Death by Scone. A Gripping Cozy Mystery of Hidden Motives and a Long-Kept Alibi, and the Neighbor No One Suspected

The note slid through the mail slot at midnight, and it knew my name. For forty-three years, O'Brien's Bakery has been the heart of Harborside. My mother built it with her own hands. She kneaded through arthritis and iced through a tremor she hid from everyone until the end. Now the ovens are mine, and I am not going to be the one who lets the place die. So I'm alone in the kitchen at midnight, fighting a sulky sourdough starter, when the bell above the locked front door chimes. Twice. There's an envelope on the mat.
Plain white. No stamp. Just "Molly" in ink so black it looks wet. One typed line inside: I know what happened to your mother. I read it three times. The words didn't change. Everyone in town said my mother's death was an accident. I believed them, because believing them was easier than the alternative. But somebody out there knows different. And the moment they tell me, a body turns up dead on the wharf, a lipstick-stained coffee cup beside it, and suddenly the cozy little harbor where everyone knows everyone is full of people who knew far too much. A fisherman with a grudge. A receipt for poison. A rival with a secret. A will that leaves everything to the animals - and a second will that changes everything. The deeper I dig into who silenced my mother, the more it looks like the answer has been sitting at my counter all along, smiling, ordering the cranberry-orange loaf, calling me "dear." Then someone whispers the truth I least wanted to hear: that the neighbor I trusted most is the one I should have feared. I never wanted to be a detective. I just wanted to keep the lights on and the ovens warm. But you don't get to choose when the past walks back through your door. And once you know what really happened, there's no unknowing it - only surviving long enough to prove it. Death by Scone is a charming, twisty cozy mystery about small-town secrets, a mother's mysterious death, hidden motives, a long-buried alibi, and the neighbor no one suspected. Perfect for readers who love seaside bakery sleuths, amateur detectives, suspenseful whodunits, a dash of slow-burn romance, and cozy mysteries with real heart.
A satisfying standalone with a fully solved case.