Reality TV turns deadly in Cherry Hinton's first case
When Kenny Thorpe, a contestant on Expose TV's Big Blubber, the hot new celebrity weight-loss show, is murdered on live television in front of 3 million viewers, the case seems pretty watertight. After all, everyone saw Martin do it, didn't they?
Cherry Hinton knows there's more to this than meets the eye. As an investigative reporter, she went undercover on dating show Caravan of Love... but after getting in too deep with one of the other contestants, she was caught knickerless in front of the nation. Humiliated, fired and heartbroken, she has fled to Brentwood, where she opens a cake shop, and tries to forget all about Expose.
But when Kenny Thorpe's sister walks into her shop with a letter that turns the case inside out, Cherry realises it's down to her to expose the real killer.
What did I think?
I was drawn to Cherry Slice, not only by the mouthwatering cake on the cover, but by the story being set around the hilariously named reality TV weight loss show: Big Blubber. I think because I found the show name so funny, I expected Cherry Slice to be quite funny but, although I did laugh at some of the clever show names, I reminded myself that it's a murder mystery not a joke book.
When Martin appeared to murder fellow contestant Kenny on live TV, he has little choice but to plead guilty. When Kenny's sister claims that Martin is innocent, she turn to Kenny's old schoolfriend Cherry Hinton to uncover the truth. 'Who killed Kenny?' is the theme of the book and I have to admit to having a little South Park snigger every time I read it.
After being disgraced on TV whilst working undercover to expose vote rigging, Cherry returns home to run a cake shop. Cherry creates some lovely cakes with clever names and I found the visits from her social media obsessed friend, Kelsey, very entertaining. Kelsey even gets a cake named after her: a Kelsey Bun.
I really enjoyed the investigative side to the story and the big reveal at the end is absolutely brilliant. Although I didn't quite connect with Cherry at first, she certainly grew on me and I loved her run-ins with local policeman and one-time crush, Jacob. This is a part of Cherry's story that is 'to be continued' and leaves the reader not necessarily hanging but interested enough to look forward to the next instalment.
Cherry Slice is a fun, murder mystery with an intriguing storyline and an occasional giggle; it's a great parody of reality TV and social media obsessives. A light, entertaining read and a good start to a new series.
I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
My rating:
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