Spicy Murder: Cozy Mystery

By S. Y. Robins

Sandy Pepper owns "Hot Stuff", a small town bakery that specializes in unexpected gastric creations. Her shop is known worldwide for daring desserts that pair sweet and spicy ingredients much to the delight of her loyal customers. Then the host of Culinary Hype shows up and suddenly Sandy's little shop becomes known for a lot more than cupcakes that set mouths on fire. Hot Stuff becomes synonymous with murder when the hotshot host ends up dead after tasting one of Sandy's well-known treats. Determined to prove the stubborn detective assigned to her case wrong, Sandy sets out investigating on her own enlisting the assistance of her young-at-heart grandmother and her perpetually absent father in the process. Tracking down a killer though soon proves to be too much for Sandy to handle and she finds herself tangled in a web of lies and jealousy as the truth about the dead celebrity host comes to light.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lovy Books Ltd
• Release date: Aug 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223469681

Book preview

PROLOGUE

Carver Jenson, or Dr. Jenson as he preferred to be called, didn’t know he was going to die that day. If he had, he probably would have dressed a little bit more impressively. After all, there were so few murders in Fou Valley, Texas that of course Carver’s death made the front page of the local paper. Carver would have liked that, after all, he was all about money and fame. Too bad it was actually his death that made him a household name in the small town that he was visiting that day. The town wasn’t too far from the private college where he taught. He was a guest professor there for the semester given that his cooking show wasn’t set to film again until next month and he figured he might as well put the doctorate degree he had earned in mass communication to good use.

He had entered the quaint storefront bakery with low expectations. In fact, he had rolled his eyes derisively upon seeing the little sign out front of a sexy female baker wearing little but an apron while holding a pie with the words Hot Stuff drifting up from the pie as if it were steam. He thought the sign was gaudy. He felt it was too over the top and failed to see any humor in it. He didn’t know how an establishment could lack propriety and still be taken seriously, but alas, local reviews of the place had said it was the spot to visit if one was ever in backwoods Texas, as he thought of it.

It was a wonder that Carver was such a snob. Truth be told, he’d grown up poor, hunting and fishing for dinner in a little town in West Virginia. Despite the television persona who swore by fancy words and pocket handkerchiefs that gave off an erudite and worldly impression, Carver was a country boy at heart, but he would admit that to no one. After all, image was everything.

He pushed open the door and was surprised by what he saw. The interior of Hot Stuff, he thought grudgingly, was charming. The decor reminded him of a summer country cottage. It was homey and inviting without feeling old or outdated. Spices lined the walls behind him in clear containers organized by the owner’s own sense of order he figured as he looked at them.

He couldn’t help but drift in the direction of the spices and was impressed by the rare and unique array of spices he found there.

Good afternoon, sir. I haven’t seen you around these parts before, came a friendly voice from behind Carver. He turned around and eyed the buxom red-head who seemed to be way too young to be manning the store alone. Carver sighed, expecting the worst since in his opinion, millennial really knew nothing about proper service. Not to mention, given the Now Hiring sign, he had noticed in the window, he honestly hadn’t expected to get any service promptly.

Yes, I would like to try the chocolate ganache infused with cayenne pepper, please. He said stiffly. The young lady didn’t seem to notice his tone as she gave him a broad smile and hummed as she went to find his order.

She continued to hum as she slid his order on a plate, handed him real silverware and said, Enjoy.

He sat down at the table nearest the front and eyed the beautiful creation in front of him. He decided the pastry chef earned an A+ for presentation. He then bent forward to smell it. Heavenly, he thought to himself. Then looking around he surreptitiously took a picture of it for his social media following