Story of a talented pastry chef–with a secret recipe for solving crimes…

Kate McGuire, after losing her restaurant job and fiancé both, lands in the island town of Coral Cay, Florida. It has everything she’s looking for: sunny beaches, friendly locals, and a Help Wanted sign in the bakery shop window. Once she convinces the shop’s crusty owner Sam Hepplewhite to hire her, Kate can’t tie on her apron fast enough.

Little does she know that trouble, like warm dough, is on the rise. . .

When her new boss is accused of murdering a pushy real estate mogul with But when her new boss is accused of murdering a pushy real estate mogul with poisoned cinnamon rolls, Kate is determined to catch the real killer. cinnamon rolls, Kate is determined to catch the real killer. And the mystery deepens….. ( )

I was debating between 3 and 4 stars. I finally gave it a very liberal 4. This is the first book of the series. I wish the author had put a Cast of Characters at the beginning of the book as I was having trouble keeping up with all of the names. There are over 20 characters. I ended up making my own list. Since this is the beginning of the series, I realize that the author is setting up for the rest of the series, but a list would have helped. This author seems to use incomplete sentences a lot. Incomplete sentences can be used to make a point; however, this method is used way too often.
Summary: Kate is a professional pastry chef in NYC. She suddenly loses her apartment, her job and her fiancé . Packing up her car, she moves to Coral Cay, Florida, to start over. She lands a job as a front counter clerk at the Cookie House run by Sam. Kate soon becomes friends with of the town's merchants. When Sam is charged with murder, Kate and her new friends strive to find the real killer. ( )

After losing her job, condo, and fiancé all in one day, Kate McGuire decides to get as far away from Manhattan as she can and Coral Cay, Florida seems as good a place as any. Even though she is a trained and talented pastry chef, she is still having a hard time find a job until Sam Hepplewhite, owner of the Cookie House, reluctantly hires her. Kate is just getting used to her job – including the fact that San won’t let her bake cookies – when Steward Lord, a real estate developer, is murdered. Lord wanted Sam’s property and Same is soon considered the number one suspect in his death. Kate and her new friend Maxi Mas-Buchanan are convinced that Sam is innocent and set out to clear his name but can they convince the police of Sam’s innocence?

“And Then There Were Crumbs” is the very nicely done first book in Eve Calder’s Cookie House cozy mystery series. I was hooked on this book from the very first pages. I loved everything about this book starting with the characters – Kate, Maxi, Sam (who isn’t as crusty as he seems), Oliver the dog, and the various townspeople. I also love the setting – not just Coral Cay but the Cookie House itself. And the food – there is so much food in this book and it all sounds yummy! (a nice feature in this book is Kate’s ability to figure out the favorite cookies of various characters in the book seemingly just by looking at them). The mystery aspects are very well done and very cleverly plotted – I was completely surprised at the identity of the killer which was one of the best solutions I have read in a cozy mystery and I read a lot of cozy mysteries!

“And Then There Were Crumbs” is a wonderful debut in what looks to be a great cozy mystery series! ( )

This is a fun and charming book. A real cozy mystery. Fans of these types of book will really enjoy this book. I know that I sure did. Instantly, I connected with Kate, Maxi, Oliver, and even grumpy Sam. Yet, the story mainly focused on Kate, Maxi and Oliver.

These two women worked really well together and were so kind. Maxi's joyous attitude is infectious. Than, you have Kate. She may have been new in town but she fit in right away. I could picture and smell all of the yummy treats that she baked. If this book had smell o vision; I would have been in trouble.

I really had such an enjoyable time reading this book. I look forward to visiting with Kate and Maxi again in the future. I will be reading more books in this series. ( )

A great start for a series. Loved the book. ( )