If you’re tired of the doldrums associated with late winter (like I am), you’re probably looking for something light and fun to read.

‘Murder, Money & Marzipan,’ by Leighann Dobbs, could very well fit that bill.

The “chick lit mystery,” the third in her Lexy Baker Bakery series, finds the hero caught in the middle of another mystery – and stumbling over another dead body to boot. This time, though, she’s out of town and the cops don’t find her antics as funny as they usually do (actually, some of the cops do – but I digress).

I didn’t read the first two mysteries in this series, and it’s really not necessary to enjoy this particular mystery. The story is not overpowering, and you won’t feel like you’re lost if you read just this one story.

All of the characters in this book are well drawn and entertaining – I especially loved Nana. And the mystery is solid, without trying to be too clever or too trite. Dobbs has a gift for dialogue, and none of the conversations seem forced – which is often a problem in cutesy mysteries like this.

I want to point out that I really did like this book, because it did have one very substantial problem: The grammar, punctuation and typos in this novel are abhorrent.

As an indie reader, I know that typos are inevitable, but the sheer number of typos in this book is frightening (the main character’s name is misspelled in the first few pages, for crying out loud).

The typos are so bad, that I think a lot of people will give up on trying to read the book before it comes to a conclusion – even though it’s only 101 pages long – because they will become too frustrated.

Also, and I know this is a petty complaint, you probably shouldn’t have two main characters named Jack and Jake in the same book. Just a suggestion, because I kept having to double-check which one was doing the talking or being talked about to make sure I was following the story correctly.

Still, despite the pronounced typo problems, the story is endearing and the characters are engaging. I just wish Dobbs would let someone proofread her work for her.

‘Murder, Money & Marzipan’ is available for $2.99 on Kindle.