Synopses & Reviews
As Christmas approaches in Weatherford, Texas, Phyllis Newsom is decorating her house in preparation for the Jingle Bell Tour. The last thing she expects is that one of her ceramic gingerbread men will be used to commit murder.... When her friend Georgia Hallerbee asks Phyllis to have her house featured in the annual Christmas Jingle Bell Tour of Homes, Phyllis is equally flattered and flustered. She already has a bridal shower on Christmas Eve and a wedding on New Year’s Eve to prepare for, and she’s been baking gingerbread cookies like they’re going out of style. But like her tasty treats, she rises to the occasion.
Before the tour can even get under way, Phyllis hears a crash on her front porch and makes a gruesome discovery. Someone has broken a decorative gingerbread man over Georgia’s head. Santa’s naughty list just got longer—and with the police baffled, it’s up to Phyllis to catch a half-baked killer...
Includes recipes!
Review
Praise for the Fresh-Baked Mysteries
“Christmas and murder…delightfully entertaining.”—Armchair Interviews
“The whodunit is fun and the recipes [are] mouthwatering.”—The Best Reviews
Synopsis
In this bake-off, people get knocked off. The irresistible new entry in the national bestselling series.When Phyllis?s cousin asks her to look after her Oak Knoll bed-and-breakfast for a few weeks, Phyllis jumps at the chance?mostly because the inn is located close to the annual Rockport, Texas, Just Desserts competition. Determined to beat her friendly rival and enjoy some peaceful downtime with her boyfriend Sam, Phyllis concocts the ultimate sweet treat.
But Phyllis?s holiday turns bitter when she and Sam discover a dead body?and all signs point to murder. Dismayed that bad luck seems to pop up wherever she goes, Phyllis wants to stay out of this one. But as the list of suspects gets too close for comfort, she decides to throw herself into the mix. Because when it comes to solving murders, Phyllis is one smart cookie.
Synopsis
This Christmas, a killer's serving up a trayful of trouble in a new holiday Fresh Baked Mystery. As Christmas approaches in Weatherford, Texas, Phyllis Newsom is decorating her house in preparation for the Jingle Bell Tour. The last thing she expects is that one of her ceramic gingerbread men will be used to commit murder....
When her friend Georgia Hallerbee asks Phyllis to have her house featured in the annual Christmas Jingle Bell Tour of Homes, Phyllis is equally flattered and flustered. She already has a bridal shower on Christmas Eve and a wedding on New Year's Eve to prepare for, and she's been baking gingerbread cookies like they're going out of style. But like her tasty treats, she rises to the occasion.
Before the tour can even get under way, Phyllis hears a crash on her front porch and makes a gruesome discovery. Someone has broken a decorative gingerbread man over Georgia's head. Santa's naughty list just got longer--and with the police baffled, it's up to Phyllis to catch a half-baked killer...
Includes recipes
Synopsis
Phyllis Newsom stands a good chance in the Christmas cookie contest with her snowflake-shaped lime sugar cookies. But Mrs. Simmons? gingerdoodles might give her a run for her money?until she?s found strangled in a pile of cookies. With many on Santa?s naughty suspect list, this case is a cookie Phyllis means to crumble?
Synopsis
Phyllis Newsom is playing house sitter to a quaint bed-and-breakfast on the Texas Gulf Coast, near the annual Just Desserts competition. But Phyllis and her boyfriend Sam soon discover that in this bake-off, you can get knocked off...
Synopsis
The fifth in a delectable series fans can't wait to sink their teeth into. Includes fifteen recipes! Phyllis loves to spend quality time with her grandson. She'll be taking him to a festival with hopes of winning the baking contest-now that her friendly competitor, Carolyn, is judging and not competing. But when a decorative scarecrow is actually a dead body in disguise, it's Phyllis's sleuthing skills that are needed.
The dead body is that of the festival's organizer- and his wife, Carolyn's friend, falls under suspicion. Carolyn turns to Phyllis for help, because who's better at dishing out some justice than a baker extraordinaire who can handle the heat...
Synopsis
Christmas comes to Weatherford, Texas, in this delicious new entry in the national bestselling series. Yuletide is here?and retired teacher cum amateur sleuth Phyllis Newsom looks forward to finishing up this unlucky year. But she won?t be hanging up her apron just yet?because this year?s Christmas bake-off is going to be cutthroat.
Phyllis would like to think she?s entering the Christmas cookie contest for the fun of it?but that?s not exactly true. She can?t imagine anyone beating her snowflake-shaped lime sugar cookies. Then, during her annual Christmas cookie exchange, Phyllis heads over to the elderly Mrs. Simmons?s home and finds her dead, in a pile of lime sugar cookies. But with a number of names on Santa?s naughty list, this case may be a hard cookie to crumble.
Synopsis
A Christmas killer has been icing Phylis Newsom's friends in the sixth Fresh-Baked mystery.
Not only will Phyllis Newsom's house be featured in the annual Christmas Jingle Bell Tour of Homes, she also has a Christmas Eve bridal shower and a New Year's Eve wedding to bake goodies for. But like her tasty treats, she rises to the occasion.
Before the tour gets under way, Phyllis makes a gruesome discovery on her porch: someone has tried to kill her friend. As Santa's naughty list gets longer, Phyllis tries to catch a half-baked killer.
Synopsis
It's Thanksgiving in Weatherford, Texas, and Phyllis is taking her grandson, Bobby, to the first annual Harvest Festival with hopes of winning the baking contest now that her friendly competitor, Carolyn, is judging and not competing. But when a decorative scarecrow turns out to be a dead body in disguise, Phyllis must dish out some justice...
Synopsis
All year round, retired schoolteacher Phyllis Newsom is as sweet as peach pie-except during the Peach Festival, whose blue ribbon has slipped through Phyllis's fingers more than once...
Everyone's a little shook up when the corpse of a no-good local turns up underneath a car in a local garage. But even as Phyllis engages in some amateur sleuthing, she won't let it distract her from out-baking her rivals and winning the upcoming Peach Festival contest.
She and all the other contestants guard their secret, original recipes with their lives-and talk a whole lot of trash. With her unusual Spicy Peach Cobbler, Phyllis hopes to knock 'em dead. But that's just an expression-never in her wildest dreams did she think her cobbler would actually kill a judge. Now, she's suspected of murder-and she's got to bake this case wide open.
Synopsis
At this year's school carnival fund-raiser, the obnoxious president of the Parent Teacher Organization is found stabbed through the heart with Phyllis Newsom's own knife, with traces of incriminating frosting. Clearing her name will be no piece of cake...
Synopsis
In this bake-off, people get knocked off. The irresistible new entry in the national bestselling series.When Phyllis?s cousin asks her to look after her Oak Knoll bed-and-breakfast for a few weeks, Phyllis jumps at the chance?mostly because the inn is located close to the annual Rockport, Texas, Just Desserts competition. Determined to beat her friendly rival and enjoy some peaceful downtime with her boyfriend Sam, Phyllis concocts the ultimate sweet treat.
But Phyllis?s holiday turns bitter when she and Sam discover a dead body?and all signs point to murder. Dismayed that bad luck seems to pop up wherever she goes, Phyllis wants to stay out of this one. But as the list of suspects gets too close for comfort, she decides to throw herself into the mix. Because when it comes to solving murders, Phyllis is one smart cookie.
Synopsis
The fifth in a delectable series fans can't wait to sink their teeth into. Includes fifteen recipes! Phyllis loves to spend quality time with her grandson. She'll be taking him to a festival with hopes of winning the baking contest-now that her friendly competitor, Carolyn, is judging and not competing. But when a decorative scarecrow is actually a dead body in disguise, it's Phyllis's sleuthing skills that are needed.
The dead body is that of the festival's organizer- and his wife, Carolyn's friend, falls under suspicion. Carolyn turns to Phyllis for help, because who's better at dishing out some justice than a baker extraordinaire who can handle the heat...
Synopsis
Christmas comes to Weatherford, Texas, in this delicious new entry in the national bestselling series. Yuletide is here?and retired teacher cum amateur sleuth Phyllis Newsom looks forward to finishing up this unlucky year. But she won?t be hanging up her apron just yet?because this year?s Christmas bake-off is going to be cutthroat.
Phyllis would like to think she?s entering the Christmas cookie contest for the fun of it?but that?s not exactly true. She can?t imagine anyone beating her snowflake-shaped lime sugar cookies. Then, during her annual Christmas cookie exchange, Phyllis heads over to the elderly Mrs. Simmons?s home and finds her dead, in a pile of lime sugar cookies. But with a number of names on Santa?s naughty list, this case may be a hard cookie to crumble.
About the Author
Livia J. Washburn has been a professional writer for more than twenty years. She received the Private Eye Writers of America Award and the American Mystery Award for her first mystery, Wild Night, written under the name L. J. Washburn, and was nominated for a Spur Award by the Western Writers of America for a novel written with her husband, James Reasoner. She lives with her husband in a small Texas town, where she is constantly experimenting with new recipes. Her two grown daughters are both teachers in her hometown, and she is very proud of them.