Three spooky and mysterious tales await in HALLOWEEN CUPCAKE MURDER, which is also the title of the first novella. In charming Galway, Tara Meehan runs an architectural salvage business. This is from Carlene O’Connor’s Home to Ireland series and the main characters are well established, but a newcomer can easily pick up the story. A group keen on pre-Christian traditions in ancient Ireland seems to be pursuing a painting of a festival held at Samhain, or Hallowe’en. As this day is almost upon us, all of Galway is decked out in themed goods, and Tara is not too surprised when a costumed person delivers a cupcake. There is more to that cupcake than meets the eye. It’s connected to the murder of an elderly shopkeeper who is killed in his junk shop. Tara feels obliged to try to find the truth.

Mrs. Claus and the Candy Corn Caper by Liz Ireland revisits Santaland and the whimsical series featuring Mrs. Claus. A lady called April met a gentleman named Nick and married him, discovering that he was the real Santa Claus on vacation. Now it’s Hallowe’en and she has introduced the concept of costumes and trick or treat. The elves among who she now lives in Christmastown are deadly in earnest but their names like Jingles and Crinkles and Dandy make everything feel more frivolous. However, this time I found if you imagine it in a small town with normal-named folks, it works perfectly well. A baker dies, to make it short, and another baker is under suspicion.

A Triple Layer Halloween Murder by Carol J. Perry is set in Salem, part of her Witch City Mystery series. Just because Salem once had accusations of witchcraft, it doesn’t follow that inhabitants are gifted with second sight or cats are familiars – does it? Lee Barrett and her smart cat O’Reilly lead a modern life, as Lee works as a TV producer. O’Reilly calls for help to get a kitten out of a high oak tree near Hallowe’en, and Lee covers the story for the local news slot. Then the scared kitty has sticky orange paws, which leads the police to connect her with the disappearance of a baker. This bakery has a specialty cupcake called triple layer, chocolate, white and orange like the cat, and the simple recipe is provided at the end, for all those of us who can hardly wait to taste it. I think I’ll put the oven on now.

Enjoy HALLOWEEN CUPCAKE MURDER, which is far from the scariest book you will read about Hallowe’en, but may be the most fun.