Olivia Greyson is the proud owner of The Gingerbread House--a quaint shop that specializes in all things cookie--and her best friend, Maddie, is her sidekick, baking up scrumptious treats for their parties. But the real-life version of their magnificent gingerbread house is about to crumble to pieces...

Tensions are running high as Chatterley Heights' 250th birthday celebration approaches, and Olivia and Maddie are working feverishly to finish a gingerbread house modeled after the famous Chatterley Mansion. When Paine Chatterley, presumed to be dead, shows up to claim his father's house, the town gossips are driven into a tizzy. And when he refuses to allow visitors to tour the mansion during the celebration, all the preparations seem for naught.

Then Paine is found lifeless in the bathtub, his wife hysterical and their precious heirlooms destroyed. The hidden lives of the prestigious Chatterley family members begin to surface, and Olivia must unravel their dark past. As it turns out, the town's history isn't all that sweet... ( )

This cozy is about 2 women, Maddie & Olivia, who run a cookie shop and cookie cutter business. In this book the town of Chatterly Heights is getting ready for their big 250th Birthday Bash. A huge part of the celebrations will be tours of the newly renovated Chatterly Mansion. A few days before the event Paine Chatterly, who was thought to be dead, shows up in town with his wife Hermoine. He immediately puts a stop to any tours or anyone wandering his property. As committee members try to change his mind, he ends up dead. The coroner determines it was murder. The town Sheriff, Del, who is involved with Olivia wants to cancel the celebrations but they just end up being scaled down. Olivia and Maddie begin some sleuthing of their own and begin to uncover clues, but can still not figure out who killed Paine. Throughout the story there is discussion about the Chatterly Antique Cookie Cutters that are considered a treasure. Are they hidden in the mansion? Is someone looking for them? Why did Paine and Hermoine return to Chatterly Heights. Tensions run high between towns people and committee members which adds to the interest. An enjoyable read. ( )

The first half of this book went really slowly for me, and I had a really hard time getting into it. In part because Ms. Lowell made the mayor such a nasty, ungrateful, rude piece of work. This seems to be a very popular trend in cozies lately: add a character that is completely, thoroughly hateful, allow them to treat everyone including the protagonist like shit, then have the protagonist roll over and take it like a co-dependent abuse victim. What is this about? Has some publisher told authors that this sells more cozies? Cuz I gotta say, it only pisses me off and makes me want to toss the book across the room - if that's what I'm looking for in my reading material, I'll switch to political commentary, thanks.

Luckily, the second half of the book gets much more interesting, in part because the stupid mayor appears far less often. I love the interplay between Olivia and Maggie - their verbal sparring is first rate and highly entertaining. The mystery surrounding Chatterly House is interesting, with a hint of missing 'treasure'. I didn't see who did it until I was supposed to, so I found the plot well written and clever. I loved the tiny twist at the end of the story too. :)

I'll read the next in the series, and hope the author has run out of nasty characters... ( )