A Batter of Life and Death

Autumn in Ashland, Oregon, and Torte — the Capshaw family bakeshop — has a shot at real money and real publicity. Jules Capshaw signs on to Take the Cake, a Pastry Channel reality competition filming in town, with a $25,000 prize and her Bavarian chocolate cake as her opening gambit.

The glamour lasts about as long as the first round. A contestant turns up dead on set, face-down in buttercream, and the friendly rivalry between the bakers curdles into something uglier. Everyone under the studio lights had a reason to want him gone, and Jules — who has to keep competing regardless — is better placed than the police to hear what the other contestants say when the cameras are off.

The second Bakeshop Mystery pairs Ellie Alexander's small-town Oregon setting and Shakespeare-festival backdrop with a locked-set whodunnit, plenty of pastry, and Jules's still-unresolved life back home.