Maple Sugar Mayhem
(2025)(The third book in the Harvest Festivals Gone Wrong Mystery series)
A Story by Maisy Marple
When pastry chef Ruby Winters returns to Pine Hollow to save her grandfather's struggling maple farm, she expects challenges—outdated equipment, fierce competition, and the pressure to win at the prestigious Maple Harvest Festival. What she doesn't expect is murder. After the town's most celebrated maple producer, Vincent "Vinny" Hartwood, is found dead in his sugar shack—his head submerged in a vat of boiling sap—Ruby's childhood friend Hazel becomes the prime suspect. With Hazel arrested and the festival in jeopardy, Ruby must put her culinary sleuthing skills to work alongside hardware store owner Oliver Fischer and retired science teacher Iris Powell to find the real killer.
The sweet celebration quickly sours as Ruby uncovers a complex web of small-town secrets. Vinny's revolutionary maple collection system has multiple producers envious, his valuable lakefront property has developers circling, and his ruthless business tactics have created enemies throughout the county. When a mysterious notebook containing patent documentation goes missing, Ruby realizes the murder is about more than maple syrup—it's about money, power, and revenge. As she investigates Trevor Hartwood's resentment toward his controlling brother, Patricia Barnes' aggressive land development plans, Fiona Mills' accusations of design theft, and Gregory Sullivan's suspicious judging practices, Ruby discovers that nearly everyone in Pine Hollow had a reason to want Vinny gone.
Can Ruby expose the killer, save her grandfather's legacy, and perhaps find something sweeter than maple syrup in Pine Hollow? Find out in this delicious cozy mystery that proves sometimes the most dangerous secrets are hidden in the most wholesome places.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
The sweet celebration quickly sours as Ruby uncovers a complex web of small-town secrets. Vinny's revolutionary maple collection system has multiple producers envious, his valuable lakefront property has developers circling, and his ruthless business tactics have created enemies throughout the county. When a mysterious notebook containing patent documentation goes missing, Ruby realizes the murder is about more than maple syrup—it's about money, power, and revenge. As she investigates Trevor Hartwood's resentment toward his controlling brother, Patricia Barnes' aggressive land development plans, Fiona Mills' accusations of design theft, and Gregory Sullivan's suspicious judging practices, Ruby discovers that nearly everyone in Pine Hollow had a reason to want Vinny gone.
Can Ruby expose the killer, save her grandfather's legacy, and perhaps find something sweeter than maple syrup in Pine Hollow? Find out in this delicious cozy mystery that proves sometimes the most dangerous secrets are hidden in the most wholesome places.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Used availability for Maisy Marple's Maple Sugar Mayhem