THE DIVA TAKES THE CAKE (Krista Davis)

Set in Old Town Alexandria, VA (where we spent our vacation last year with fellow Christie Capers moderator Janet and her husband), Davis' Domestic Diva series is fun and packed full of quirky, likable characters.  Based on comments from the Christie Capers discussion group, Diva Takes the Cake is not the best of this series, at least as the first to read.  Because the venue for this mystery is a wedding, there are a few too many characters to keep track of, especially when you add in the aliases!  I have to confess that I kept confusing Natasha with Nina and Phoebe with Jen (I can't explain that one) and I had to keep reminding myself of who was related to whom and how.  I even was getting the various animals confused!  That being said, I loved the tongue in cheek quality of Davis' writing.  Nearly every chapter, it seemed, ended with a surprise: a wedding disaster, an intruder, an accident, a dead body.  My advice would be to start with the first book in the series, Diva Runs Out of Thyme, to get familiar with the characters and their background before you read this one.  Although Davis did introduce everyone adequately, the sheer number of people and activity make it difficult to follow it all if you don't already have some background.  Once you get done with the first, though, I think you'll want to keep on reading.  Oh, and the book covers are wonderful!