haggerty for some time. She writes cozy mystery and I've been unable to get on her book tours. Until now.

Trick or Thief is the sixth installment in The Death by Cupcake series and it's my first read for Haggerty and the series.

I was excited by this book but sadly it put me off reading Haggerty's other books.

Trick or Thief is narrated in the first person perspective of Kristie, a woman who keeps mentioning how her age is an obstacle against society but who only mentions that she's 24 at 60% of the book.

Trick or Thief is a short read, at about 120 pages, but I struggled to finish and considered not finishing it all but only plowed further to see if the mystery will make it up for me.

It didn't.

I must say that I'm surprised that the sleuths in this cozy mystery are the supporting characters, Anna and Callie. They are also the fun characters. The narrator and main character Kristie is obnoxious to the bone.

I couldn't stand her.

And by the way, the mystery only solved itself in the end. Kristie was literally standing in the way of getting the mystery moving and the trio weren't the ones who solved the mystery! Imagine that!

There was some light humor in Trick or Thief like when Kristie first discovers the thefts going on at her Youth Center. Anna argues that the first suspect, a security guard, might be the thief.

"Why would a security guard whom I pay a decent salary steal white bread and no-name peanut butter?"

"Maybe he has a gambling addiction," Anna claps. "Or maybe he has a lover he doesn't want his wife to find out about."

"And he feeds her peanut butter sandwiches?"

One thing I did LIKE about Trick or Thief was Haggerty keeping me wondering if there really was a ghost.

That said, I found Kristie's tone to be annoying throughout. Her boyfriend may be sweet and romantic but I felt like the whole story was written in a childish way. The dialogue was childish too (especially between Tyler and Kristie).

My favorite character was Anna. She's an adult who is a child at heart. She's funny, energetic, and downright cute.

Overall, I didn't like Trick or Thief as much as I had expected.

Overall rating: 1 star.

 

Note: I received a free copy of Trick or Thief by D. E. Haggerty as part of blog tour via Lori Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours. However, because this was a promotional tour I posted the review at a later time and only opted for a spotlight then.