The Cupcake Conundrum: A Lena Merritt Cozy Culinary Mystery

by Tracy Auten

When cupcake critic Vanessa Sweet drops dead, Maggie Harper takes the heat—unless Lena can prove who really had an appetite for revenge.

Lena Merritt just wanted a cupcake. What she got was a front-row seat to murder.

Vanessa Sweet, the town’s most feared food critic, took one bite of Maggie Harper’s new signature cupcake - Midnight Mocha - then dropped dead.

Right there, in the middle of Buttercup Bakery.

Now, Maggie’s the prime suspect.

The cops are convinced it’s an open-and-shut case.

But Lena knows Maggie would never hurt anyone.

With the help of a sharp-eyed retired detective and her opinionated cat, Whiskers, she digs into Vanessa’s past—and it’s not pretty.

There’s Samantha Grant, a disgruntled baker with a bad review, and the man in the black SUV, always watching and waiting.

The truth is buried under layers of deception, and time is running out.

The real killer isn’t done yet. If Lena’s not careful, she might be next on the menu.

And Maggie will go from serving cupcakes to serving time.

211 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 24, 2025

Reviews

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maggie Harper is both nervous and excited when food critic, Vanessa Sweet, visits her bakery. After only one bite of Maggie’s special cupcake, Vanessa drops dead right in the bakery. Of course, the police immediately suspect Maggie of murder and arrest her. They are convinced they need look no further than Maggie for the killer.

Maggie’s friend and local innkeeper, Lena Merritt, was at the bakery and knows her friend didn’t do this. Someone is setting her up and Lena intends to prove it. With the help of her feline, Whiskers, and her human friend, Dot, they search for a killer.

Lena quickly learns that Vanessa has made many enemies with her critical reviews. This puts Lena and her friends in danger as well. They need to clear Maggie’s name before she ends up spending the rest of her life behind bars.

I love the small-town setting and Lena’s determination in helping her friend. Even Whiskers gets into the sleuthing business to help crack this case. It’s a captivating mystery that kept me guessing until the end.

It’s the second book in the Lena Merritt series. I enjoyed the first one and this is even better. You don't have to read the books in order since each book wraps up the mystery. However, it’s fun to read them in order and get to know the setting and characters.

This series is off to a good start.







Disclosure: This one is from my own e-book collection. I received it as a freebie. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Buttercup Bakery owner, Maggie, is launching her new line of cupcakes. It’s a big deal and Vanessa Sweet is coming to hopefully give her cupcakes a great review. Unfortunately, she takes one bite and dies. Maggie is accused of murder and put in jail. Lena and Dot decide to investigate because the police refuse to investigate and are being pressured to declare Maggie the murderer and close the case. They find a bottle of vanilla that has been tampered with. Their friend Al sends it to a lab for testing. Then Lena starts receiving text messages and threats to leave it alone. That’s when they realize something bigger is going on. Someone wanted to silence Vanessa before she revealed what she knew.
Loved the characters and the constantly unfolding mystery.

[Tari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked Lena and her friends’ characters a lot and enjoyed how they sleuthed this out. Al Murphy’s an awesome character as the retired detective who helped the ladies. I thought there was quite a bit of repetition and was surprised it wasn’t caught during edits or beta reading. And chapter 18 was written in present tense, something I really can’t stand so it was painful to get through it.

Luckily normal tense resumed with chapter 19 and the rest of the book. That’s another thing I didn’t understand why it wasn’t corrected before the book was released. I did enjoy the story itself and the friendships as well. I’d definitely read more about these characters. And the mysterious man who was introduced toward the end—I’m wondering if he’ll be in future books.

[Marietta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book that I have read of Tracy Auten but I will definitely read more. There was alot of action right from the start. Lena Merritt, Dot and Whiskers were at the Grand opening of Maggie Harper's Bakery when a Food critic Vanessa Sweet who had a thing for being the harsh critic and could close down a bakery faster than any thing drop dead while tasting one of Maggie's cupcake and someone has set up Maggie as the murderer. While Maggie is in jail trying to understand what was happening her friends are trying to solve this mystery. There are lots of twist and turns and as they go about trying figure it out someone is watching them. I love the way Tracy keeps you guessing who the murderer could be.

[LaurenB · Rating 3 out of 5]

This quick cozy is the second in the Lena Merritt series. When Lena’s friend Maggie is the prime suspect in a murder by cupcake, Lena and Dot start an investigation aimed at clearing their friend.

The plot was interesting, but the writing is just a bit sloppy. For instance, they visit a supplier and then, a few chapters later, discover the same supplier with no mention of the previous interaction. There are other parts that seem to be unresolved. Also, I just find it odd that restaurant owners don’t mind a random cat coming in.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Dianne Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cupcake calamity!

An entertaining cozy as the celebration at Maggie's cupcake bakery turns into a calamity. As Maggie's friends rally around to investigate the murder of the food critic, the suspects grow. Interesting twists and turns kept me guessing who was guilty. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to others.

I read this book as part of an advance reader team and am voluntarily writing this review.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lena and Dot pursue the killer of Vanessa. Maggie owns the bakery. Her cupcake laced with cyanide is the weapon. Lena and Dot risk their lives. They don’t want to involve the police. Someone is pushing for the case to be closed. Whiskers the cat is everywhere and discovers some clues. Can they solve the mystery? Who is involved? If you like cozy mysteries, you will enjoy this. This is book 2. I haven’t read book 1 and will be reading it soon.

[Deborah Ortega · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really fun book. Lena went to her friend's bakery for a celebration and while there a food critic is trying her new cupcake when she dies after eating it. Maggie is in trouble since she baked the cupcake and made it for the food critic. Suspects galore a tragic death and a unliked food critic bring this story to a conclusion. I enjoyed this book and I recommend it.

[JOAN SALLEY · Rating 5 out of 5]

How could an absolutely gorgeous looking cupcake be the murder weapon of a food critic? After many twists and turns the true intentions of the criminal(s) are revealed. Quite the interesting cozy mystery. Quick, easy read.

I received an ARC of this book and this is my honest and voluntary review.

[Jean Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cupcake calamity occurs when there is a death at the opening of Maggie's cupcake bakery. Maggie is a suspect since she made the cupcake and gave it to the food critic. Suspects galore as the food critic wasn't well liked. Many twists and turns before the true intentions of the criminals are revealed. Interesting cozy mystery. I received a copy of the book and this is my honest review.

[Eliz Marino · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC and this is my voluntary review. A good fast read cozy that has Lena and her smart cat Whiskers trying to prove that Maggie didn't murder a food critic. A good fun fast read that has an adorable sleuth in Whiskers. This was a fast read that had plenty of red herrings.

[Margie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I’ve read by Tracy Auten but I will look for her books in the future. Is it okay to say a murder was entertaining? Well, it was, okay not the murder, but the hunt for the real murderer. Of course, when a food critic dies with a cupcake in her hand, the baker becomes the immediate suspect, and the police chief is fast to jump on the bandwagon. It takes some real detective work for Lena to find out who really killed Vanessa. I enjoyed this book, but might hesitate to have a chocolate cupcake, especially one with glitter.

[Ilene G> · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good mystery.

I like the conspiracy mystery. Lena and her friends are likable characters. Whiskers is her adorable cat. What starts out as a murder becomes a conspiracy endangering Lena and others. The plot has several twists and kept me guessing.

[Sabrina Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cupcake conundrum is a good small town murder mystery book. The characters are all like able and able to stay with the story.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[G. Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Tracy Auren. This one was full of things to investigate and Lena has her hands full and also as to watch her back, for she is being watched and it is starting to worry her. Check it out and Happy reading.

[Caren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute story, but too many editing mistakes - the tense shifts between first person and third person, as well as between past and present tense. And it happens in the same chapter, this is not written as a duology. Even for a cozy mystery, this one was too hard to take remotely seriously.

[SOFIA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story. I couldn't stop reading until I reached the end.