The Crystal Crumb. An Amateur Female Sleuth Baking Mystery - Emily Clark

Pastry chef Eloise Hart thought laminating dough was the most stressful part of her day. Then her first VIP customer dropped dead.

Escaping the high-pressure kitchens of Paris, Eloise returns to her sleepy hometown of Fernhollow to restore her grandmother's Victorian greenhouse. Her dream? The Crystal Crumb is a sunlit sanctuary featuring artisanal bakes, Earl Grey tea, and two mischievous rescue cats named Crumb and Butter.

But her grand opening turns into a grand disaster when Beatrice Vane, the town's ruthless "Queen Bee" wedding planner, takes a single bite of Eloise's signature rose-petal croissant and collapses on the slate floor.

With her café condemned by the health department and the local police eyeing her kitchen as the crime scene, Eloise's dream is crumbling faster than a day-old scone. To clear her name and save her livelihood, she must trade her whisk for a magnifying glass. Aided by Crumb (a hefty ginger tabby with a nose for trouble) and Butter (a sleek black cat with a penchant for stealing shiny evidence), Eloise has to sift through a tiered cake of suspects. From a desperate florist to a rival baker and a politician with cooked books, everyone in Fernhollow seems to have a motive.

If she can't expose the real killer, Eloise might just be serving up her last batch of pastries from behind bars.

If you love puzzling whodunnits, mouth-watering treats, and feline sidekicks who steal the show, you'll devour this brand-new cozy series!

What to expect in The Crystal Crumb:

Quirky rescue cats helping to solve the crime

Mouth-watering pastry descriptions that will make you hungry

A lush, atmospheric Victorian greenhouse setting

A clean, bloodless puzzle (No gore, graphic violence, or explicit language)