*clears throat* I made fanart. Can you tell I'm crazy for it?
Tiff writes as if she's been to Hollybrooke and met its residents. I loved all the characters! Alison is a wonderful protagonist - perky and silly and chaotic, constantly making pop culture references and testing Will's patience. Will is a charming partner-in-crime/love interest: kind and rational, but deep down just as nuts as Alison. They're both walking disasters and I ship them so. Freakin. Hard. Chelsea, Tia, Tommie and all of Alison's friends shimmer with personality and just leap off of the page. 

Now, let's get my complaints over and done with so I can rant more later.

*Deep breath* if you're a grammar nazi, do not read this book.

Poor syntax and orthography combine with botched homonyms, redundancies and repetitions for a decidedly self-publised feel. MMatGC reads like a book without an editor. I was mentally going over every page with a red pen and several clicks of the tongue. "Your" mixed up with "you're", "to" with "too", commas thrown about where they shouldn't have been and/or lacking where they were needed, sentences with no verb... I wound up mentally blocking this out because the story and its quirky characters were so good, but it seriously detracts from the professionalism of the text. *proceeds to ignore it and snort at Ali and Will's hilarious banter*

Secondly, the ending felt...a little rushed? I never saw the twist coming, but then again, there were about 30 pages left before things REALLY got intense. The plot kinda...meanders about to pick daisies, as we're treated to scenes of donuts, renaissance festivals, slow dancing, and movie marathons (don't get me wrong as this is TOTALLY my thing!) And then, the actual murder mystery is kind of a subplot. Just a fair warning.

(I also would've rather left the story without the epilogue... but that's just me and my weird fondness for open endings, with their characters headed toward an uncertain future, so take this with a pinch of salt.)

Imma stop with the complainy stuff right now and tell you that the banter in this book is a GEM. Murder Mystery and the Gingerbread Cookies got me in trouble with my mom because I was laughing so loud she couldn't focus on her work.

In conclusion, buy and read Murder Mystery and the Gingerbread Cookies if:
-you love cute, clean and healthy romance with plenty of banter and jokes
-you're a sucker for hot Christian dudes
-you're the kind of person who sings carols in July
-cute filler is your thing

Give it a skip if:
-you're expecting some gritty, harrowing roman noir crime stuff
-Christian lit isn't your thing
-you're a grammar Nazi
-dude, just buy it anyway or I'll slap you in the knees with a cane.