A cup of holiday fear

Thousands of twinkling lights decorate downtown Ashland, Oregon, in preparation for Christmas, and Jules Capshaw, who has recently returned home, and her mother, Helen, owners of the Torte bakery, are busy providing holiday drinks and treats for the crowds descending on the town to shop and enjoy the festivities. For Torte's holiday party, Jules and Helen treat their staff to the famed Dickens feast held at the historic Winchester Inn. Unfortunately, an obnoxious guest is killed during the evening. Jules begins an investigation when a childhood friend is accused of the murder. On the personal front, Jules misses her husband and stepson and wonders if her marriage can be saved. Framed by the warmth of the holiday season with a beautifully described setting in southwestern Oregon's Siskiyou Mountains, this satisfying cozy is populated with numerous, sometimes quirky, characters, and includes details of running a baking business, along with an endearing portrait of family relationships and the importance of friendship. Suggest to those who miss Diane Mott Davidson's Goldy Schulz mysteries. Recipes are included. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.

Thousands of twinkling lights decorate downtown Ashland, Oregon, in preparation for Christmas, and Jules Capshaw, who has recently returned home, and her mother, Helen, owners of the Torte bakery, are busy providing holiday drinks and treats for the crowds descending on the town to shop and enjoy the festivities. For Torte's holiday party, Jules and Helen treat their staff to the famed Dickens feast held at the historic Winchester Inn. Unfortunately, an obnoxious guest is killed during the evening. Jules begins an investigation when a childhood friend is accused of the murder. On the personal front, Jules misses her husband and stepson and wonders if her marriage can be saved. Framed by the warmth of the holiday season with a beautifully described setting in southwestern Oregon's Siskiyou Mountains, this satisfying cozy is populated with numerous, sometimes quirky, characters, and includes details of running a baking business, along with an endearing portrait of family relationships and the importance of friendship. Suggest to those who miss Diane Mott Davidson's Goldy Schulz mysteries. Recipes are included. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.

When murder casts a pall over the historic Winchester Inn’s Dickens Feast, bakeshop owner Jules decides to investigate and bring a not-so-festive killer to justice before Christmas. Original.

It’s Christmastime and everyone is heading to Torte, the most cheerful bakery in town. There’s no place like home for the homicide…Ashland, Oregon, looks as pretty as a postcard this holiday season. The halls are decked, stockings hung, and eyes are all aglow—mostly thanks to the buttered rum. Jules Capshaw and her staff at Torte are busier than ever. . . still, even the town’s most in-demand bakers need to take a break. So Jules invites everyone to celebrate at the local Winchester Inn’s Dickens Feast, a six-course extravaganza with Yorkshire Pudding, Christmas goose, and all the trimmings. But as the weather outside becomes frightful, things inside turn less delightful when one of the guests ends up as dead as Scrooge’s doornail. Now it’s up to Jules and her helpers to make a list of suspects—and check it twice—to try to find out who’s naughty, who’s nice, and who’s guilty of murder…The Bakeshop mysteries are: “Delicious.” —RT Book Reviews“Marvelous.” —Fresh Fiction