Halloween cupcake murder

A trio of Halloween-themed stories all featuring deadly cupcakes. O'Connor's American heroine Tara Meehan's search for Halloween decorations for her architectural salvage shop in Galway leads her to a curiosity shop, where she buys a painting that might provide a motive for murder. When Tara finds the shop owner dead, possibly poisoned by a Halloween cupcake, she's both witness and suspect and must turn sleuth to extricate herself from a dangerous situation before she can enjoy an Irish Halloween. Ireland spins a Halloween fantasy set in Santaland, with Mrs. Claus herself as the sleuth who uncovers a murderous plot. A baking contest featuring candy corn causes a run on the product as bakers practice for a chance to win. When star baker Chestnut leaves the Silver Bell Bakery to open his own shop, taking Wink Jollyflake with him, the owner of Silver Bell is furious. After Jollyflake is found dead with a half-eaten candy corn cupcake by his side, rumors run wild, and Mrs. Claus decides that investigating herself is the only way to find the killer and keep Santaland's Halloween festival on track. In Perry's tale, TV station program director and part-time reporter Lee Barrett and her policeman boyfriend live in witchy Salem, Massachusetts, where the owner of the Pretty Party Bakery has gone missing, and his cat, Cupcake, has to be rescued from a tree in front of the house Lee shares with her aunt. Lee's human interest story about the cat plunges her into an investigation of the missing man, who has plenty of enemies despite his famously yummy triple-layer cupcakes. Three different takes on Halloween and cupcakes that range from the historical to the fanciful. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.