Harvest Moon Murder
(2025)(The third book in the Pumpkin Spice Murder Mystery series)
A Story by Maisy Marple
When celebrity chef Cassandra Reed arrives in picturesque Maple Ridge to judge the Harvest Moon Festival's pumpkin spice competition, café owner and former chemistry teacher Violet Morgan sees it as the perfect opportunity to put her Mountain Brew coffee shop on the culinary map. But beneath the town's spectacular autumn foliage and festive atmosphere, secrets as old as the mountain itself are stirring. When Cassandra is found dead near the historic clock tower clutching a maple leaf and with traces of pumpkin spice on her lips, Violet's signature blend becomes linked to murder, threatening both her livelihood and her freedom.
With the festival in jeopardy and suspicion falling on her carefully crafted coffee creations, Violet must draw on her analytical mind to clear her name. Joining forces with wilderness forager Nathan Cole, maple syrup expert Rebecca Hayes, and reluctant Sheriff Lucas Bennett, she follows a trail of clues leading from the town's beloved clock tower to the misty mountain ridge with its unique botanical treasures. As they uncover unauthorized modifications, hidden gardens, and decades-old research with modern implications, Violet realizes Cassandra may have been investigating something far more valuable than recipes—and far more dangerous.
Time is running out as the harvest moon wanes and the festival continues under a shadow of fear. Someone in this close-knit mountain community has transformed tradition into treachery and familiar landmarks into instruments of death. With each new discovery raising the stakes, Violet must determine who among Maple Ridge's familiar faces might be harboring murderous intentions before the killer strikes again to preserve secrets worth killing for. In a race against time and a cunning adversary, she'll learn that sometimes the perfect blend requires not just the right ingredients, but the courage to uncover truths that others would rather keep buried.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
With the festival in jeopardy and suspicion falling on her carefully crafted coffee creations, Violet must draw on her analytical mind to clear her name. Joining forces with wilderness forager Nathan Cole, maple syrup expert Rebecca Hayes, and reluctant Sheriff Lucas Bennett, she follows a trail of clues leading from the town's beloved clock tower to the misty mountain ridge with its unique botanical treasures. As they uncover unauthorized modifications, hidden gardens, and decades-old research with modern implications, Violet realizes Cassandra may have been investigating something far more valuable than recipes—and far more dangerous.
Time is running out as the harvest moon wanes and the festival continues under a shadow of fear. Someone in this close-knit mountain community has transformed tradition into treachery and familiar landmarks into instruments of death. With each new discovery raising the stakes, Violet must determine who among Maple Ridge's familiar faces might be harboring murderous intentions before the killer strikes again to preserve secrets worth killing for. In a race against time and a cunning adversary, she'll learn that sometimes the perfect blend requires not just the right ingredients, but the courage to uncover truths that others would rather keep buried.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Used availability for Maisy Marple's Harvest Moon Murder