The April Springs Winter Festival is off to a great start,
until a body is discovered, an ornamental candy cane
sticking out of her chest. Suzanne Hart, owner of Donut
Hearts, has every intention of staying out of the
investigation, until the victim is identified as Darlene
Higgins. Darlene is the woman Suzanne caught in bed with
her husband Max, resulting in their divorce.
Because of their history, both Suzanne and Max are at the
top of Chief Martin's suspect list, and things don't look
good for Max when he disappears. Max may be many things,
but Suzanne knows he isn't a cold-blooded killer, so to
clear both their names she finds herself doing some
investigating of her own, aided by friends George, Grace
and Emma. Her focus isn't just on the investigation,
though, as things begin to unravel in her relationship with
Jake Bishop, and her best friend Grace may take a job
across country. With all the personal distractions, Suzanne
doesn't put the clues together until it's almost too late
and the killer comes after her.
Jessica Beck's SINISTER SPRINKLES is the third of
the Donut Shop mysteries, and it lives up to the standard
set by the first two in the series. The reader is given a
deeper insight into Suzanne's personal life in this
installment, which I felt gave the story even greater
depth. The quirky residents of April Springs and the
cleverly plotted mystery make Donut Hearts donut shop a
place I look forward to visiting again.
Meet Suzanne Hart, owner and operator of Donut Hearts coffee
shop in April Springs, North Carolina. After her divorce
from Max, an out-of-work actor she’s dubbed “The Great
Impersonator,” Suzanne decided to pursue her one true
passion in life: donuts. So she cashed in her settlement and
opened up shop in the heart of her beloved hometown. It’s
the perfect place to drop in for a sweet treat. But when
Max's girlfriend is found dead and he's named the prime
suspect in the case, Suzanne sets out to clear his
not-quite-so-good name, and re-evaluates her feelings for
the man who loved and left her in the process.