BATTER OFF DEAD

A Kentucky pastry chef’s sweet treats continue to attract killers.

Returning to her hometown of Rumford, Sophia Cummings has fulfilled a lifelong dream by opening For Goodness Cakes. The murder she helped solve shortly after her arrival (Cake & Punishment, 2018) nurtured a romantic relationship between her and Sheriff Carter Kincaid. Now, Sophia’s agreed to supply refreshments for a big fundraiser for the library at Grape Valley Winery. Things take a turn for the worse when the landowner, Ray Peel, refuses to renew the lease for Giles Dugan and his family, whose grapes require the special limestone-rich soil. In addition, Peel reneges on the donation of $500,000 he’d promised to the library fund. So when Sophia trips over his body among the grapevines, there are plenty of suspects for Carter to check out. His own first choice is one of Sophia’s best friends, real estate agent Madison Ridge, whom Peel dissed after first offering her the chance to sell his land and who was overheard threatening him. Sophia is determined to prove Carter wrong. Although Sophia’s mom, Bitsy, just wants her to get married and have kids, she joins Sophia’s friend Charlotte in preparing a list of possible suspects. In the meantime, someone who’s clearly unhappy with Sophia’s sleuthing puts a phony ad in the local paper offering free treats, breaks into her house, and throws a brick through her bakery window. Undeterred even by Carter’s pleas to keep out of the investigation, Sophia just keeps on sleuthing and baking.

A standard cozy whose formula mixes romance, a lovable bunch of eccentrics, and a collection of recipes with murder most foul.