Suzanne Hart owns Donut Hearts, where she happily spends her mornings baking and selling coffee and donuts. But she’s been asked by a friend to participate in a charity fundraiser, to demonstrate making donuts in the kitchen of one of the participant’s home, and Suzanne jumped at the chance to show off her skills. However, there's one person who doesn't want her involved, and that's the chairperson, Peg Masterson, isn't happy about it and makes her feelings known. But since Peg isn't liked by many people, Suzanne ignores her.

The day of the demonstration, with a roomful of onlookers, someone notices that there’s a body outside the window, and screams. The victim is Peg, and upon further investigation, it's apparent she's been poisoned...and it was with one of Suzanne’s lemon filled donuts. Now, with being a suspect in the murder, and with her life and reputation on the line, she's out to find a killer. She can't count on help from boyfriend police Inspector Jake Bishop, who wants to stay away from her because he doesn't want anyone to think he's 'favoring' her, she asks retired cop and friend George to help. But even he might not be enough if a killer decides that she's getting a bit too close and needs to be eliminated...

This is the second book in the series and better than the first, which is good. I’m not sure yet if I like Jake Bishop or not, considering he’s not much of a boyfriend. I get that he has things going on, but cops do have relationships, and spending time with her shouldn’t be a big deal. He is allowed a private life, after all, and if he doesn't discuss the case with her, I can't see how it would be a big deal if they went to dinner once in a while. It’s like he’d rather make excuses than spend time with her. Who knows? Maybe the author wants to get rid of him since someone else was introduced in this book and her ex Max is hanging around, too (don’t tell me; I’d rather find out gradually by reading the other books). I do like her mother, Dorothy and most of the other characters; I’m even beginning to like the Chief Martin since he didn’t treat her unfairly in this one.

At any rate, the mystery was decent, and we were given several suspects to sift through and a few red herrings along the way, which are also nice. When the ending comes and the murderer is revealed, it was a bit of a surprise, which is always a nice thing. The reason for the murder was believable, the characters are developing, and everything came together well enough that I will continue to read the next in the series. ( )

I previously read Glazed Donuts and Evil Eclairs but backtracked in this series to read Fatally Frosted by Jessica Beck. Since I am diabetic, I limit my intake of donuts to reading about them in this series. Somehow, this story didn't seem to satisfy my sweet tooth. Suzanne Hart, the owner of the Donut Hearts solves another murder mystery. But this time, her romantic interest, Jake Bishop. a police inspector, didn't spend much time with Suzanne. He was constantly popping in and out of the story because his niece was sick and getting well and then getting sick again. Therefore, he only had very short conversations with Suzanne.

The murder weapon is one of Suzanne's donuts. It was obvious that poison was added by someone else since Suzanne would never kill anyone even if it was a major busybody. Suzanne's mother did not have much of a part in this story. The plot was predictable and I figured out who the murderer was early on but I was looking forward to her interactions with Jake and her mother. So that was disappointing. I think if I was reading this whole series, I would skip this one as it just was not that much fun. ( )

Suzanne Hart is both excited and nervous about demonstrating donut making during the April Springs, North Carolina, kitchen tour. Suzanne will be cooking in Marge Rankin's newly refurbished kitchen. Suzanne's demonstration ends as soon as it begins, with the discovery of event organizer Peg Masterson's body in the garden outside Marge's home...with one of Suzanne's partially-eaten donuts next to her. Since she is one of the prime suspects in the murder, Suzanne is determined to clear her name by finding Peg's real killer.

I didn't find the setting quite as charming as it was in the first book of the series. The mystery isn't well developed, either. This may be a case of “sophomore slump”. The author is still using Suzanne to carry the weight of the story instead of letting the supporting characters share the load. I would still like to see more of Suzanne's assistant, college student Emma, but she had an even smaller role in this book than in the first one. The excerpt from the next book sounds like it has the potential to involve more of the secondary characters, so I'll keep going with the series. ( )

I struggled with the first in this series and this one just didn't do it for me either. I found the dialog to be stilted and un-natural, although there were some hints of humor, and I just didn't care about the characters. I did love how the main character didn't hold back and stood up for herself, though. Something that should happen a bit more often in cozy mysteries. :) ( )

It takes a peculiar mind to be able to appreciate Fatally Frosted. I mean, most of the fans of the series are normal, but it takes someone with a different set of priorities and limitations to really not only overlook but turn the stilted aspect of Fatally Frosted into a success story. I like that there were no impenetrable word play. I loved the slightly boring signature of Jessica Beck. I knew 'her' as Chris Cavender in the Pizza Lover Mysteries. He brings the same welcome additions to the table in this book.

I always lack in analysis when trying to review a book that's more than the sum of its parts. I think I am like cinephiles who only appreciate films from the 30's and 40's. We share a common strain. The artifice of the book freezes the puzzling whodunit in a fairy tale-like pastiche. With the only exciting nugget of the book being the murder, the sentences that describe the days of the protagonist, dull as they may seem, inherit a delightful quirk from the said murder. All of a sudden, the entire book is one big wait. But since the book is about someone's life, the dullness becomes vibrant, full of color and life. That's as close I can get in explaining why I'm rating this book so highly.

I rated the first book one star. I have completely forgotten its blurb, let alone its contents. But something tells me, put it down to experience, that if I re read it, it would not score any higher. The good things about this second book repeat themselves. Things like a lack of annoying humans or pets, paucity of too much liberal leaning, nods to beloved influences (Ellery Queen magazine and Roger Ackroyd), all contribute to the polished niceness of this book. It's, after all, a cozy mystery. And doesn't it know it. ( )