Murder Among the Cornstalks

Fresh bread, cinnamon spice, and a sinister frame-up. Amanda Brooks has spent years perfecting her craft at Brooks & Butter, the beloved Harvest Hollow bakery she inherited from her grandmother. But the sweet scent of her signature cider cookies is completely ruined when a local developer is discovered dead in Walker's Farm corn maze on the festival's opening night. Next to the body sits a piece of cream silk ribbon, tied in a clumsy square knot. It is the exact ribbon Amanda uses for her pastry boxes, but the knot is a sloppy, desperate forgery. Suddenly, Amanda's livelihood is on a ticking clock. The Town Council is ready to suspend her license, and her only hope is Jason Clark, the town's tall, quiet sheriff. Jason is a man who relies on strict protocols to guard his heart and hide the scars of his past. But as they work together to audit the festival's suspicious records, the analytical baker and the procedural sheriff find themselves sharing more than just lukewarm coffee and warm soup. With the historic town square threatened by buyout plans and the community's trust wavering under local rumors, Amanda must trace the clues, from a slow-running security clock to a pair of blue baking gloves, to catch a killer hiding in plain sight. Unravel a cozy, autumn whodunit packed with small-town charm, a slow-burn romance. Perfect for fans of clean, traditional puzzle mysteries!