Setting:  Aboard the Amour of the Seas, a boutique cruise ship 

Characters

Juliet "Jules" Capshaw: Former full-time pastry chef on a cruise line, current co-owner of Torte, a popular local bakery and cafe in Ashland, Oregon. 
Carlos: Jules's estranged husband, head chef on the Amour of the Seas
Rocky: Cruise director 
Helen Capshaw: Jules' mother and co-owner of Torte
The Professor: Police chief detective and boyfriend of Helen
Plot:  Before returning home to Ashland, Jules spent several years traveling the world on cruise ships, where she worked as a pastry chef.Her heart - and her feet - are now firmly planted on the ground as she takes on more and more at Torte. But when Carlos calls and asks Jules to fill in for a week aboard the Amour of the Seas, and sweetens the offer by extending an invitation to Helen and the Professor, as well, Jules can't help but set sail once more. Once on board, Jules finds herself torn between her heart and her head - should she return to the life of a world traveler alongside her husband? Or should she stay back in Oregon with her family and continue to renovate and renew the business her parents built?

The decision isn't an easy one, especially when her personal debate is sidetracked by an investigation. While taking an early morning stroll, Jules comes across the body of stow-away passenger - dead in the pool. Her already tattered nerves are even more frayed at the thought of a killer on board the boutique cruise ship. It's up to the Professor and Jules to identify the victim, pinpoint the motive, and isolate the murderer - all while sailing directly into the eye of a storm.  

Pacing:  Consistent

Predictability:  Low

Wild Card:  A Crime of Passion Fruit is the sixth book in the Bakeshop Mystery series, which is a favorite of mine. The carefully crafted stories are as enticing as the mouth-watering descriptions of what Jules and her crew are cooking up at the bakery. Over the course of these six books, I've gone back and forth along with Jules on the issue of Carlos. At first, I was ready to do away with him. Drop him off the canvas and cheer on a new path with an old flame. But then he came to Ashland and, well, the guy is charming. But now . . . I'm undecided. I'm thrilled that Jules is ready to return to land without another thought of sailing off into the sunset, and I'm equally eager to see what's next for the remodeling and expansion at Torte. However, I just don't know if I'm Team Carlos, Team Thomas, or Team Torte! (After all, a gal doesn't have to have a love interest to be happy and successful!) Needless to say, this delightful and delectable series continues to be a favorite and I'll be eagerly awaiting the next twists and turns that Ellie Alexander has in store.  

Hit, Miss, or Draw?  Hit!

Last year I went through a huge cozy mystery phase and read absolutely tons of books in the genre. I'm pretty burnt out on it now, and the only cozies sneaking their way onto my reading list are the ones from series that I really love, and the Bakeshop Mysteries are at the very top of the list. Ellie Alexander continues to do fun things with the characters to keep the setting interesting, and in this one we're back on the cruise ship Jules used to work on (which means Carlos is back too). Setting a murder-mystery on a cruise ship is a great plot device as it's pretty frightening to imagine being stuck on a boat out at sea, knowing that one of the people among you is a killer. As usual, Jules is helping with the investigation, and also as usual, she's cooking up delectable sounding desserts. This series remains fresh and interesting, and it's keeping it's place on my list.

Another outing in Jules' life, with another mystery to solve--this one on the high seas, as Jules returns temporarily to her previous life as a pastry chef for a small European cruise line. I enjoyed the read, though I didn't think it was as strong as previous entries in the series. We don't know the victim at all, and the whole mystery solving feels more like an academic exercise than anything very dramatic or tension-filled.

Also, it felt like she explained that "Staff worked around the clock" about 20 times. Working on a cruise ship is hard work. We get it. However, the idea that Jules would have time to both manage the pastry kitchen, which she told us in great, great detail works 24 hours a day to provide enormous quantities of baked goods, and still traipse around the ship, looking for the Professor for hours on end, questioning people, etc., feels ridiculous.

That said, the book was pretty readable, and I liked seeing a bit more of her mom and the Professor. Will be looking forward to the next book in the series--but will be hoping it's stronger than this one.

Note: This review copy was provided by the publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I've always enjoyed this series and A Crime of Passion Fruit is an excellent addition to the cozy mystery family.
I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy the story since it took place on the cruise ship, but I was pleasantly surprised.
It was interesting to read about the inner workings of the kitchens on the ship and the intriguing mystery made it even more enjoyable.

A Crime of Passion Fruit: A Bakeshop Mystery
By Ellie Alexander
St. Martin’s Press
June 27, 2017

Review by Cynthia Chow

The luxury cruise ship Amour of the Seas was indeed where pastry chef Jules Capshaw met the love of her life, but it also was the place of her greatest heartbreak. The latter led her back to Ashland, Oregon, where she has surprisingly found herself feeling at home within her family’s Torte bakeshop. It’s just as they’re in the middle of expanding when Jules receives a call from her estranged husband Carlos, begging for her help. The pastry chef on Amour of the Seas has abruptly quit, and as the executive chef Carlos needs Jules to fly in until he can get a replacement. Carlos uses the lure of double pay, not to mention an all-paid vacation for Jules’s mother and her mother’s boyfriend the Professor, to entice Jules back to Amour of the Seas for five days sailing through the Caribbean.

It’s not long before Jules is back in the rhythm of long days coordinating the preparation of thousands of pastries for the 600 guests, all of whom expect to be indulged and surprised by her delicacies. What rocks her off of her feet is the sight of a possible stowaway, a young woman who later turns up dead floating in the ship’s pool. Having considerable experience with murder back in Ashland, Jules doesn’t hesitate to join the Professor (AKA Detective Doug Ashland) in investigating the mystery behind the poor woman’s death. While guests delight in gourmet meals, live entertainment, and a luxury spa, the staff clocks in 80 hours of work a week, live in tiny cabins, and stay isolated from the guests on the upper decks. These are fascinating worlds, and Jules crosses between them when she takes off her chef whites to question an amorous musician, predatory dancer, and ambitious cruise director. Someone on board knows the identity of the desperate stowaway, and learning who will get Jules one step closer to discovering the murderer.

This sixth in the series takes readers out to sea and away from Shakespeare-themed Ashland, where Torte is in a holding pattern as it undergoes considerable renovations. Readers who have grown to love the charming town’s residents shouldn’t worry though, as Jules continues to check in with the bakery and her friends. Her friend Lance is using the excuse of supervising Torte to avoid strife occurring within the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and he’s not the only one attempting to dodge confrontations. Jules fled from Carlos when she discovered the secret he was keeping from his past, and now that she has changed Jules doesn’t know whether she can ask Carlos to do the same. What Jules is certain of is her love of being a pastry chef, uniting people over food, and being able to do both at her beloved Torte. The ocean may get rocky for Amour of the Seas, but Ashland’s premier bakery will be Jules’s oasis of good friends and family, with an added dash of Shakespearean culture.

Another delightful cozy from my favorite foodie series! In this 6th installment in the Bakeshop series, Carlos persuades Jules to rejoin his staff on the cruise ship when his pastry chef quits unexpectedly. Carlos provides Jules' mom and her detective boyfriend, "the Professor," with free tickets aboard the ship. Things are going well until a stowaway young woman is found floating in the ship's pool. Of course, the Professor and Jules investigate the mystery with a little help from back home via email. In between investigating, Jules bakes tropical-themed desserts--the descriptions of the pastries are heavenly! The author provides recipes at the end of the book to recreate at home--I definitely want to try the tropical iced-chai. Highly recommended for foodies who love mysteries!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the preview copy!

I love returning to Torte bakery and small town Oregon but this book we take a road trip because Jules ex-husband begs her to return to the cruise ship for 5 days to fill in for the missing pastry chef. With the promise of a free stateroom for her mom Jules reluctantly agrees. This is book 6 in the Bakeshop Mystery series and the renovations on the Torte are coming along slowly. I think people familiar with the series will have a better grasp on all the interpersonal relationships but it's a good cozy and a new reader will enjoy the murder mystery. As always, the recipes look yummy and the promise of a mystery is revealed.

This is the sixth installment in Ellie Alexander’s Bakeshop Mystery series. This book is well plotted and the characters are well developed. The author provides enough background information that each book in this series can be read as a standalone. Ms. Alexander’s descriptions of the cruise ship and sea, and food and beverages available to the passengers are descriptive and vivid; however, I feel that too much of the book is dedicated to baking descriptions and not enough to the mystery. I recommend A Crime of Passion Fruit to anyone who enjoys reading well-crafted cozy mysteries.

Juliet “Jules” Capshaw works in her family’s bakery, Torte, in the quaint Shakespeare-themed village Ashland, Oregon. Before moving back almost eight months ago, she worked as a pastry chef on a luxury cruise ship with her now estranged husband and executive chef, Carlos. Jules and her mother have just finished remodeling and upgrading Torte’s kitchen and are preparing for an expansion to double their square footage by purchasing the basement property. The expansion is on hold until they can pump out floodwater, add a new drainage system, and repair damage the flooding caused. Carlos calls Jules to tell her the ship is currently without a pastry chef, the new chef can’t take over for another week, and not only do they want her to fill in but will pay her double the normal salary and even provide suites for her mother and her boyfriend, Ashland’s lead detective, Professor Doug Curtis. They’ll be gone for less than a week and Jules believes she has all the bases covered to keep Torte up and running. Their competent staff members, Sterling, Stephanie, and Andy, will handle a modified menu in their absence and several friends will help too. Any special orders will be directed to Chef Garrison, Bethany of Unbeatable Brownies will do her baking in their kitchen and help Stephanie with morning prep and wholesale accounts, and Lance will help by overseeing any renovation issues. The trio flys to Miami and enjoys their first night onboard Amour of the Seas. While taking an early morning walk on the pool deck’s running track, Jules finds a woman floating face down in the pool. Jules doesn’t know the woman but had seen her on the ship the day before. The ship’s captain believes the death may not be accidental asks for the Professor’s help and the Professor, in turn, asks Jules to keep her eyes and ears open and to let him know if she hears anything that might lead to the young woman’s identity or anything that might track down a murderer. Even though she had promised Carlos that she wouldn’t get involved with the investigation, she starts snooping around and asking questions.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

Enjoyable new title in the Bakeshop Mystery series--Jules Capshaw, her mother, and the Professor wind up on a cruise ship with Jules' estranged husband Carlos, and inevitably, Jules winds herself tangled up in a murder investigation. In terms of the killer's identity, there were quite a few red herrings, but the plot resolution made sense overall. Six books into this series, I (as a reader) would like Jules and Carlos relationship to move forward rather than just this whole back-and-forth of "I love you, but..." and then not actually breaking up.

This has become one of my favorite series because of the interesting, relatable characters and especially because of the descriptions of the desserts that Jules makes. They all sound so wonderful that I'm constantly hungry when reading! Although Jules, the lead character in this series, has been happy working at Torte's. her family's bakery, when her off again/on again relationship with her cruise ship chef husband Carlos turns on again she ditches the family bakery to run off to sea and work with him in the cruise ship kitchen. But once again murder and mayhem follow Jules, giving us a chance to sleuth alongside her. The mystery portion of this book was intriguing but what matters most, and what puts this series ahead of anything else currently on my to be read pile, was the relationship between Jules and Carlos and , did I mention, the desserts.