The Magical Bagel Mystery: A Little-Pinch-of-Murder Cozy Mystery, #1

By Miranda Rose Barker

In this prequel to a new culinary cozy mystery series, Miranda Rose Barker weaves an engrossing tale of a surprising murder, amateur sleuthing, an insightful Irish terrier, and some shocking twists and turns along the way.

Our heroine Lucy inherits a delightful small-town bakery cafe - the Magical Bagel Cafe - from her grandfather. She runs it with the help of her best friend Christine, with the variable assistance of Lucy's loyal dog Donovan. Donovan sometimes turns out to be a better amateur sleuth than any humans, but he is a sensitive soul at the same time. Follow along as the Cafe and the women become suspects in a murder case that the local police are trying to solve.

What happened here? Can Lucy track down the real murderer and save the Magical Bagel's reputation? Find out when you read The Magical Bagel Mystery...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Creative Bookworm Press
• Release date: Feb 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215268100

Miranda Rose Barker

Miranda Rose Barker has enjoyed the company of dogs from the age of 7. She only later discovered the rewarding world of dog rescues in her mid-30’s and since then, has lived with eight rescue dogs, including large and small mixed breeds from German shepherds and doodle dogs to some purebreds (schnauzers and other terriers). A lifelong writer, she began writing fiction in 2000 and has loved bringing rescue dogs and their people together in her books for years. She is also an enthusiastic cozy mystery reader. Miranda Rose lives in southern California where she is often out looking for the next rescue pup to add to her pack. Check out more of Miranda Rose Barker’s latest titles in her clean romance books, The Dog Lovers’ Rescue Romance Series and other stories.

Book preview

Chapter One

Another day had come and despite how tired I was that morning, I appreciated it. It was an extra chilly morning that day, a little too cold for a summer. The birds that would always perch on my windowsill every morning had not arrived like any other day to sing their little tone, reminding me to get out of bed and so I slept in a bit. I would have slept longer had the cold morning breeze not rushed in through my window to berate me. Even through the cold, sleep had me curled in its arms. At least it did, until Christine decided to be a wet blanket.

The hell are you still doing in bed! my good friend, Christine yelled.

Christine and I grew up together and she moved in with me a couple of years ago when I bought the apartment and we started running the Café together. Christine was more than a good friend to me; in fact, she was more like a sister. That big playful yet reliable older sister I never had. Though she was only a year older than me, she always seemed to come up with the best ideas. Christine is a beauty with bright green eyes, a head of short curly brown hair, and the voice of an angel- when it wasn’t ringing like an alarm in my ears.

She threw a pillow at me when she yelled. I pushed off the covers slowly and peeked out to see the room brightly illuminated by the curious morning sun. Then I scowled at her, we might live under the same roof, but I still did not appreciate the wake-up call.

What the hell, Christine!? I asked in annoyance, now fully awake. I’m the kind of girl that has trouble falling back asleep once I’m up.

Don’t what-the-hell me, do you have any idea how late we are? Christine retorted, snatching the covers from my hand and pulling them off my body leaving my sparsely covered body exposed to the cold. I hugged myself for warmth and frowned before I watched her watch me impatiently with a pout. I wish I could have easily closed my eyes and drifted back to dreamland, but she knew I wouldn’t. Not with her scowling down at me like I did something really wrong…

Need I remind, we own a cafe down the street, and it’s not going to run itself?

The Café isn’t going anywhere. I mean, we closed pretty late yesterday. I sighed groggily as I sat up reluctantly and rubbed my eyes. As I replied I stared quizzically at her, Christine was punctual, yes, but she wasn’t much of a morning person - so seeing her hover over my bed, fully dressed in her makeup done startled me. Geez… No one is going to mind us opening an hour late you know,

I thought that too… two hours ago. Christine yelled again waving at the clock on the wall.

My eyes widened in shock. I had no idea how late it was, it only just dawned on me and so I scrambled out of bed and hurriedly dashed into the shower while Christine waited for me with her arms crossed like a disappointed mother.

"Yeah, that's what