Title:	Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping: An Anna Romano Mystery Series (Volume 1)
	Author:	Cheryl Denise Bannerman
	Published:	September 21, 2018, CreateSpace Independent Publishing
	No. of Pages:	122
	Cover Price:	$8.49 Paperback, $3.99 Kindle

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The first installment in the Anna Romano Mystery Series by Cheryl Denise Bannerman introduces protagonist Anna Romano, as well as her new boyfriend, Detective John Solace. Anna is a bestselling mystery author, and was at a book signing when a strange, red-headed man asked her to sign a copy of her newest book with a message to his dead wife. While a bit weird, things get worse when Anna realizes that she is being stocked by the red-headed man. A trip to the library helps her find out who he is, but before she can let the police know about him (they blew her off when she initially went to them about the stalking), she is kidnapped by her stalker, where she finds herself in danger. From the beginning, the book doesn’t seem serious, and is humorous throughout.

Anna is a likeable character and fairly well developed. The storyline is fun and is easy-to-follow, but ideally should contain more detail; the book is so short it would be considered a novella – only 122 pages – which can easily be read in a couple of hours. That could be a plus for younger readers and readers on a short airplane or bus trip. From the beginning of the book, readers will get the idea that this novel is sort of a farce, making fun of some of the more serious suspense-thriller books. The writing style is a bit amateurish

One thing that this series needs is to have recipes for the mouthwatering dishes that are showcased in the novel. Most culinary mysteries include recipes, and this series could benefit from them.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.