I must have been in more of a holiday mood than I thought, because this week I chose “Meltdown in Christmas River” by Meg Muldoon.
Cinnamon Peters is finally feeling content. She’s married to Sheriff Daniel Brightman and loves running her successful pie shop. The stresses of the previous year are fading into memory.
Just before Thanksgiving, her best friend Kara asked Cinnamon to read the first draft of a romance novel she’d written. This is a surprise because Kara is busy with her toddler daughter Laila and owns a popular ornament shop. Cinnamon assures Kara the book was very good and should do well at the writing workshop put on by famous author Pam Dallas.
It is a group event with other writers helping critique segments of each book. The final critique will be done face to face by Dallas. Today, Kara is furious, because local gossip Moira Stewart has totally trashed her writing.
Cinnamon was raised by her eccentric grandfather, Warren. He is the town’s biggest booster and uses his Geronimo Brewing Company as a way to help where he can. This year, he’s planning a huge fundraiser to support the local food pantry.
Naturally, Cinnamon donates pies and is nearly run over as she is delivering them. She gets a good look at the driver before he drives off.
The next morning, rumors fly about Daniel and Cinnamon fighting, because he is having an affair with his secretary and embezzling from the charity fund. Cinnamon tries to confront Moira, but she doesn’t answer her door.
As she’s stomping away, Cinnamon trips over Moira’s dead body. She’s been murdered, her “gossip books” are missing and Cinnamon is the prime suspect.
She’s agreed to help her friend Brad create a gingerbread house for a contest. He wants to prove himself to a teacher who once said he had no talent. One night, she’s at the shop when she sees a fire in the woods behind the building. The same man who almost ran her down is mumbling something about being sorry. He runs away when she approaches, but she finds one of Moira’s books in the fire.
The strange man is Kent Utley. Moira was his aunt. He hated her for abandoning his mother when she got pregnant as a teen and refusing to help while he was in jail. But he swears he didn’t kill her.
After Cinnamon solves the case, to her delight Brad wins the gingerbread contest but quietly takes his entry home. He has learned that he doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone. A good lesson for everyone.
AT A GLANCE
Book: Meltdown at Christmas River (Christmas River Cozy Book 10)
Author: Meg Muldoon
Publisher: Vacant Lot Publishing
Year published: 2017
Number of pages: 377
Trouble in Christmas River leads to murder mystery
