Daphne Martin Mystery Books
A routine cake delivery becomes a culinary nightmare when a small-town baker discovers her first client’s dead body in this irresistible new mystery series. It’ll take more than a little sugar to convince folks Daphne Martin’s freshly baked spice cake was not to blame for the mysterious death of town gossip Yodel Watson. Getting her new cake decorating business, Daphne’s Delectable Cakes, off the ground is hard enough now that Daphne’s moved back to her southern Virginia hometown, but orders have been even slower since she found Yodel’s body. She soon realizes, however, that just about everybody in town had a reason to poison the cantankerous busybody, from the philandering pet shop owner, to Yodel’s church potluck nemesis, to the Save-A-Buck’s cranky produce manager-turned-bagger. Now, to help prove she’s no confectionary killer, Daphne recruits her old flame, Ben Jacobs, editor of the local newspaper, and quickly stirs up a long-hidden family scandal that just might hold the secret ingredient she needs to solve the case. All she’s got to do is roll up her sleeves and get her hands a little dirty before the real culprit decides that taking sweet revenge on Daphne will be icing on the cake.
A "delightful new series." -- Kaye's Penguin Posts Cake decorator Daphne Martin once again finds herself and her cakes at the center of a murder mystery. Half the town gets sick following a cake event, but for poor Fred Duncan, a bout with potential food poisoning quickly turns fatal. Now it's up to Daphne to sort through the likely suspects and figure out who frosted Fred.
Cake decorator Daphne Martin finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation—and an Elvis impersonator convention—with a bullseye on her back. Dead as a...dentist? They say sugar is bad for your teeth, but can it actually kill you? The Brea Ridge police seem to think so when they find cake decorator Daphne Martin wielding an oversized plastic toothbrush over a dentist’s dead body. Daphne moved back to her small Virginia hometown just months ago to open her Daphne’s Delectable Cakes business and already she’s been mixed up in murder. Now she’s got to prove her sweet innocence again. After hours of police questioning, Daphne returns home to find Elvis Presley in her driveway. She’s certain she’s hallucinating until the leather-clad hunk orders up a pink Cadillac cake for a convention of the Elvis impersonators. Daphne accepts, but her reporter-boyfriend Ben is suspicious of Elvis’s intentions. Does the King want to make Daphne his confectionery queen? Or is the convention a ruse for a more sinister operation? Daphne’s own investigation into Dr. Bainsworth’s murder, meanwhile, reveals the dentist made as many enemies as he did fillings. Just about anyone could have done him in, but it’s up to Daphne to find the killer—and finish Elvis’s cake—before she’s the one singing “Jailhouse Rock.”
The third “entertaining…and tasty read” ( Entertainment Weekly ) in the Daphne Martin Cake mystery series. A RECIPE FOR MURDER Life is sweet for Daphne Martin right now, from her flourishing cake-decorating business to a rekindled romance with her high school boyfriend, Ben. All that’s about to change, courtesy of famously foul-mouthed celebrity chef Jordan Richards. The TV star has come to Brea Ridge, Virginia, for the town’s lavish cake competition, but he won’t be leaving under his own steam. After his first master class, Jordan is found bludgeoned with a cake stand and drowned in some very bitter batter. Plenty of townsfolk think the curmudgeonly confectioner had it coming, but the half-baked evidence points to Daphne as a prime suspect. With Ben mulling a new job offer—in Kentucky—Daphne is faced with a multilayered dilemma. She needs to somehow keep her boyfriend, win the cake competition, and sift out the real culprit . . . before the killer serves up another victim.
Daphne Martin’s wedding to Ben Jacobs is only a couple of weeks away. An award-winning cake decorator, Daphne is busy designing their wedding cake. Her twin nephew and niece, Lucas and Leslie, are excited about being in the wedding party. And Daphne’s brother-in-law Jason is planning a bachelor party for Ben. Everything is going beautifully until Daphne’s ex-husband Todd shows up. Just released from prison after serving a sentence based on his shooting a gun at Daphne, Todd comes to Brea Ridge to profess his undying love for her. Despite Daphne’s attempts to make Todd leave town, he insists on hanging around to reconnect with people he used to know. When he’s found murdered, Daphne finds herself at the center of the investigation. Now she must track down Todd’s killer before she becomes the next victim. Can she still make it to the church on time?