A For Butter or for Worse

Another delicious installment in the Bakeshop Mystery Series set in Ashland, OR-now in trade paperback!

After a blissful, extended leave with the twins, Jules is eager to be back in the kitchen. There's never a shortage of hands willing to tote one of the babies around, from Carlos, who has become a baby whisperer extraordinaire, to Mom and the Professor, who adore being doting grandparents, and their new part-time manny, Ben. It's great timing because Lance and Arlo's wedding is mere weeks away, and the team at Torte has been tasked with creating the most elaborate cake to date, as well as a feast fit for kings.

Torte is bustling with preparations and tasting bites-rhubarb brown-butter bars, fresh nectarine and almond tarts, lemon Parmesan-stuffed artichokes, mini grilled cheese with tomato bisque, and wood-fired barbecue chicken pizza with cilantro and hot honey. It's all hands on deck for the signature statement cake, crafted with luscious layers of sponge and mounds of Italian buttercream and designed to hang upside down like an opulent chandelier.

Everything is going according to plan, until the night of Lance's stag party, when one of the guests imbibes a bit too much and ends up staggering off a balcony. Only Jules quickly realizes there's something more sinister afoot than just one cocktail too many. She's determined to find the killer so that her best friend can walk down the aisle and marry the man of his dreams.