Pumpkin Spice Scare

Cupcake Crimes #4

by Molly Maple

When mischief and mayhem are targeting the staff where Charlotte works, everyone is a suspect.
After Charlotte McKay stumbles upon her coworker's body, theories about who could be targeting the staff at Bill's Diner take on a life of their own. When secret shames are brought to light, it seems anyone could be a suspect in the small town of Sweetwater Falls.
Grudges run high and suspicions even higher when the killer strikes a second time. Forget about finding the criminal—Charlotte is concentrating on making sure she isn't next on the murderer's hit list.
Join Charlotte as she makes new friends and determined enemies in the cozy town of Sweetwater Falls.
"Pumpkin Spice Scare" is filled with layered clues and cozy moments, written by Molly Maple, which is a pen name for a USA Today bestselling author.

Genres: Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Halloween, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Contemporary, Amazon

178 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 2, 2021

About the author

Molly Maple believes in the magic of hot tea and the romance of rainy days.

She is a fan of all desserts, but cupcakes have a special place in her heart. She spends her days searching for fresh air, and her evenings reading in front of a fireplace.

Molly Maple is a pen name for USA Today bestselling fantasy author, Mary E. Twomey. Visit her online at www.MollyMapleMysteries.com.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok this one actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! Little predictable, but there were some cute moments in the book.

[Krystle Krystlesbookclub · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cute and sweet but also predictable. If you are looking for a quick Halloween themed murder mystery this read is for you.

The main characters are truly squad goals, Logan calling Charlotte Miss Charlotte is a bit cringe if you ask me but thankfully it's only a handful of times.

This one reminded me of a Nancy Drew mystery, the dinner could have easily been The Claw dinner from the show. Also I totally pictured Logan as Deputy Dewey from Scream.

[Cat Rutherford · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book of the series so far. I feel like the characters are really staring to develop and the author has direction in this one. Just as cheesy and sweet as the others but this one is well written and a fun read. And it’s Halloween themed so how could it go wrong!

[Trisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute and really silly. Charlotte is just a little too. . .perfect? She's perfectly sweet and nice, she absolutely kills herself for her waitressing job even though she's opening her own cupcake shop. Also, she's opening a cupcake spot but she had no idea to make Halloween themed cupcakes?

I liked that her friends really loved her and wanted to be there for her. I didn't understand why she kept feeling like the first murder was all her fault nor do I get why she was framed. Just some silly moments that made it a little unbelievable and very dated.

[Emmalynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

sweet

Good, cute book and mystery. Charlottes is still such a pushover 😑 and really need to put some steel in her spine. Her relationship with Logan is flourishing and her best friend is growing in confidence. When a fellow waitress is murdered, Charlotte and the gang jump in to solve it. The reason for the murder was lame though.

[Lisa Willis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cosy small town mystery that was a quick read.

[michaela · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

Thought i would try something different, have no regrets.
Too cozy for me; everyone was so nice and it kept repeating the same theme of friendship and not being alone. Anticlimactic. Half a star for the recipe in the back.

[rose ☕️📖🌱 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This felt a bit like a more adult version of a Nancy Drew story. It was a cute and cozy mystery, and I love that the recipe included at the end!

[Adria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun little read.

Maple pulls together a quintessential autumnal cozy mystery in this book. It checks all the prerequisite boxes: murder, mystery, sweet woman, handsome kind man, good friends, and food! Why, it even features a loyal pet!
If you're looking for a quick uplifting read that won't tax your brain cells, here you go!

[Caitlin E.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good seasonal cozy mystery, and this was a quick and festive read. Cute characters, a fun small town, delicious sounding cupcakes.

[Christina Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute and cozy little murder mystery. It was obvious who it was but the story itself was enjoyable.

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice, short and cozy mystery

[Melissa Gidley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book - light reading with sweet characters.

[Sara Hoover · Rating 3 out of 5]

quick cozy little read. loved the small town fall vibes! it’s like hallmark movie meets true crime with cute characters and an interesting story. 3.5⭐️

[Ellie | meepsbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute and cosy mystery for autumn.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stuff Your Kindle Read: girl you almost got murdered, drop an f-bomb

[Shas · Rating 1 out of 5]

if i was 12, i probably would’ve liked it more. it’s like a mystery version of those fairy books.

[Wannee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laugh Out Loud Cozy Mystery with a lot of Yummy Cupcakes!!!

Pumpkin Spice Scare is the fourth book in Cupcake Crimes Series but it can be read as a standalone.

Charlotte McKay get a lot of love, support, and surprise celebration from her Aunt Winnie, Agnes, Karen, and her best friend-Marianne, and her good friend-Fisher of her decision to quit her job at Bill's Diner to pursue her own cupcake bakery dream full-time but her happiness from the celebratory and the relieve that she finally give her 2 weeks notice is short lived when she find her co-worker, Judy, dead in the car in the Diner's parking lot.

Is it suicide or is it murder??? If it's a murder, why, and who is the murderer??? Cozy town of Sweetwater Falls is filled with dark secrets and the more they learned about Judy's life, the more suspects they find, there are so many questions that Charlotte, Marianne, and the Live Forever Club will need to help Logan, Charlotte's wonderful, kind-hearted policeman, investigate and find the answer before it's too late.

I really liked this book, it's fun, fast-paced, light heart cozy mystery full with delightful characters and delicious cupcakes and a lot of romance in the air. When Charlotte described Pumpkin Spice Latte that "It smells better than a pumpkin pie and tastes like a hug" it make me want to run out to Starbucks to get it right away but unfortunately it's not Halloween season right now so there is no Pumpkin Spice Latte :-(

This book is very entertaining and I am looking forward to the next book in the series. I highly recommend it to everyone.

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

[Carrie West · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you for the chapter titles. Those should really make a comeback in all books. Added bonus points since the titles were funny. 👏🏽

It irks me so much that Charlotte thinks she is a bad human because she didn’t know every aspect of Judy’s life. Woman, some of my favorite work friends are a mystery to me outside of work. We got along, sometimes buying birthday and Christmas gifts for each other, but knowing their favorite Backstreet Boy member can still be a mystery to me. To have Charlotte stay with Marianne when it was a difficult anniversary for her, teach Logan how to make peanut brittle for his grandpa, and “pay back” Frank with money that would have been used for an order Judy will never receive proves she is good human. Do not make her out to be someone that has no self esteem or believes she is less than because she wasn’t best friends with everyone she spoke to.

This was a quick read. Not the best, just quick. There was too many side stories with no real path to finding out who was the murderer. Each chapter felt like long winded bullet points before we got to the one where the killer outed themselves. We may have put it together prior to that part, but the suspense was never there for the shocking reveal. Too many apologies for being questioned, or self doubt for not being the Jonna Gaines in the small town of Sweetwater Falls.

[Judy Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun cozy from Molly Maple, will Charlotte EVER catch a break? Wanting to break away from her waitress job to open her own business, Charlotte never fails to stumble across something from keeping her from devoting her attention to just that full time! Let's just call them murders! So, while she continues to at least maintain her cupcake business, she, along with Maryanne and the Live Forever Club, and of course the hunky boyfriend/policeman/son of the sheriff they are all hot of the trail of the killers and why...Sweetwater Falls is the ideal place to live, that is when there is not a murder to be investigated in this quaint little town!

Plenty of action fills this book with a wonderful storyline and even more wonderful, likable (for the most part) characters with a whodunit that will certainly keep you guessing. I enjoyed this book as I did the others and am looking forward to the next in the series. This series doesn't have to be read in order, but it might provide a little back story for you should you decide to go back. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Debbie Orazi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful addition to this cozy mystery series. Highly recommend!

This latest book in the series starts with Charlotte planning to give her two week notice at Bill's Diner. Her cupcake bakery business is taking off and she needs to devote her time to it. That morning she goes into work and after speaking with Bill goes looking for her co-worker Judy. She finds her sitting in her car in the diner parking lot and she is dead. At first the police think it may be suicide, until Charlotte and Marianne admit to finding Judy's journal and reading it. Meanwhile the Live Forever Club ladies and Marianne begin the month long task of preparing for the Halloween festival and Charlotte wants to create a Halloween themed cupcake. Bill is almost killed in the diner after hours and Charlotte is framed by a note found at the scene. The story climaxes when the killer shows up at Charlotte's home intent on killing her next.

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

[Keo Naidoo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pumpkin Spice Scare by Molly Maple

Format : ebook || Kindle via Kindle unlimited
Rating : 3.7 stars
Genre : Cosy Mystery
Light Spoilers

Once again I’m back at the little town Sweetwater to follow the sleuthing of Charlotte and the gang.
So this is has to be my favourite in the series so far. I loved it from start to end. Definitely most interesting of the whole series.

This time around I wasn’t able to figure out the killer immediately, had a fun time with the whole suspense of it. I do think the murderer and the whole reason she was killing was campish but I did enjoy it. It felt fun , well as fun as a murder mystery can be.

Really glad about the romance we finally have between Logan and Charlotte. She finally can act like a human around him!
Loved the library scene between Marianne and Charlotte, it really showed what a real and true friendship should look like!
Was glad to see a little more of the Love forever club, especially the parts we got with Karen! Loved the part were she basically grilled Heater!

Overall this is another fun read! Glad to have picked it up!

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pumpkin Spice Scare is the fourth book in Molly Maple's Cupcake Crimes cozy mystery series. This was the first book I had read in the series and I found it easy to follow along even though I was not familiar with the characters. I think each of the books would be easily read as standalones so you could jump into the series at any time.

In book four, Charlotte is about to quit her job waitressing, to concentrate on her new business, baking cupcakes. On the day that she quits her job, she finds her co-worker dead in her car in the parking lot of the restaurant where she works. Charlotte is drawn into the mystery to solve the death, along with her friends and her new cop boyfriend, Logan,.

Like most cozy mysteries, there are lots of quirky characters in the town of Sweetwater Falls to assist in the investigation, and provide suspects who might have committed the crime. Plus Charlotte has a cute pet goldfish named Buttercream.

I really enjoyed Pumpkin Spice Scare, it was a quick enjoyable read, just what I was looking for. And there's a recipe for pumpkin spice cupcakes at the end of the book that I'll have to try out sometime soon!

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I want to live in Sweetwater Falls and be friends with Charlotte and Marianne and the Live Forever Club. Oh and we can’t leave out Charlotte’s hunky boyfriend police officer Logan Flowers the Sheriff’s son. So once again poor Charlotte finds and dead body this time of her coworker Judy. She is dead in the parking lot of the restaurant that Charlotte works in.

Charlotte realizes that she new nothing about Judy and can’t believe that she would kill herself or even worse that she would be a murder victim. While Charlotte feels horrible for her co worker’s death she realizes that not everything is as it seems. The ladies of the Live Forever Club with the 2 junior members try and find a way to find solve yet another in Sweetwater Falls.

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

[Emily Pennington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murder's Getting Personal !! . . .

Charlotte McKay’s cupcake business is getting steady orders now, so she can at last quit at the diner and devote her time to her business. After her talk with Bill, she looks around for her co-worker Judy whom she finds dead in her car out in the diner’s parking lot! And it’s not a suicide. Then Bill is almost killed in the diner after hours when someone poisons him with the soup he normally eats. This time the killer tries to frame Charlotte with a note “threatening” Bill and signed by Charlotte being found at the scene. Why is someone going after the diner personnel? And why would Bill let the killer in after hours unless he know the person?

Charlotte and her friends pull together as only a small town can to help find the killer and to keep the cupcake business running smoothly. Who will be next? And why is this happening?

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book 4 in Maple's Cupcake Crimes Series and what a great addition to this series! A cozy mystery read that is sure to please and delight! While this is a series read - it can be read as a stand alone (but if you read one, you'll be hooked - just like the cupcakes Charlotte makes)! So - main character is Charlotte who is preparing to give her notice since her cupcake business is beginning to take off - only murder gets in the way. She along with the ever fabulous and wonderful Live Forever Club (I love them so much) and her bestie Maryanne as well as her cop boyfriend Logan are out to save the day and solve the crime! A band of characters that will captivate and have you giggling with their antics as well as twists and and adventures, you are sure to love this read and this series!

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

[Leisel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this wonderful little village murder mystery. Great characters, especially the concept of the nurturing mature age ladies & mothering our main younger females. Nice clean story but with enough romance to allow any age group to read this story. I find when I read about these small town / villages in stories I often wonder how they can have some much fun, and certainly this one delivered some great moments. At the beginning of the story I felt like I had missed something regarding the main character, Charlotte and seeing this is book 4 of the cupcake crimes series I understand the reason but in all reasoning I was able to navigate the storyline without the knowledge of having read the previous books in the series. Certainly gives me a reason to start at the beginning now.

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

[Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love diving into an engaging seasonal cosy mystery, and this particular story was both a swift and festive read that held my attention from start to finish. The characters were delightfully endearing, each with their own distinctive quirks that enriched the narrative. Set in an idyllic small town, the charming atmosphere was ideal for the unfolding mystery, making me feel as though I was immersed in the community. The vivid descriptions of the scrumptious cupcakes were so enticing that my mouth watered—I could almost taste the delectable flavours as I read. It was a thoroughly delightful experience that captured the essence of the Halloween spirit beautifully. (Oops, I'm late to the review!) #CosyMystery #BookReview #HalloweenVibes #SmallTownCharm #CupcakeCravings #BookLovers #FestiveRead #ReadingCommunity #CharmingCharacters

[Tracie Crane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't say enough good things about this author. A great story line with enough action to keep me reading into the night to just finish it and stop the wondering of who done it. Part love story and the rest is pure Cozy Mystery. I dream about living here, all the town activities are right up my alley!
The main character is quitting her waitress job finally to pursue her dream of owning a cupcake shop. Just after she gives notice the other waitress is murdered and then the owner of the diner is poisoned! Will she ever be able to leave. Luckily she has help from her family and friends to keep her cupcake business going until they catch who did it and a new waitress is hired.

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

[Shannon M · Rating 5 out of 5]

With her cupcake business thriving, Charlotte is ready to make it a full time occupation. Unfortunately, she has to survive the last two weeks at her current job at the diner. When she finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time once again, she feels the need to investigate and does so with the help of her bestie, Marianne, and the members of the Live Forever Club, which includes her Aunt Winnie. The relationship between the women is enviable and I love that they are always there for each other and have each other's back at all times. This is a light and enjoyable series that takes place in a lovely, small town and I highly recommend it. Happy Reading!

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