Murder by Caramel Apple Cake

Autumn has arrived in Christmas Tree, North Carolina, painting the Blue Ridge Mountains in brilliant shades of crimson and gold. At Collins Bakery, Eleanor Collins and her loyal crew are preparing for the town's Blue Ridge Apple & Cider Weekend, filling the cases with seasonal treats and a showstopping caramel apple cake.

With Toffee, Eleanor's long-haired dachshund, keeping a watchful eye on every crumb that hits the floor, it should be one of the sweetest weekends of the year.

Until a homecoming turns deadly.

A wealthy businesswoman has returned to Christmas Tree with plans involving one of the area's oldest orchards—and her announcement quickly makes enemies. When she's found murdered in the orchard's cider house, a shattered Collins Bakery cake plate beside her body makes the crime suddenly personal.

But Eleanor knows something the killer doesn't.

The cake at the murder scene didn't come from the batch Collins Bakery delivered.

Someone staged the scene.

As Eleanor separates secrets from lies, she uncovers feuding brothers, questionable business deals, a missing handbag, a mysterious burner phone, and evidence that someone has been manipulating events from the start.

The closer Eleanor gets to understanding why the bakery was deliberately pulled into the murder, the more dangerous the investigation becomes.

With Sheriff Caleb Parker working the official case, Grace and Mabel keeping the bakery running, and clever little Toffee once again noticing what everyone else misses, Eleanor must uncover the truth before the killer decides she's learned one secret too many.

Warm ovens. Crisp mountain air. Caramel-drenched cake. Small-town secrets. And a murderer hiding among the autumn leaves.

Murder by Caramel Apple Cake is Book 7 in The Collins Bakery Mysteries, a cozy culinary mystery series filled with mouthwatering baking, family and friendship, small-town charm, romance, red herrings, and one unforgettable dachshund.