TELL-TALE TREATS

A mini-reunion of high school classmates doesn’t go off as planned.

Jin Bakery, the family establishment where Felicity Jin works, is next door to Love Blooms, her boyfriend Kelvin Love’s flower shop. So it’s convenient for Mrs. Robson, who owns a B&B in their small Central California town of Pixie, to ask Kelvin to provide an assortment of flowers to dress up the Pixie Inn and Felicity to provide lots of yummy Chinese pastries for the group of women whose arrival she expects the next day. Jin Bakery’s treats are extra special because they’re infused with a touch of magic. The woman organizing the get-together is Ashlyn Cook, known as Queen B, and the other three women—Eri, Wren, and Saige—all went to high school with her, although Felicity senses they were not and are not best friends by any means. Soon after Felicity is pressed into service as a tour guide for the squabbling group, Ashlyn is found dead in her tub, which has been enhanced with Yuhua stones that were left at the B&B anonymously as a gift for Ashlyn. Det. Rylan Sun, who has a rocky relationship with Felicity because of her previous meddling, is in charge of looking into Ashlyn's death, which turns out to have been no accident. Since Felicity’s almond cookies are a possible source of the allergic reaction that killed Ashlyn, she decides that she’d better do some sleuthing—over Sun’s objections. With the help of Kelvin, who has some magical powers of his own, and her magic rabbit, Whiskers, she turns up a number of alternate suspects.

A charming cozy with a touch of magic along with the expected recipes.