all i want for christmas is murder

It’s the holidays, and things at Fairy Tale Cupcakes are hopping. Angie Harper and Mel DeLaura are keeping the shop stocked with their signature cupcakes as well as their holiday flavors. Customers are streaming in for their Eggnog, Peppermint Bark, Gingerbread Man, and Sugar Plum cupcakes for their Christmas celebrations. Add in all the special orders they have for holiday parties, and they are up to their ears in cupcakes to bake. So when Angie adds cupcakes orders for VIP events around a holiday concert, Mel isn’t too happy with her.

But the two weeks of concerts feature Shelby Vaughn, an old friend of Angie’s who is making a name for herself in country music. They were friends back when Angie had been dating a rock and roll drummer named Roach, and while Angie is now married with a baby and settled in Scottsdale, she still wants to support Shelby in her new venture. But when Shelby stops by the bakery to talk cupcake flavors, she is interrupted by her manager Doc Howard, who stops her from eating more than one bite.

Angie is concerned about Doc, feeling like he is being controlling, and wants to spend more time around Shelby to make sure she’s okay. She hadn’t been with Doc for long, but her previous manager had died in a house fire, which Shelby had found devastating. When Doc had found her and signed her, he had brought her back to life and got her this contract for two weeks of Christmas concerts at a prestigious hotel. So Angie and Mel work the cupcake table at the VIP events, offering up their beautiful, delicious cupcakes to the guests.

But when Doc Howard is found in Shelby’s dressing room in a pool of blood, clutching one of Fairy Tale Cupcake’s Sugar Plum cupcakes, Angie and Mel have nothing but questions. Who would want to kill the manager? He had been seen at the track earlier, making large bets (and losing). The local loan shark who spends a lot of time at the track was also at the concert, his teenaged daughter a big fan of Shelby’s music. But is that just a coincidence? Could there have been financial impropriety in his business relationship with Shelby? Or had he eaten a cupcake meant for someone else?

Is it possible that someone was actually wanting to hurt Shelby? Doc’s previous client—and ex-wife—has been in town, stirring up trouble around Shelby. And a competitor from her childhood also shows up, with a grudge on her shoulder for Shelby’s success. Angie can tell that her friend is already struggling, being away from home for Christmas, but the murder is just making her more stressed and unhappy, so she and Mel keep an eye on her and find out what they can about the investigation to see if they can help put the killer behind bars and save Shelby’s Christmas.

But can they do that before the killer comes after them as well?

Sugar Plum Poisoned is book 15 in Jenn McKinlay’s popular Cupcake Bakery Mystery series, where the cupcakes are mouth-watering and the mysteries are intriguing. Angie and Mel and their extended family bring the warmth and humor, so the murders they keep stumbling into are well balanced. And the books always end the same way—with recipes for the featured cupcakes, so you can make those Christmas cupcakes, along with a Sugar Cookie Cupcake, for your family holiday or for your book club.

I’m a fan of these mysteries. I really like the energy that Angie and Mel bring, and as their cupcake empire expands, and their families expand, there is just more to love. I loved the holiday theme of Sugar Plum Poisoned as well as the peek into the music industry. But these books always leave me wanting more. More cupcakes, of course. And more of these fun cozies to devour.

Egalleys for Sugar Plum Poisoned were provided by Berkley through NetGalley, with many thanks.