Scones, Secrets & Murder: A Feel-Good Cozy Mystery

by Hope Quinn

A charming lakeside town, a weekend trip gone sideways, and one warm-hearted coffee shop owner-turned-sleuth who can’t help meddling!

Stella Ray rolls into Marigold Hollow craving comfort food, and quiet moments. Instead, a local has collapsed dead in the Blue Spruce Cafe sending the community into shock and speculation. Rex, Stella’s spunky American Bulldog , treats every mystery like a personal mission.

Maude Harper, with her grandmotherly sass, brings heart and havoc wherever she goes. Sheriff Jake Leland is no-nonsense, quietly observant, and perpetually exasperated by the town’s chaos.

The town may look postcard-perfect, but its residents come wrapped in quirks and guarded secrets . A nervous cafe’ owner. A shop owner with a too-perfect smile. A magician with a grudge. Everyone has a story about the victim… none of which are good

Drawn in by concern and curiosity, Stella learns that behind every smile and laugh, a secret might be quietly lurking. Now she and Rex must uncover the truth before trouble finds its next target….. perhaps Stella herself.

Genres: Cozy Mystery

70 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 11, 2025

Reviews

[Merry Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun, fast-paced read that you just can't put down. The main character, Stella Ray and Rex, Stella’s smart American Bulldog are looking for a vacation and go to Marigold Hollow looking for some peace. But, when they stop in the Blue Spruce Café a local drops dead. So of course, Rex is all in looking for clues and Stella, drawn in by curiosity, decides to look into the murder. With the help of some quirky characters, secrets and potential suspects, you are treated to some twists and turns. Can Stella and Max solve the case? This is a fun unputdownable book that keeps you turning pages until the really good ending. I highly recommend this book and can't wait for more! I received an ARC of this book but the opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

[GinaB. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stella Ray owns the Blue Spruce Cafe in Willowberry. Rex, her American Bulldog, walks around like he owns the place & makes the sassy seniors laugh…and grab their coffee cups & scones. Stella closes the cafe for the weekend & takes Rex to Marigold Hollow to relax at a B&B. Sassy senior Maude is there & tells her food critic Curtis Dayton was there to review the Marigold Cafe & he’s dead. Detective Rex, Paw Patrol Extraordinaire, sniffs out clues to help Stella, Maude the World’s Okayest Sleuth & Sheriff Jake Leland find the killer. This is the first book I’ve read by this author & I already grabbed another one. I received this great quick read from Book Funnel & am leaving an honest review.

[MK · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book but short. I loved when Stella and Rex head for
Willowberry to get some relaxing time. It didn’t happen. They get Maude freaking out, and a dead body. How she’s there Stella will never know. The Sheriff in town tells her to keep out of his investigation. He’s heard about her. She can’t help it if Rex her dog is sniffing around, and found something. He’s trying to be helpful.
So much fun. Looking forward to reading more of this series.

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

The story ends with a brief mention of the sheriff being sweet on Stella. Nothing else, it is just dropped so it gets 3 stars. Now the story, Stella comes for the weekend for some much needed R & R. She stops in the diner and some local has dropped dead. Now how is she supposed to ignore that and relax? No more info or it will spoil it. It's nice but not great.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky characters who could be developed even more in future books as they've got lots of potential. It's a short mystery but the ending made me go back to the beginning to see what I had missed about the ownership of Stella's cafe.........
the ending also leads into the next mystery! After all the talk of scones a few recipes for the mentioned ones would've been a bonus! Maybe next book! 😃

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!
This book made me want to move to the Willowberry Hills.
It also made me hungry for scones. LOL.
Even using a poisoned scone for the murder weapon didn't take away the craving for a nice well balanced sweet treat.
Great cozy, fun reading and I would certainly love to have the recipes.

[Myra McCulloch · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short read with quirky characters.

The mystery to solve....who killed the food critic and why?

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

New author for me. This was a great book - I guess it is the prequel or first book in the series. I enjoyed it.