Mallory Monroe left a lucrative advertising career to return to Wingate, CT, and take over her deceased Aunt Glenna’s cookie shop. Who knew selling cookies could be so deadly? Debra Sennefelder whips up just the right combination of delightful characters, charming setting, and solid mystery in the debut of her new Cookie Shop Mystery series, HOW THE MURDER CUMBLES.
Mallory has some new and inventive ideas for the cookie shop, including cookie bouquets. Her steady boyfriend’s law firm is her first big client, but when she surprises him with dinner, and he surprises her with a young redhead on his arm, Mallory knows their relationship is over. That’s okay with Mallory as she has her cookie shop to keep her plenty busy with two bickering employees, a disgruntled cousin, and Beatrice Wright, a food blogger who accuses her of stealing her cookie recipe in front of customers and a Connecticut Chronicle news reporter. Mallory fears her reputation and sales may be damaged by the accusation and she makes a house call to Beatrice, only to find the woman's dead body in an outline of flour with a bloody rolling pin nearby. Furthermore, the initials MA are sketched in flour next to Beatrice’s body. The police think Mallory may be involved, including the handsome Police Detective, Will Hannigan. However, it seems a lot of people in town aren’t sorry the cantankerous woman is gone. Can Mallory uncover the secrets behind Beatrice’s death and save her business? Or will the cookie shop crumble for good?
HOW THE MURDER CUMBLES is a great beginning in the new cookie shop series. Mallory is a strong, independent woman embarking on her second career as a Cookiepreneur. She has obstacles to face, but she has the charming inhabitants of Wingate, CT to help her along. They included her cousin Darlene, her coworkers Gil and Claudia, her ex-boyfriend’s jilted new girlfriend, Aspen, and a plethora of other characters, such as the town’s mail carrier and the resident romance writer. The mystery is nicely crafted, and the clues and resolution are well done. There are plenty of suspects, skeletons in the closet, blackmailing, scandals, and long-buried secrets waiting to be uncovered. Mallory has a lot on her plate and there is plenty of material here for future installments in the series. With the right mix of mystery, romance, friendships, entrepreneurial spirit, and small-town charm, HOW THE MURDER CUMBLES is a terrific start to this brand-new series.
Debra Sennefelder whips up cookies and crime in a delicious new cozy series, perfect for fans of Joanne Fluke and Peg Cochran.
Wingate, Connecticut, is famed as one of the top ten shopping destinations in the state, and home to Mallory Monroe’s beloved Cookie Shop—a place where patrons are greeted with the heavenly aroma of freshly baked cookies that are as beautifully decorated as they are insanely delicious.
But things aren’t going so smoothly for Mallory. Her two employees are a disaster in the kitchen, she catches her boyfriend with another woman, and she’s seen having a fierce argument with food blogger Beatrice Wright, who accuses Mallory of stealing her cookie recipe. Then Beatrice turns up dead in her kitchen, flour outlining her body and a bloodied marble rolling pin nearby. Mallory immediately becomes suspect number one, her sales plummet, and she desperately tries to clear her name—but that’s not the only murder the killer is baking up.
Debra Sennefelder has cooked up a perfect recipe—endearing characters, a picture-perfect evocation of small-town life, and a quaint sweets shop. And just when things get a little too comfy, there’s always a murder or two for good measure.
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