Crumbs and Conspiracies: A Willa Honeycutt Cozy Mystery

by B. J. Cade

271 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication February 20, 2026

Reviews

[Kris Cobb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Willa Honeycutt now runs her late aunt's restaurant, Tally's Table, with her good dog Sadie by the pastry display, cook Sting dishing plates of food and serving coffees, and Sylvia, Gertie, and Shirley, the trio called the War Council, at their booth.

Willa sees a note on the tip jar, placed when she wasn't looking that direction:
"Tally never finished what she started. You will. — A Friend"

She finds a few clues left by Aunt Tally, but needs help figuring out what they mean.

What had Aunt Tally started? Will Willa and the War Council decipher the clues and be able to finish it successfully?

Don't ask the book's AI! Read the book for yourself; it will be worth the time.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Fun, Fast Cozy Mystery Escape. This is the fourth B.J. Cade book I’ve read, and once again she delivers exactly what I come to this series for: charm, chaos, and characters who feel like the eccentric neighbors you can’t help but adore.
The cast is in top form here. I love the interplay between all the wonderfully exaggerated personalities — from Shirley’s enthusiastic attempts at “grown‑up dress‑up” (who knew a beanie could be a disguise?) to Sting’s steady, grounding presence as he reminds Willa to eat something before she topples over. And of course, the rest of the War Council is back, armed with opinions, yarn, and absolutely no sense of subtlety.
This time around, a simple scarf and an art book pull Willa into a missing‑person mystery that no one in Harmony Hollow seems eager for her to solve. The unanswered questions pile up, the locals get cagey, and Willa — recently divorced, under‑caffeinated, and just trying to run a café — finds herself knee‑deep in secrets the town would rather keep buried.
I devoured the book in two days. Not because I couldn’t put it down, but because even a cozy‑mystery lover needs sleep eventually. Cade’s pacing, humor, and small‑town atmosphere make this series such an easy, enjoyable read.
I’m already looking forward to the next mess Willa, Sadie, and the ever‑dramatic War Council manage to stumble into.

[Margery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still trying to sort thru one well packed horde of Aunt Tilly, Willa has been doing anything to avoid sorting things out. A mysterious note is left for her saying Tilly did not finish, but Willa will. Who left the note and more to the point what needs finishing. She buckles down and start as sorting the storage room. There, way back in the dark is a box labeled receipts. Opening it she finds a sketch book and a scarf. She takes these to the command table where the war council sits. A group of friends of Tilly's always up to helping solve mysteries. These women know about the book and the scarf. It is from a close friend of theirs that disappeared many years ago. Nell was close with the ladies and at a party of a boy named Tom she vanished. The Father, a Caldor, rich and controlling everything stated she was safe, left at the curb in front of her home. The town took him at his word and concluded that Nell ran away. Did she? Was she murdered? A totally gripping mystery with a great cast of characters.

[Mrs K.Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crumbs and Conspiracies is a Superb story about Willa Honeycutt a Cafe Owner and her very clever dog Sadie. Willa was given a note which starts her on a trail of clues relating to a missing person of a long time ago. She is supported in her search by Sadie , her Aunt Sylvia, Gertie and Shirley who are known as the War Council, Sting Assistant at Cafe and Marcie a Lawyer and Sheriff Jack Gilmore. But which pieces of this puzzle will she find? Can she find them all and find the truth?
Excellent story and series that I have enjoyed reading very much and I highly recommend that you read.

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

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Willa Honeycutt is running a cafe that had been her Aunt Tally's. She found a box in a back storage room that was mislabeled as receipts that contained a sketchbook and a scarf. They had belonged to a woman that had disappeared 50 years before. Someone leaves a note for Willa that said that hadn't finished something and Willa is sure it is about Nell. The War Council, aka the local coffee ladies, remembered her and were interested in finding out whether she was still alive. Good story and a good ending!
I received an arc and this is my review.