Cupcakes and Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery (Book 5) (Frosted Love Mysteries) by Carol Durand, Summer Prescott

Chapter 1
     
    A light,
late summer breeze made Melissa Gladstone’s golden curls flutter back from her
brow as she held on to the giant pair of shears, along with the Mayor of
LaChance, Louisiana, preparing to cut the ribbon that was draped across the
front door of Missy’s Muffins and More. Her previous shop had been burned down
months before, by some very unpleasant dry goods vendors with whom she refused
to do business, and today was her grand reopening, now that the sweet little
shop had been rebuilt. Her contractor had been a bit puzzled when Missy
insisted that the new shop would be rebuilt as an exact replica of the old one,
but when he learned that she had inherited the business as a result of her
parent’s tragic death when she was only seventeen, he understood completely and
followed her instructions to the letter.
    Piece
by piece, bit by bit, the shop that had been her second home ever since she
could remember, was rebuilt. She kept the same lime green and pink color scheme
that had been her choice upon taking over the operation of the store, and had
purchased second-hand wooden tables and chairs that she painted white with pink
and green accents. The commercial kitchen had been outfitted with brand new
stainless steel appliances, and the glass display cases at the front counter
were full and sparkling. Missy’s first day back in her first store promised to
be a busy one, with crowds of people representing the Mayor’s office, the
Police Department, various charities that Missy supported, and townsfolk who
were being supportive of the diminutive but determined “Cupcake Lady” present
and ready to sample her latest creations.
    Missy
and her loyal assistant Ben, who was currently the manager of her second shop,
Crème de la Cupcake in Dellville, a neighboring small town, had come up with a
spectacular Cupcake of the Day for this very special occasion. She had chosen
the Grand Opening of the rebuilt store to introduce a new concoction that was
sure to be a crowd-pleasing hit. It was called the Campfire Cupcake and tasted
like a glorious and decadent ‘s’more.’ The cupcake itself was a dense, moist,
chocolate cake, with an ooey-gooey creamy chocolate center, capped off with a
generous dollop of marshmallow fluff that was lightly toasted and sprinkled
with graham cracker crumbs. When Missy and Ben had experimented and created the
first batch, she literally had to stop Ben from eating the entire tray of them.
The sumptuous cakes melted in their mouths and stirred childhood memories for
both of them – they were certain to be a hit with the Grand Opening crowd.
    The
Mayor finished speaking, saying very complimentary things about how Missy and
her business were tremendous assets to the community, and the bright pink
ribbon was cut, officially reopening the shop. Nearly everyone who had been
standing on the sidewalk for the ceremony, lined up to be among the first
patrons, keeping Missy and Ben’s girlfriend Cheryl, who had been working in the
other store for the past few months, busy smiling and ringing up sales. Rave
reviews flooded in from happy customers who couldn’t even wait until they were
out of the store to try the Cupcake of the Day, and Missy couldn’t have been
more pleased.
    Missy
and Cheryl collapsed into a couple of chairs at a table in the seating area
after the mad rush was over and the ‘Closed’ sign had been flipped over in the
front window. The bell above the front door jangled again, announcing a new
arrival, and the weary shop owner beamed when she saw the striking figure of
Detective Chas Beckett enter. Cheryl suddenly remembered something that she had
to do in the kitchen, and hugged Missy goodbye, letting her know that she was
leaving after she took care of her imaginary task. Missy was too tired to move,
and remained draped over her chair as the handsome detective kissed her on the
cheek in greeting.
    “I
heard good things about the opening,” he said, taking the chair that