Virginia Lowell

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 show more 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... show less

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 cookie-themed parties. But a dead body on their front porch might put their bake shop in a truly sticky situation...
Olivia is busy baking up special cookies for Maddie's upcoming engagement party when soap star Trevor Lane shows up unexpectedly in town. It soon becomes clear that Trevor, who grew show more up in the neighboring town of Twiterton, left behind a number of enemies with long memories. Even Trevor's assistant and childhood friend, Dougie, seems to harbor a grudge against him.
Soon after his arrival, Trevor is found dead on The Gingerbread House porch, his handsome face branded with the image of a cookie cutter. When their friend Stacey is implicated in the murder, Olivia and Maddie rush to find the killer. Because it seems someone in Chatterley Heights has a sweet tooth for revenge... show less

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 cookie-themed parties. But now they must take a break from baking and turn their attention to recreating a recipe for murder...

No one is more shocked than Olivia when prominent business owner Clarisse Chamberlain is found dead. It was Clarisse who encouraged Olivia to open The Gingerbread show more House—and she was one of her best customers. The sheriff is ready to call the case a suicide, but Olivia's convinced there's a murder to solve.

Then word spreads that Clarisse left Olivia a large sum of money, along with a collection of valuable, antique cookie cutters. Suddenly, Olivia is the prime suspect, with some fingers pointing to Maddie when the local postman falls ill after sampling one of their cookies. If the cookie-loving duo doesn't find the real killer, their reputation—and quite possibly their lives—will be battered for good... Cookie Cutter Shop Mystery #1 show less

Olivia Greyson runs The Gingerbread House with her friend Maddie. They sell cookie cutters and lovely decorated cookies. Most days,their only concerns are running the business and developing new cookie designs, but when local businesswoman Clarisse Chamberlain is found dead, they find themselves embroiled in a murder mystery. Olivia inheirits a large sum of money and a prized collectible cookie cutter collection from Clarisse's estate, and the local gossip mill starts rumors that Olivia may show more have killed the woman for money. Maddie & Olivia need to work together to find the real killer, before Olivia is charged with a murder she didn't commit.

The mystery portion of this book was well written and nicely paced. I just had a couple problems with the plot. In a small town, the chances are slim that a specialty shop that sells only cookie cutters or decorated cookies for parties would make enough money to stay in business. And I found it a bit implausible that a woman who bakes wonderful cookies for a living can't cook anything else and must resort to constantly ordering pizza because she can't cook.

Other than those two rough spots, the characters were likable and engaging. I enjoyed the added kitsch of the cookie business and cookie cutter collecting. I was a bit amazed that a collection of antique and collectible cookie cutters could be worth $30,000 but after some curious reading online, I found that it's actually a very popular item to collect with older limited edition cutters or antiques being very valuable.

I wish the book would have included a recipe or two. By the time I finished the story, I was in the mood to bake after reading about the characters making cookies all through the story. :)

All in all, an entertaining cozy mystery, despite my questioning the plot a couple of times. I'd like to read more in this series to see how Lowell progressed in her writing after this first book, and to see how her characters develop. The series has six books so far.

My rating: 6/10
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