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Tasty Trials, Donut 29 in the Donut Mysteries by New York Times Bestselling Author Jessica Beck! When Suzanne and Jake win a weekend getaway to a luxury resort island in the mountains, they think they’re in for the time of their lives. Little do they know that they’ve actually been brought there to help uncover who tried to kill their host. As the married team dig deeper into the case, they are soon isolated on the island with not only more potential victims but the would-be killer as well.

163 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 24, 2017

45 people are currently reading
362 people want to read

About the author

Jessica Beck

103 books460 followers
Jessica Beck is a pseudonym used by
Tim Myers.
Jessica Beck is the penname of an author who has been nominated for the Agatha Award and named an Independent Mystery Booksellers Association national bestseller nearly a dozen times.

Jessica Beck loves donuts, and has the figure to prove it. It's amazing what people can convince themselves is all in the name of research! For each recipe featured in the donut mysteries, a dozen more are tried and tested.

When not concocting delicious treats, Beck enjoys the rare snowfalls near her home in the foothills of North Carolina.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/jessic...

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5 stars
116 (43%)
4 stars
94 (35%)
3 stars
44 (16%)
2 stars
6 (2%)
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4 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
Profile Image for Jennifer Oberth.
Author 16 books27 followers
May 30, 2023
Ugh! This was extra bad. The writing is so unrealistic. Nobody talks like the characters do. Suzanne keeps randomly announcing things that are then true for no other reason except to move the plot along and then to end the book.

Also--is the character that went swimming alive? Did he make it? Is he still out there swimming in the freezing water??????

Now this poor guy is out there in the book ether swimming endlessly for the rest of time.

Sigh.
Profile Image for Alabama Anthony.
713 reviews4 followers
August 5, 2025
Ok, I rarely do this but here goes- SPOILER ALERT

This REALLY seemed like a recycled plot to me, Lets review:

When the mayors brother was killed Suzanne and Jake went to a mountain resort will all of the suspects,
a storm trapped them all, power goes out, and communication was severed from help. Suzanne rescues Jake.

When Suzanne and Grace go to a company retreat in a mountain lodge a key person is murdered, a storm moves in trapping them all with no communication to the outside world, power goes out. Cabins are assigned but everyone ends up staying in the lodge building. Jake rescues Suzanne.

When Jake goes to a bachelor party at a mountain lodge a storm moves in trapping him with no contact with Suzanne. Power goes out in April SprinGs. The snow melts and the police chief rescues Suzanne.

This time Suzanne and Jake are scammed into thinking the won a sweepstakes prize (who actually falls for that?) the go to an island resort in a snowstorm, communication is cut off, power goes out, cabins are assigned but everybody ends up in the lodge building. Jake rescues Suzanne.

If you are going to take a vacation in the Carolinas I would think more that twice before deciding to go during bad weather, to a remote location, where killers are hiding in the lodge or nearby cabins.

Yeah, I’m off to read the next one in the series, this one took 2 hours 54 minutes of my day.
Profile Image for Dez Nemec.
1,092 reviews32 followers
June 17, 2017
Having read her first 8 books, I was shocked to see #29 and #30 at a used book store. I thought for a minute perhaps there were 2 Jessica Becks. I was shocked that she had written so many books so quickly. As someone else mentioned, this didn't have the character development or as in depth of a mystery as her early books, probably due to the fact that it was less than half the pages of those works. But it was still entertaining.
Profile Image for Kerry Murtagh Ramsay.
202 reviews1 follower
October 7, 2018
Not a good entry

Suzanne and her husband are just plain smug and unpleasant in this one. It strains believability, even for a cozy, that the intended victim and some of the suspects would write the inane stream of consciousness narratives that are necessary to the plot. One is even written in a journal titled...”My Journal.” Ugh.
Profile Image for Gloria.
29 reviews
August 15, 2024
This feels like teen/YA fiction except the main characters are a middle-aged couple. How many soft smiles did Suzanne and Jake exchange? It made me cringe. With an ending that could have been predicted from the very start, this gave off amateur writing vibes. Also, what was the random dig on sushi? As expected from a male white author, I suppose.
Profile Image for Sabrina.
687 reviews4 followers
March 7, 2017
Jessica Beck always delivers. I'm loving the direction the story line is headed. I did miss all the usual people in this story, but it was nice for Suzanne and Jake to have a getaway weekend, even though it was under false pretense.
Profile Image for Connie.
723 reviews18 followers
February 16, 2019
I really liked that they "won" a getaway. I just wish some of the book would have been relaxing to their characters. They never seem to get much relaxation.
Another job well done, but please let him take his gun every time from now on, Suzanne.
Enjoy!
Profile Image for Lacey.
692 reviews2 followers
January 14, 2020
In this mystery Suzanne and Jake win a mysterious vacation getaway on an island. After finding out they are there under false pretenses it is up to them to find out who wants to kill their host and who is a murder. Another great read.
3 reviews
November 3, 2020
This one was different.

Easy reading. I've read them all so far. My two suggestions would be to stop using the character's names repeatedly in general conversation and discontinue the word "softly" . It's become tiresome.
Profile Image for Michelle.
274 reviews4 followers
July 30, 2022
This book is different than any of the others. The story line is with just Jake and Suzanne on a resort island working on a mystery. All new characters and no part of April Springs in it. This story was quick to read with all events also happening quick. Looking forward to book #30.
14 reviews1 follower
March 10, 2017
Below average

The first books in this cozy series were excellent, but the most recent ones are lacking. Perhaps the author needs to take more time writing and develop the characters and provide realistic dialogue. This book just comes off as corny and contrived. Very disappointing.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews

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