Botched Butterscotch

Mother’s Day is a sweet and busy time at the candy shop. Bailey King runs with her Amish grandmother. This year is extra special because Bailey’s parents are visiting Harvest, Ohio. Bailey’s father has rarely returned since leaving the Amish faith over thirty years ago, but Bailey is confident that the right treats can help sugarcoat any awkwardness. For Mother’s Day Tea at the local church, she’s whipping up her mom’s favorite: butterscotch fudge. All’s going well until a sticky-fingered thief makes off with the money raised for a local women’s support group.

While Bailey tries to discover who stuck their fingers in the cookie jar, she encounters an assortment of suspects. It doesn’t help that Juliet, mother of Deputy Aiden Brody, is conspiring with Bailey’s mom to plan Aiden and Bailey’s wedding…though they’re not even engaged! Can Bailey find the culprit before events—both criminal and personal—boil over into disaster?

Series: An Amish Candy Shop Novella
Author: Amanda Flower
Genre: Cozy Mystery/Culinary
Publisher: Lyrical Underground
Page Count: 78

Rating:

Out now, a new short and easy to read novella, Botched Butterscotch, from author Amanda Flower in her “An Amish Candy Shop” mystery series published by Kensington Books (Lyrical Underground) will give readers a severe craving for all things Amish and sweet.

Bailey and her family have become some of my favorite characters in a cozy series. They are down to earth, yet filled with ideas. They are playful, happy, and compassionate. Reading just one book in this series will have a reader hooked.

This time, Bailey isn’t solving a murder or getting herself into too much danger. A theft has occurred, and it’s up to her to help find the culprit and get the money back before a local woman’s recovery center goes under. The theft is one thing, but Bailey’s parents are visiting, something she thought would never happen, and her mother has unfortunately sided with Juliet to get Bailey and Aiden hitched. It takes some poking around, but Bailey figures out who the criminal is, and as it turns out, they aren’t a bad person. This is a cozy worth the read and characters worth knowing.

If you haven’t read any books in this series, now is a great time to start! Bailey and company will keep cozy readers happy, hungry, and filled with a sense of hope. The always present recipes will make us all candy makers or at least candy eaters. The town and characters will have readers wanting to learn more about the Amish and small-town life. I am happy to recommend Botched Butterscotch to old and new fans alike.

Readers of candy or culinary based cozy series may also enjoy Sarah Fox’s wonderfully delicious “A Pancake House Mystery” or Nancy Coco’s mouth-watering series “A Candy-Coated Mystery”.

About the Author:

Amanda Flower is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author of over twenty-five cozy mystery novels. She started her writing career in elementary school when she read a story she wrote to her sixth-grade class and had the class in stitches with her description of being stuck on the top of a Ferris wheel. She knew at that moment she’d found her calling of making people laugh with her words. In addition to being an author, Amanda is a former librarian with fifteen years of experience in Northeast Ohio.