BLAME THE BEIGNETS

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In stores November 26, 2024

As the weather cools down, business heats up at Deputy Donut Café for owner Emily Westhill. But is a stubborn tabby cat, a mysterious new employee, and a murder case with a baker’s dozen worth of suspects too much to manage?

With mouthwatering treats selling fast in October, Emily is delighted to welcome her assistant’s younger sister, Hannah, to help at the donut shop while taking a semester off from college. But Hannah’s talent for dishing powdered pastries without dropping a crumb attracts some unusual customers, as two admirers with opposite personalities begin to show up during her shifts—much to her older sister’s disappointment . . .

Real trouble comes after hours in the dark forest surrounding Emily’s lakeside house. Emily follows a trail of her freshly-made beignets—just like those purchased by the two admirers—to a dead body. And while the victim may have burned a few bridges, there’s no way to sugarcoat the discovery of Hannah’s hairclip at the crime scene. Now, as suspicions fall on her own employee and unsavory rumors swirl around town, it will take far more than a sprinkle of good luck for Emily to learn the truth and expose a killer with a very deadly craving . . . 

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 Bolton’s down-to-earth heroine is a winner. ~ Kirkus

The countdown is on as Deputy  Donut Café owner Emily Westhill gets ready for married life. But before  she takes the plunge, she’ll need to poke a hole in a deadly criminal’s  plans . . .

When the Fallingbrook Arts Festival rolls into town weeks before she’s set to tie the knot, Emily  expects talent and friendly competition at the week-long summer series to go together like coffee and double fudge. But the fun crumbles fast after a lively bagpiper takes first place on day one and turns heads for the wrong reasons—all before Emily and her tabby cat find him dead in a clear case of murder. Along with a distinctive weapon at the crime scene, several strategically placed items leave disturbing clues about  the killer’s identity, including a broken piece of a Deputy Donut mug . .  .

While detectives aren’t sure who silenced the bagpiper’s music, they don’t trust Emily or her family to tell the truth. With her nuptials and career on the line, Emily launches an unsettling investigation to save herself from trouble and bring a dangerous figure to justice. The search not only brings too many suspects into the picture, but also leads to a strange discovery on Deputy Donut’s rooftop. A discovery that tells Emily she better get cooking, because someone may be watching her every move . . .  and carefully plotting to turn a wedding into a funeral! 

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. . . this latest in a long-running series will hold readers' interest with the baking frame, the beautifully described northern Wisconsin setting, and the well-delineated characters. ~ Booklist

Weeks before summer begins, Deputy Donut Café owner Emily Westhill has it all—a tabby cat by her side, cinnamon twists powdered to perfection, and a murderer on her case . . .
 

An ordinary late-spring afternoon for Deputy Donut Cafe owner Emily Westhill becomes one that will remain baked into her memory from the moment a customer gives Emily’s cat a toy donut and then flees Deputy Donut, dropping an earring in her panic. Concerned about the customer, Emily attempts to return the earring . . . only this time the customer doesn’t have a pulse. Things get more complicated when an ambitious police detective finds the earring and an unsealed envelope addressed to Emily at the murder scene. The envelope contains a cryptic letter and a fading photograph of a woman standing in front of Emily’s house.
 

Why did the customer grab her cinnamon twists and flee Deputy Donut? With the detective eying Emily as a prime suspect, Emily is determined to find out. But once a donut-shaped murder weapon is discovered in her own backyard, Emily has no time to lose as she pulls apart the connection between the victim and the strange history of her property—while stopping the real culprit from ensuring her fate is done and sugar-dusted . . .

. . . this latest in a long-running series will hold readers' interest with the baking frame, the beautifully described northern Wisconsin setting, and the well-delineated characters. ~ Booklist

Weeks before summer begins, Deputy Donut Café owner Emily Westhill has it all—a tabby cat by her side, cinnamon twists powdered to perfection, and a murderer on her case . . .
 

An ordinary late-spring afternoon for Deputy Donut Cafe owner Emily Westhill becomes one that will remain baked into her memory from the moment a customer gives Emily’s cat a toy donut and then flees Deputy Donut, dropping an earring in her panic. Concerned about the customer, Emily attempts to return the earring . . . only this time the customer doesn’t have a pulse. Things get more complicated when an ambitious police detective finds the earring and an unsealed envelope addressed to Emily at the murder scene. The envelope contains a cryptic letter and a fading photograph of a woman standing in front of Emily’s house.
 

Why did the customer grab her cinnamon twists and flee Deputy Donut? With the detective eying Emily as a prime suspect, Emily is determined to find out. But once a donut-shaped murder weapon is discovered in her own backyard, Emily has no time to lose as she pulls apart the connection between the victim and the strange history of her property—while stopping the real culprit from ensuring her fate is done and sugar-dusted . . .

Well-defined characters match the sufficiently complex plot. ~ Publishers' Weekly  

’Tis the season for the delectable desserts Emily Westhill and her cuddly cat serve up at Deputy Donut—but someone naughty on Santa’s list has come to town . . .

It’s Christmastime again in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin. Emily has truly decked the halls of her donut shop and decorated her donuts with festive  designs from green and red frosting to snowflake sprinkles. For the  annual Ice and Lights Festival, she’s commissioned a sculpture with  three ice-carved donut shapes to form a holey snowman, Frosty the Donut.  She has one Christmas wish this year—to spend some time under the  mistletoe with a certain detective.
 

But the holidays just aren’t the same without an unexpected disaster or two. A tour bus on its  way to the festival has crashed and a snowstorm has left all the shaken passengers stranded and shivering. Emily and her friends open their  homes to shelter the traveling families, while the bus driver is admitted to the hospital for his injuries. But the following morning, Emily discovers his body—buried beneath Frosty the Donut.
 

The bus passengers show little sympathy for the man who dashed through the  snow so badly, some claiming he was under the influence while behind the  wheel. Emily also discovers that the driver had a history with folks in  Fallingbrook. With multiple motives for murder piling up, it will take a  Christmas miracle for Emily to solve this crime .  

The Week's Best New Cozy Mystery, Woman's World, June 7, 2021

Plenty of twists and intriguing characters add up to an enjoyable donut-centric mystery.  -- Kirkus Reviews 

Selling her corn fritters at a carnival, Deputy Donut Café owner  Emily Westhill faces off against a murderer who doesn’t play fair . . .

Emily and her assistant, Nina, are looking forward to manning the  Deputy Donut tent at the Faker’s Dozen Carnival in Fallingbrook,  Wisconsin—a festival held on Friday the thirteenth to celebrate good and  bad luck. But Emily has barely dropped the corn fritters in oil when  bad luck boils up. First, their bucket of confectioner’s sugar  disappears—and then while a mime creates a distraction, a magician robs  their cash register.
 

After the carnival, their misfortune  continues. Emily discovers that someone has broken into artist Nina’s  loft and vandalized a large painting in progress with the bucket of  stolen sugar, which is now on the head of the mime, who seems to have  been suffocated. Emily would bet Nina was the intended victim, but the  cops think Nina silenced the mime. Now Emily must catch the killer  white-handed—before someone else kicks the bucket . .  . 

FreshFiction Fresh Pick November 1, 2021

Halloween in the small town of Fallingbrook, Wisconsin, is the perfect season for Deputy Donut owner Emily Westhill to unmask a killer. 

October 31st is just around the corner and Emily Westhill’s Boston cream donuts, carved with a scream, have made an indelible impression on local eccentric Rich Royalson. So much so that he’s ordered three dozen, with twice the fudge icing, for his 70th birthday—a special event in more ways than one. It’s to be held on fog-shrouded Lake Fleekom where, twenty years ago, his wife mysteriously drowned.
 

But the next day, when Emily arrives with her Boston cream donuts, she stumbles upon Rich’s corpse. The poor guy wanted a unique birthday bash—just not to the side of his skull. With a guest list of possible perpetrators left at the scene, Emily soon discovers that the Royalson closet is rattling with skeletons. As the fog thickens, motives mount, and the tricks outnumber the treats, Emily fears that Rich may not be the last one in Fallingbrook to go out screaming.