Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant

July 14, 2023
Halloween is fast approaching, and the aptly-named Lindsey Bakewell, a bakery owner in small-town, lakeside Beacon Harbor, Michigan, is spooked: she keeps finding Halloween characters hanging from the oak tree outside the renovated lighthouse where she lives and works. Then, her friend Kennedy invites ghost hunters, known as the Ghost Guys, from the Travel Channel to verify the lighthouse's resident ghost, Captain Willy Riggs. When the Captain's specter makes his presence known, Kennedy runs out of the lighthouse and smack into the corpse of a local teacher. Lindsey, Kennedy, and their boyfriends help a local police officer solve the murder, which involves a missing poodle and treasure from a long-ago shipwreck. The lovingly-described small-town bakery (along with its delicious-sounding pumpkin recipes) and the group of friends solving the murder make this cozy mystery a good fit for Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen fans.

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June 15, 2023
Living in a haunted lighthouse adds spice, and some other features, to a baker's life. Halloween is nigh, and Beacon Harbor, Michigan, is celebrating with pumpkin-themed events. Although Lindsey Bakewell has whipped up a bunch of seasonal treats at her Lighthouse Bakery, a paranormal research team and a bunch of teen pranksters are making her nervous. Awakened by her Newfoundland, Welly, she's not amused to find a life-sized Freddy Krueger doll hanging from a tree in her yard. Her boyfriend, former Navy SEAL Rory Campbell, and her flaky best friend, Kennedy, help keep her calm, and she asks high school teacher Leslie Adams to point her toward possible perpetrators. Then Kennedy drops a bombshell: She's invited the Ghost Guys from the Travel Channel to see if they can raise the spirit of the lighthouse ghost, Capt. Willy Riggs. Hoping to stop the pranks, Lindsey invites the local teens to a pumpkin-carving party, Leslie having steered her toward several groups with varying interests: jocks, witches, nature lovers. Also intrigued by her haunted lighthouse is a well-known author in search of a topic to juice his sales. After the Ghost Guys stir things up, the fleeing Kennedy runs into the corpse of Leslie hanging from the oak tree. Because the lighthouse may hold a map leading to a sunken treasure, the suspects in Leslie's death by mushroom poisoning include treasure hunters. Lindsey and friends, who all have experience in finding killers, resolve to uncover this one before they become the next victims. A feel-good whodunit with plenty of thrills and chills for the likable sleuths.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.