Double Mint by Gretchen Archer (Davis Way Crime Caper #4)
Double Mint by Gretchen Archer is the 4th book in the witty Davis Way Crime Caper cozy mystery series. I’ve read all the previous books and this 4th one is the best yet. I was laughing hard from the first page to the last. And the ending left me with tears in my eyes (from laughter, not from crying).
Davis Way is working for a while now at the Bellissimo resort and casino in Biloxi, both as an undercover agent and a double for Bianca Sanders, the boss’s wife, who is a rich, lazy and spoiled brat. This second job came about because sadly both women look eerily similar.
So in each book Davis has to not only solve some crime that just happened (or is about to happen) at the casino, but she is also the official double for Bianca, making her public appearances instead and fixing Bianca’s missteps (or creating new ones in her name).
In Double Strike we found Davis getting read to marry the handsome and charming Bradley Cole.
In Double Mint they are now married, he is her boss, and they are living right on the premises, in a very luxurious and disturbing (apparently haunted) apartment. It is much easier this way for everyone, afterall they are both are working at the casino, and then there is Bianca, who terrorizes/needs Davis (mispronounced David) every single day for stuff… including keeping her doctors appointments because Bianca can’t be bothered.
So what are the problems Davis faces this time around? Well, starting with a monster of a fridge that every repairman in the region has nightmares about, someone constantly breaking in the apartment (which is strange because usually people in the resort avoid it like the plague), a missing event planner and Davis ending up with an obnoxious, spoiled and frightening/frightened cat, a convention of 500 bankers which screams trouble, oh and Davis’ ex-husband appearing at the worst of times. And this is not even the half of it.
The book is rather short, but at less than 300 pages there is so much happening that the pages fly like by themselves wanting to be read, just to see what happens next. Lots of action (nothing gory, it is a cozy afterall), plenty of suspense and tons of laughter every step of the way.
The story is told from the point of view of Davis, who infuses her thoughts with lots of sarcasm (many directed towards Bianca Sanders). She has something funny and witty to say about even the worst things happening at the resort.
If you are a cat lover, you’ll be glad the cat Davis ended with is not yours. This one is a cat from hell who makes everyone’s life miserable with lots of hilarious moments to read about.
And then the fridge. If there is a monster in the closet, it is that fridge in their apartment. I don’t think I’ve ever read something so crazy and hilarious about everyday, mundane things like that fridge.
The author has a way to infuse the most monotonous of thoughts and happenings with lots of humor, which translates into a darn cheerfully readable book.
If there is a book to read over the summer holidays, this should be it. It will make you forget about your own troubles and feel you’re in heaven when you have to read what Davis is going through. And honestly (I am happily married), but Bradley Cole is only surpassed in my mind as an ideal man by two guys in the whole world (sorry hubby): Roarke, Eve Dallas’s hubby in J.D. Robb’s books and Jamie Frazer in Outlander. There, I’ve said it.
Overall, I find the series getting better even better with every book. This one was pretty much flawless and now I’m left to wait for another year until the next Davis Way story comes out.
