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.
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?