Sugar Cookie Murder

Hannah Swensen runs a bakery in Lake Eden, Minnesota, and Christmas is her favourite season. Her family is close by, and the town's annual Christmas Buffet is the last tryout for the recipes she has gathered for the Lake Eden Holiday Buffet Cookbook.

The evening takes a turn when Martin Dubinski turns up. He has recently divorced, and he brings his new wife, a showgirl from Vegas, dressed in glitter and fur. His first wife seems entirely unbothered by the arrival.

Then Hannah's mother's antique Christmas cake knife goes missing. It turns up in the decolletage of the new Mrs. Dubinski, who is dead. A blizzard has trapped everyone at the community center, so the killer is still inside among the guests.

Hannah starts her own investigation, with half the town as her pool of suspects. The snow keeps piling up outside, and she has to work out who did it before anyone else is hurt.

This is a cozy mystery with a holiday setting, a small-town cast and a closed-room puzzle. The tone is light and food is part of the fun, and the winter storm keeps the action in one place.