I won this in a GOODREADS giveaway - Very enjoyable, the story was entertaining, the mystery intriguing. I loved the puns. ( )

Winnie Johnson’s business “Emergency Dessert Squad” is fairly new but flourishing as is her relationship with Professor Jay Morgan. When she hears that Jay is having issues with one of his students, Winnie gladly gives the girl an internship hoping that will help her grade and ease Jay’s mind. However, when a college student dies from poisoning, apparently after eating one of Winnie’s deliveries, both her business and relationship with Jay are threatened. Winnie knows that in order to clear her name, she has to find the real killer, but will she solve the murder in time?

“The Silence of the Flans” is the enjoyable second book in Laura Bradford’s Emergency Dessert Squad cozy mystery series. I love the setup of this series – Winnie uses an ambulance and stretcher to deliver her baked goods – as well as the names Winnie comes up with for her food offerings – I D’Eclaire for example. Winnie is a great character who cares deeply for her friends – not only Renee, her business partner, but her elderly neighbors who help her in so many ways. While I am not overly fond of love triangles in cozy mysteries, the Winnie/Jay/Greg love triangle does intrigue me – I know who I would pick if I were Winnie. The mystery aspects are well done – this doesn’t happen very often when I read a cozy mystery but this time I felt sorry for the murder victim. There are just the right amount of twists and turns in this book to keep a reader guessing as to who the killer is. Finally, the ending of the book was perfect. 

“The Silence of the Flans” is another nice cozy mystery by Laura Bradford. ( )

Taking place only six weeks after the debut story, Winnie Johnson's emergency dessert business has been brisk. However, when a student winds up poisoned after an on campus delivery of a blackberry crisp, Winnie's business is suddenly in jeopardy again. Winnie, along with her business partner Renee, seem to have pretty much free rein in sleuthing to wipe Winnie from the suspect pool. I like the small community of Silver Lake, it's growing pains with unwanted development makes for a good side story. I also like Winnie's other side kicks, the elderly Mr. Nelson and Bridget O'Keefe, part of the family she's created with her life in Silver Lake. ( )

Disaster strikes so quickly in The Silence of the Flans that there's very little of one ingredient that made the first book in the series, Éclair and Present Danger, so much fun: the naming and baking of the fabulous desserts that Winnie delivers in her vintage ambulance. With her ambulance knocked out of commission early, readers are forced to forego dessert and focus on the main course. The good news is that the main course is downright delectable.

Winnie is the best kind of character to lead a series like this. She's smart, she's funny, and she's a genuinely caring person. I won't even go into her genius for creating desserts with fantastic names. One of her mottoes is "When you dwell on the negative, you miss the positive," and you can see her put that belief into action throughout this book. Something else that's good to see is that-- although she's a nice person-- she's not a pushover, and when she told off one of the other characters, I wanted to cheer. (Actually, I think I did but no one was around to hear me so it doesn't count.)

Laura Bradford's Emergency Dessert Squad series is one in which the "old folks" play an important role. Winnie has two very special friends, Mr. Nelson and Bridget O'Keefe, who-- when they aren't bickering with each other-- help Winnie solve crimes, name desserts, and provide the comfort of family that the younger woman craves. The 85-year-old Ray at Medders Farmers Market is another gem. Life isn't all about the young, you know.

I've been talking about everything else but the mystery in The Silence of the Flans. How is it? Bradford provides such excellent misdirection for the real reason why the young journalist was killed that she kept me guessing until the reveal. So... this second Emergency Dessert Squad book has it all: a great cast of characters, a perfect little business, and a headscratcher of a mystery. The only thing more I could ask for is book #3! ( )

The Silence Of The Flans is the second book in the An Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery.

If you like punny books, then this is series should be on you TBR stack.

Winnie Johnson and her assistant Renee are pleased with how well their Emergency Dessert Squad is doing. They’re thinking they just way have a lights and sirens business on their hands

If only Winnie’s love life was going as well, then everything would be just perfect. The man that she is drawn to, Jay, has been acting a little distant lately. Renee finally convinces Winnie that she needs to make a Dessert Squad delivery to Jay’s office on campus. Jay has been concerned about one his students, Alicia Worth.

An order comes in for a Black-Berry Crumb to delivered to a Melinda Tully, a journalism student and a member of the campus newspaper and who has aspirations of being an investigative reporter. Shortly after eating her dessert Melinda is found dead in her dorm room. As Melinda and Alicia were roommates and didn’t get along in the least, Alicia becomes a person of interest. Winnie’s not sure if Alicia might have added anything poisonous but she knows that she needs to find out who did before her business is the next to die.

In addition to all the whacky dessert that Winnie and Renee come with, I also enjoy the characters that are in the book and are always there to have Winnie’s back. Winnie lives on a street that is mostly senior citizens. Winnie has an apartment in Mr. Nelson’s home. Nelson is hard of hearing and Winnie has to often remind him to turn on his hearing aid so he can follow along with conversations. In addition, there is Bridget, a next door neighbor, who is a reporter for the local newspaper. It’s always fun to follow the banter between Bridget and Mr. Nelson. One thing that brings great joy to Mr. Nelson is trying to get Bridget’s “goat”.

Killer recipes are also included in the book.

Looking forward to reading the next adventures of The Emergency Squad. ( )