Essie Stratter lives in the small town of Bison Creek, up in the Rockies. Bison Creek has been chosen for the Sugar Mountain Bake-Off and everyone is excited.

Out for a walk, Essie finds the body of a former client, in the snow and very dead. Asked by the Sheriff to assist in the investigation, Essie finds there are a lot of secrets surrounding this murder victim; secrets that could affect many residents in Bison Creek, if they became public. It isn’t just who killed the victim, but what she knew.

To complicate the investigation, there is a new detective in town who makes investigating difficult and feels a civilian should not be involved. It doesn’t matter that Essie is a home town girl and knows people and how to get information. He feels things should be done ‘by the book,’ but Essie may change his viewpoint.

A cozy, light read with good twists and turns to keep it interesting and fun to read. ( )

The second entry in A. Gardner's Bison Creek Mysteries, is even better than the first. This series continues to excel and is very unique in its setting and atmosphere. In this second outing, we get to reconnect with some characters from the first book, as well as become introduced to other residents of Bison Creek. I enjoyed the bit of light-hearted romance, as well as the cozy mystery theme. I would highly recommended this series to anyone who is a fan of either. ( )

I have usually found that the second book in a series is not as good. In this case, I read the books out of order, and found the third in the series pretty awful. This book, the second in the series, was really quite good, or would have been, had the author just written out the subplot of Essie and Patrick. Really, get over it! I don't care if Patrick was your idol in high school (middle school, even), by now you should be able to move on, dear.

3 stars, but would have been 3.5 without the unbearable teenage romance. Middle School crushes are not attractive in twenty-somethings. ( )