Murder, Magic, and Muffins

by Stella Glass, Hanayuki Fox (Illustrator)

Murder is Best Solved with Magical Muffins

Precocious young witch, Matilda Baxter leaves home. Now, thanks to her junker of a car, she’s a castaway at the shabby Crucible Cove B&B – complete with the owner's corpse sprawled across the lobby rug.

All Matilda wants is to convince her parents that her magic is better suited to baking than hexes. Instead, she’s trapped in a murder house with her sarcastic talking cat, Bundough.

The suspects are as flaky as her Daisy, the exhausted maid who turns out to be the sole heir; Greg, the jumpy insurance adjuster who is desperate to keep an old secret buried; and Sherry and her yappy Pomeranian who are tampering with evidence.

The inept sheriff is more interested in donuts than crime. So, armed with enchanted muffins, a puzzle master’s mind, and allergy to boredom, Matilda plays detective. But she’s getting too close. Now she’s getting threatening notes, and another body is discovered. She must unmask the killer before Bundough eats all the evidence and they both are toast.

Genres: Cozy Mystery

80 pages, Paperback

Published December 2, 2025

Reviews

[Susan Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This charming cozy mystery introduces Matilda, a young witch eager to leave Cape Moonveil behind and pursue college, despite her mother’s insistence that she stay close to home. Determined to take advantage of a rare day off, Matilda heads out of town, only to have her plans derailed when her car breaks down shortly after leaving. With her car towed to a local garage, she checks into a quaint bed-and-breakfast—just in time for a murder to occur.

Unable to leave town until the mystery is resolved, Matilda finds herself drawn into the investigation. As she begins to ask questions and piece together clues, her curiosity and determination shine through, making her a likable and engaging amateur sleuth.

This is a cute, short cozy mystery that offers an enjoyable read with a touch of magic and intrigue. It’s perfect for readers looking for a light, entertaining story with a relatable protagonist and a satisfying mystery.

[Mary Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great story about a girl who’s a senior in high school and has magical powers. Also her parents do too. The story is about how she decides to leave town with her magic cat. She gets involved in a murder & helps solve it. But this book needs a lot of editing for typos and Chapter 12 is very confusing. Please edit it more.

[Eveie Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matilda wants to push against her parents, to prove she can operate outside the family’s bakery. Given the the day off she finds her self in Cruicble Cove, in the middle of two murders some shaky insurance dealings and coverups. This is an interesting read nice story and characters.

[Jane Y · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow what a very good book.
I didn’t realize who the killer was until the second to the last chapter.

I can’t wait until the next book in this series comes out

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great new book! The cat is hysterical. Surprise ending and very fun read. Can't wait for the next story!

[LINDA BASS · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVED IT.

[Mary T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow going.

[Lorraine O'Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The rating is because of many, many typos that can often confuse the reader. Typos are not just misspelled words, they are incorrect words. For example, the wrong character's name or spell check didn't catch a wrong word because it is a correctly spelled word, just the wrong word for that sentence. Let's face everyone has a few but when they are very numerous it effects the rating. Matilda is a witch and her cat familiar is named Bundough. Her family owns and works in the town bakery. The regular bakery is upstairs in case non-magicals come in and the magic bakery is downstairs where they do all their creating. The family's magic sparkles Violet and their eyes are violet. Her mom is the head witch. There is a rule that no one leaves the town, you are protected here. She of course sneaks and leaves town and gets stuck in the next own over because her car broke down. I'll not add anything else and spoil it for you. The story is good, just needs to be edited well.
Read 01/07/26.