BAKING UP A MURDER https://ift.tt/7Wwq0Ee

When her grandfather gets sick, Madeline Andersen takes leave from her job at Le Tableau Bleu in Los Angeles to help run her family bakery in the touristy Danish-themed town of Solvang, California. When he dies, she decides to stay on to help Grandma Ruth, who can’t bake, to keep the place going. It takes a while for people to warm up to her French pastries, but business continues to improve. Even so, her business improves more than her social life, especially once Mallory, a rude customer, competes with her in a local baking contest and accuses her of stealing her éclair recipe. Even though Madeline wins the contest, the victory comes with a load of problems. When Ruth and Madeline find Mallory’s body in the alley behind the bakery, the rumor mill paints them as murderers. Madeline has established a friendship with good-looking Det. Ashton, who’s known Ruth for years, but they’re still suspects, and she decides that a bit of independent sleuthing might help prove them innocent. Meanwhile, Madeline discovers she’s being followed, possibly by a smitten teenager who leaves her gifts, possibly by someone else who leaves cryptic notes. Although Ash assures her he’s on the case, Madeline is both fearful and bold in her attempts to find clues that will lead to Mallory’s killer. Mallory was not a nice person, and Madeline continues to dig up possible suspects, but her lack of control may put her on a collision course with a killer.

from Kirkus Reviews https://ift.tt/pTuY5Eh