April 1, 2025
A Maine baker feels the heat when she investigates the murder of a celebrity. It's not as if Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree--now Jake Sorenson, thanks to her recent marriage--doesn't have a full plate already, with her adult children and their rowdy brood living in her home and her father and beloved stepmother stashed in the adjacent annex. There's also the Chocolate Moose, the bakery she runs with her best friend, Ellie White, which needs constant infusions of cash to keep up with unexpected expenses. But Jake's also got a nose for murder, and the latest one's a doozy. At first, it looks as if Hank Rafferty, star of a home-repair reality show, may be the answer to Jake and Ellie's prayers. Hank's just moved into Stone House, a crumbling mansion he hopes to restore to its former glory, and he orders a ton of baked goods to feed his Hollywood friends. But the duo's first foray into Stone House reveals an unidentified corpse in a nearby shed, and their second lands them smack in the middle of Hank's murder. The police investigation focuses on members of their circle of friends: first Arlene Cunningham, a schoolmate of Ellie's teenage daughter, Lee, and later on Dylan Hudson, a former state cop who's been dating Eastport police Chief Lizzie Snow since forever. Graves offers a complex puzzle that devolves into an overlong denouement, with plenty of peril and old-dark-house action to go along. For cozy fans who like a little spice in their muffins.
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