A Most Improper Murder at the Marmalade Competition
(2026)(A book in the Interwar: Martinis & Motives Circle series)
A novel by Marisa Paxon
I’m the narrator of this book, which means I’ve already dragged an entire village, several jars of marmalade, and one tragically confident food man through a full-scale crisis, and now they have decided I should also do the sales pitch. Fine. Let’s pretend I’m thrilled.
It’s the summer of 1928 in Lower Rooke, where the Women’s Institute treats the annual marmalade competition like a sacrament, and Miss Mabel Ashdown, WI secretary and keeper of everyone’s petty grievances, treats it like an audit. I watched her clock the small things first, a spoon knocked out of line, a label that’s trying too hard, oranges that look far too polished to have suffered properly. Then the visiting London food columnist, Mr Archibald Pym, arrives to judge, and the fête takes a sharp turn from bunting and hymns to murder in broad daylight. Naturally.
Enter Mr Tobias Crane, Ministry of Agriculture food adulteration inspector, arriving with a chemical kit, a frosty manner, and the deeply unhelpful conviction that ‘village charm’ is just another word for evidence tampering. Unfortunately for him, he can’t get anywhere without Mabel’s knowledge of who baked what, who hates whom, and who would absolutely poison a man over a ribbon, and unfortunately for Mabel, he notices lies the way other people notice weather. Between swapped details, suspicious supplies, and the steady leak of anonymous malice, they’re forced into a reluctant partnership of sharp deductions and sharper banter, while trying very hard not to notice the inconvenient ways they fit.
Perfect for readers who like witty historical cozies, clue-forward village mysteries, prickly partners who respect competence (while pretending not to), and romance that simmers rather than sprawls. You know exactly who you are. Don’t look innocent.
Expect a puzzle-first, clue-rich cozy mystery with a satisfying, logical reveal, plus a closed-door slow-burn romance with an HEA; no graphic gore, just social stakes, pointed questions, and the sort of polite smiles that could cut glass. It’s also a complete, stand-alone case, so you can start here and feel smug about it. Now go on, click Look Inside, and let me get you into the mess.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
It’s the summer of 1928 in Lower Rooke, where the Women’s Institute treats the annual marmalade competition like a sacrament, and Miss Mabel Ashdown, WI secretary and keeper of everyone’s petty grievances, treats it like an audit. I watched her clock the small things first, a spoon knocked out of line, a label that’s trying too hard, oranges that look far too polished to have suffered properly. Then the visiting London food columnist, Mr Archibald Pym, arrives to judge, and the fête takes a sharp turn from bunting and hymns to murder in broad daylight. Naturally.
Enter Mr Tobias Crane, Ministry of Agriculture food adulteration inspector, arriving with a chemical kit, a frosty manner, and the deeply unhelpful conviction that ‘village charm’ is just another word for evidence tampering. Unfortunately for him, he can’t get anywhere without Mabel’s knowledge of who baked what, who hates whom, and who would absolutely poison a man over a ribbon, and unfortunately for Mabel, he notices lies the way other people notice weather. Between swapped details, suspicious supplies, and the steady leak of anonymous malice, they’re forced into a reluctant partnership of sharp deductions and sharper banter, while trying very hard not to notice the inconvenient ways they fit.
Perfect for readers who like witty historical cozies, clue-forward village mysteries, prickly partners who respect competence (while pretending not to), and romance that simmers rather than sprawls. You know exactly who you are. Don’t look innocent.
Expect a puzzle-first, clue-rich cozy mystery with a satisfying, logical reveal, plus a closed-door slow-burn romance with an HEA; no graphic gore, just social stakes, pointed questions, and the sort of polite smiles that could cut glass. It’s also a complete, stand-alone case, so you can start here and feel smug about it. Now go on, click Look Inside, and let me get you into the mess.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Used availability for Marisa Paxon's A Most Improper Murder at the Marmalade Competition