Strawberry Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery - Book 13 (Frosted Love Cozy Mysteries) by Carol Durand, Summer Prescott

Chapter 1
    “Absolutely
not, I refuse. Thank you for calling, but the answer is no,” Melissa Gladstone,
owner of two cupcake bakeries, Missy’s Muffins and More in LaChance,
Louisiana, and Crème de la Cupcake in neighboring Dellville, firmly
pressed the End button on her phone, hanging up on the Hollywood producer who
had been on the other end of the line. When her phone began ringing immediately
from an “Unknown” number, she sent the call directly to voicemail. The spunky
40-something blonde had done quite well competing on a nationally televised
reality show called “Cutthroat Cupcakes” a few months ago, but had been more
than eager to return to normal life in Louisiana. The final show had never
taken place, due to the untimely death of one of the judges, but Missy’s
business grew by leaps and bounds after her appearance on the show. She had
been one of two final contestants, and upon her return to bayou country, it was
all she could do to keep up with the increased volume of customers.
    The
producer whom she’d just shut down, had wanted to bring a film crew to Missy’s
store once a week to film a series on her little hometown bakeries. They would
record her and her staff in action – everything from creating new recipes, to
baking, to interacting with customers, for a new show entitled “ The Bayou
Baker .” Having dealt with enough phony and sometimes cruel Hollywood types,
she had flatly refused. She had no business being on television – she enjoyed the
small town atmosphere in both of her quaint little shops, and felt that
commercializing her operations by featuring them on television would somehow
diminish her ability to give her customers the 100% satisfaction in product and
service that they’d grown to expect.
    Tossing
her phone onto a desk stacked high with invoices, accounting and recipe notes,
Missy headed for the front of the LaChance shop, Missy’s Muffins and More ,
having heard the bell over the front door jangle from where she had been pacing
in the back hall. Her shop manager, a very pregnant Cheryl Radigan was laughing
and talking with Missy’s best friend, Echo Willis, at the front counter. Echo
owned a vegan ice cream shop across the street from Missy’s Dellville store,
and the two had become fast friends when she had moved to Louisiana from
California more than a year ago. The free-spirited former Californian dressed
in comfortably draped natural fabrics, wore her hair down and wild, and always
smelled vaguely of patchouli.
    “Hey
girl!” Missy grinned, hugging her friend. “What are you doing in this neck of
the woods?”
    “The
craft shop in Dellville was out of jewelry wire, so I figured I’d give the one
here a shot.”
    “Uh-huh,”
the cupcake artist nodded knowingly. “I’m sure your visit had nothing to do
with the fact that the cupcake of the day today happens to be Vegan Carob
Banana, right?”
    “Nothing
whatsoever,” Echo laughed, looking like she’d been caught with her hand in the
cookie jar.
    “Shall
I hook her up, Ms. G.?” Cheryl asked with a smile.
    “Absolutely.
She’s my source for Vanilla Bean Rice Dream, so I try to keep her happy,” Missy
winked. She poured two cups of coffee and led her friend to a table in the
corner, where they could enjoy their cupcakes and catch up.
    “How’s
Mr. Wonderful?” Echo began their conversation by asking about the handsome
local detective, Chas Beckett, whom Missy had been seeing for more than a year.
    “Amazing,
as usual,” her friend replied, taking a large bite of cupcake.
    “You’re
so lucky…I’m beginning to think that our particular corner of Louisiana has run
out of eligible men,” she sighed, delicately removing the foil wrapper from her
treat.
    Missy
swallowed her bite of cupcake, washing it down with steaming hot coffee. “I
thought you were going to try that online dating site that you were talking
about the other day, what was it called?” she frowned, trying to