Another hilarious Davis Way adventure. Davis hasn't left the apartment in 8 months while taking care of the twins. The apt was turned into a "smart" home that keeps malfunctioning. Topping off firing nannies, her ex-ex mother in law Bea showing up, the casino going under, & her team being disbanded, Davis has to contend with the new casino next door that seemingly has stolen everything the Bellissimo has including employees, planes, & art. Working alone this time Davis has to uncover what is truth & what is lies to save the casino & her sanity in the process ( )

Once again there is trouble at the Bellisimo, but this time, Davis Way-Cole is not on duty, in fact almost nobody is on duty. Davis is home with her twin baby girls trying to deal with her "Smart House" while the Bellissimo is going under. A new casino has been built three miles away and it seems that whatever the Bellissimo plans, they are one step ahead. They have hardly any customers, they are laying off employees and even the Sanders have jumped ship and gone back to LasVegas. Blaming herself for all that has befallen the Bellissimo casino, she sets out to right the perceived wrongs, using what has driven all her previous capers, her intelligence, computer skills, intuition, and gut feelings.

At the beginning of the story Davis is a shut in due to the birth of her daughters. She does not want to leave them with anyone else. She also thinks everything is her fault and nobody will want to see her. Even Fanatasy has jumped ship to the new casino. There is completely laugh out loud hilarity starting with "House" and continuing when her ex-ex-mother-in-law, Bea shows up. For some reason she thinks the twins are her grandchildren and she wants to move in with Davis. When Davis sends her in to spy at the new casino, she is even more hilarious. As we finally get to know Bea, we see another side of her that is soft and loving, where she was always rather bitchy in other stories. As the action revs up, we see some of the previous characters and they also reveal some new information and show their loyalty.

Typically in this series, everything seems to be heading in one way, then there is a twist that sends Davis off in another direction. Will she be able to figure out what the new casino is up to? Will her, Bradley and the twins end up moving to LasVegas? What is going to happen to Bea? I thoroughly enjoy that while the story winds up nicely, but the ending has a lot of ways to go with the next story in this series. A fun, cozy mystery that will have you laughing at their exploits. ( )

Davis Way Cole is the ex-Secret Super Spy for the Bellissimo Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. 'Ex' because she's retired - now taking care of two eight-month-old baby girls, Bex and Quinn - while her husband Bradley is left to run what's left of the casino. I say this because there's a new sheriff in town: The Blitz, which has been built right across the river from the Bellissimo, and they've not only taken the Bell's staff, but most of their customers as well. They've become practically a ghost town on their own, and the owner, Richard Sanders (and his wife Bianca) have decamped for the lights of Las Vegas and left Bradley to salvage what he can.

Davis blames herself, because if she hadn't been so busy being pregnant and then motherhood, she believes she would have known what the Blitz was up to all along and none of this would have happened; she would have been at the top of her game and realized they were building a mega-casino instead of what she originally thought - a football stadium. Why a stadium? Because the person who now runs the Blitz is the grandson of the owner, Elias Johnson, and an ex-football player.

Because of this, Davis has refused to leave her lavish penthouse, and has become as reclusive as Greta Garbo. That is, until her ex-ex-mother-in-law Bea Crawford shows up and refuses to leave. At first Davis is horrified, but when things start going even further south, she realizes she can use Bea in her own scheme to put things right again, and that's when she turns Bea into a spy herself (sort of). But just when Davis thinks things are starting to look up, she hasn't got a clue as to how dark they can become...

As a great fan of the series I was really looking forward to this entry, and for the most part, wasn't disappointed. While it started out slow - it's not that interesting to follow a storyline of someone who spends all their time in an apartment with their babies - but once the plot got going - and so did Davis, it really took off (see what I did there?).

There isn't a lot I can say about the plot without giving away the crux of the story, so let it suffice to say that Davis is tired of what is going on around her and decides she's the one who needs to save the company (and her home). She learns from Bea what is going on over at the Blitz; decides she can do something even better at the Bellissimo, and sets forth on a plan to save the resort and her husband's job in the process. What ensues is quite humorous at times, suspenseful at others, there was even one scene between Fantasy and Davis that had me downright chuckling; plus Davis' reaction when she realizes why she's spending time with Bea is worth reading the book alone; not to mention what happens when Bea begins to take herself seriously as a spy.

In the end, it was a fun journey with an unexpected ending, and while not technically a murder mystery (although there is a murder, have no fear), it still gives you plenty to devour while you enjoy the book and wait for the next in the series to arrive. Recommended. ( )