Peppermint Barked
As the holiday season lights up Seattle’s famed Pike Place Market, Pepper Reece’s beloved Spice Shop is brimming with cinnamon, nutmeg, and shoppers eager to stuff their stockings. Add to the mix a tasty staff competition, a peppermint bark-off, along with Victorian costumes for this year’s Dickensian Christmas theme, and Pepper almost forgets to be nervous about meeting her fisherman boyfriend’s brother for the first time.
But when a young woman working in her friend Vinny’s wine shop is brutally assaulted, costumed revelers and holiday cheer are the last things on Pepper’s mind. Who would want to hurt Beth? Or were they looking for Vinny instead?
The vicious attack upsets everyone at Pike Place, but none more than Pepper’s own employee, Matt Kemp. At first, Pepper is baffled by his reaction, but his clandestine connection to Beth could hold the key to the assailant’s motive. Or perhaps it’s Vinny’s ex-wife who knows more than she’s letting on, and what about the mysterious top-hatted man with whom Pepper saw Beth arguing that morning?
As the secrets of the market come to light, long-held grudges, family ties, and hidden plans only further obscure the truth. Is it a ghost of the past rattling its chains or a contemporary Scrooge with more earthly motives? As Pepper chases down a killer, someone is chasing her, and in the end, the storied market itself may hold the final, deadly clue.
The Details
Series: Spice Shop Mysteries – Book #6
Author: Leslie Budewitz
Genre/Category: Cozy – Culinary/Holiday
Publisher: Seventh Street Books
ISBN: 1645060543
Page Count: 236
Rating: 
The Review
It is oddly satisfying to read a holiday book in July when it is 105 degrees outside. I felt cooler just sitting down and looking at the cover of Peppermint Barked, the sixth book in the “Spice Shop Mysteries” series. Pike Place Market is always entertaining; the spice flows, and holiday warmth is everywhere. However, this mystery will give you chills.
Peppers spice shop is doing a rousing business; the market is filled with the sights and sounds of the holidays. Carolers on street corners fill the air with music, and the shops are ramping up for the festive season. But when Pepper hears a scream and then finds an injured woman in her friend Vinny’s wine shop. Suddenly the holidays aren’t so merry and bright. Who would want to hurt Vinny’s new employee, Beth is a young, talented woman just starting out in life? Was it a robbery gone wrong or something more personal? When Matt, Pepper’s employee, becomes a suspect, she sets out to clear his name and bring holiday cheer back to the market and her spice shop.
Pepper doesn’t take long to discover that there may be several suspects, including Matt and Vinny. It is easy for her to question suspects and witnesses and dig into the victim’s past. Vinny’s wine store is near her spice shop, and they are both in the middle of the market, convenient to everything and everyone. What Pepper finds makes this holiday one for the books. Twists and turns are sprinkled throughout the story, with suspects that keep readers guessing. When the assailant starts threatening Pepper, she doesn’t walk away; she digs deeper and finds a killer.
Peppermint Barked is a fun holiday read with enough intrigue to keep readers entertained and happy. I adore Pepper’s spice shop; my mouth waters just thinking about those lovely scents and flavors. Pike Place Market is well known to most people and having lived in the area for several years; it is one of my favorite places to shop and the perfect setting for a cozy series. Readers will thrill at all of the descriptions and will love the characters, new and returning. There are a few surprises in this book that will delight fans. I look forward to the further adventures of Pepper, her spice shop, and visiting the market again, even if it is only in the pages of a good book.
The Author
Leslie Budewitz blends her passion for food, great mysteries, and the Northwest in two light-hearted mystery series: the Spice Shop Mysteries, set in Seattle, and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in northwest Montana. Her books focus on strong women who share her passions and have a talent for finding trouble!
A Montana native, Leslie graduated from Seattle University and Notre Dame Law School. After practicing in Seattle for several years—and shopping and eating her way through the Pike Place Market regularly, she returned to Montana, where she still practices law part-time. Killing people on the page is more fun.
Leslie loves to cook, eat, hike, travel, garden, and paint—not necessarily in that order. She lives in northwest Montana with her husband, Don Beans, a singer-songwriter and doctor of natural medicine, and their gray Tuxedo named Squirt but usually called Mr. Kitten. Because what else would you call a 13-year-old, 17-pound killer and cuddler who always dresses in formal attire?
Another holiday book by Leslie readers will enjoy is As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles from the “A Food Lovers’ Village Mystery” series.
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