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Available 4.15.24


Illegally Iced

Illegally Iced, January 2013
Donut Shop
by Jessica Beck

St. Martin's Press
Featuring: Suzanne Hart
304 pages
ISBN: 1250001072
EAN: 9781250001078
Kindle: B008BU7AKY
Paperback / e-Book
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"Doughnut Shop Owner Sets Out to Prove Her Innocence... Again"

Fresh Fiction Review

Illegally Iced
Jessica Beck

Reviewed by Min Jung
Posted December 22, 2012

Mystery Culinary

Suzanne Hart owns Donut Hearts doughnut shop on Main Street in April Springs, North Carolina. She enjoys spoiling her customers and working with her employee, Emma. The start of ILLEGALLY ICED sees her friend, blacksmith James Settle, stabbed to death. Soon after, one of the locals accuses Suzanne of killing James since they had gotten into an argument earlier that morning.

Having been accused of murder before and knowing how quickly small town gossip can spread, Suzanne is determined to prove her innocence. Though the police believe her alibi (a customer vouches for the fact that she never left her shop all day), she wants to catch the killer and lay any doubt to rest once and for all.

Suzanne's friend Grace decides to help when she unexpectedly receives an unpaid week off of work. One of the biggest puzzles is how someone managed to kill James in broad daylight in a crowded park without anyone seeing what happening. While they try to figure that out, they investigate James' life and find out that he wasn't who they thought he was. He's been living under an assumed name, is the heir to a large fortune, and is part of a family who founded a nearby town. He had a disagreement with his family when he tried to rid himself of his portion of the family fortune, and he lived out the rest of his life away from them.

Suzanne and Grace set out to discover how much of his past life has come back to haunt James. Did his status as the black sheep of the family cost him his life? The sleuthing pair trek to his hometown and dig into his past, digging up family secrets in an effort to figure out who had the biggest motive to kill him. Could someone from his own family really kill him? Or does the answer lie with his ex-girlfriend?

ILLEGALLY ICED is a fun mystery filled with characters who never fail to deliver. Suzanne and Grace are alternately fun, funny, and clever, but never at inappropriate moments. Suzanne serves as a maternal mentor to Emma, while she still lets her mother nurture her. Her mother, in turn, navigates the dating scene with the local police chief, which sometimes presents Suzanne with tricky situations. Overall, these characters come together for a great read.

Learn more about Illegally Iced

SUMMARY

Donut shop owner Suzanne Hart knows how to treat her customers. But sometimes life can get a bit sticky. When a spat she has with a local blacksmith—one that could have been solved with a handshake and a mixed dozen—ends with his murder, Suzanne is caught dead in her tracks. Suddenly everyone in April Springs has their eyes on her. And they’re hungry with suspicion. 

Left with little choice but to catch the killer herself, Suzanne starts lining up suspects. But her case is full of holes. How did the killer strike in the middle of the day without a single witness to the crime? Who knew that the humble blacksmith was actually an heir to a family fortune? The heat is on as Suzanne tries to solve the case and save her business. Can she have her cake-donut and eat it too?


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