It’s summer festival time in Confection, Oregon, and that means a barrage of tourists are making cash registers ring at Sweet Fiction Bookshop. But what should be bookseller Lexi’s most lucrative time of year turns disturbing when a member of the chamber of commerce suddenly dies of a heart attack. It’s not entirely unexpected–considering her family history–but it’s a different story when another chamber member dies just one week later…also, presumably, of natural causes. Something about this doesn’t read right to Lexi. And it gets more unfathomable when her friend Dash–who dated both women–stands accused of murder! With Cookie, her lovable border-collie mix, at her side and countless volumes of inspiration on her shelves, Lexi opens the book on another perplexing case. Who could have murdered two prominent townspeople without leaving even a hint of evidence on the scene? And why is an irksome-but-intriguing detective always seeming to catch her and Cookie working the case? Lexi’s Confection Rose-colored glasses come off when she learns of thorny discussions among the council members involving a string of secretive real-estate transactions. Enlisting her faithful fellow members of the Macaroon Book Club, she sets out to bind the clues together and clear Dash’s name. But if she can’t devise a clever trap for the real killer, she may soon end up with a very unhappily ever after of her own.

Life is sweet when you live in Confection, Oregon. Or, at least, that’s how it’s supposed to be. But on a summer day, when tourists and locals alike gawk at the majestic mountains, quaint Craftsman houses, and lovely flowers–particularly the renowned Confection Rose–the last thing anyone has come to see is a dead body, unearthed from a shallow grave by a curious dog. A bathrobe-clad Lexi rushes next door to her neighbor’s backyard to find her pooch, Cookie, stalwartly sitting watch over a body in the vegetable garden. Cookie, encrusted in dirt, grips a copper pipe between her teeth. Was this the murder weapon? And was Lexi the murderer? It sure looks that way, seeing as she was spotted squabbling with the victim just the day before. The case becomes all the more perplexing when the real murder weapon turns out to be a garden stake. Then where does the copper pipe fit in? And might a more likely suspect let Lexi off the hook? All the volumes in the Sweet Fiction Bookshop, and all the specials at Eats n’ Treats, prove of little help in jogging Lexi’s brain to find a solution. Fortunately, Cookie is not finished digging up clues. As the fur flies, can this trusty border-collie mix save sweet Lexi from a bitter end?