The Candy Cane Caper

A Cozy Culinary Mystery

By: Josi S. Kilpack

Narrated by: Pam Ward

The theft of a friend's priceless, family-legacy Christmas ornaments brings amateur detective and culinary expert, Sadie Hoffmiller, back on the case in a new stand-alone cozy mystery.

In the latest chapter to the Culinary Mystery series, amateur detective Sadie Hoffmiller continues combining her sleuthing with her cooking and baking to connect with people and gain information she might otherwise not have access to. Moreover, now that Sadie is married to Detective Pete Cunningham, she has a street-savvy husband to test out her crime-solving theories.

With Christmas approaching, Sadie is preparing for a large blended-family gathering including many new grandchildren - in their home in Fort Collins, Colorado. Even with the festive chaos, Sadie drops everything when word gets out that her friend, Mary, is the victim of a holiday robbery.

At 94 years old, and nearly blind, Mary knows this is may be her last Christmas and the last year to enjoy her family heirloom Christmas tree ornaments. She wants just one more holiday to display her ornaments and following Christmas Eve Mass, she'll pass them on to her great-granddaughter, Joy. Though priceless to the family, the collection has been valued at $40,000, and the Christmas tree in the care facility has never looked so good. But before the ornaments can be retrieved by Mary, 11 of the most expensive ornaments are stolen.

A holiday Christmas caper might be new to Sadie, but she's ready to mix in her seasoned crime-solving skills with a pinch of new holiday recipes.

©2019 Josi S. Kilpack (P)2019 Blackstone Publishing

Ended up loving this book

I didn’t start out loving this book. The beginning started out slow. I almost gave up but I’m glad I didn’t. Variety of characters. Each have motive. Enjoyed listening to Sadie figure it out. Loved Mary - wish we all have had a Mary in our lives.

Cozy mystery indeed

I didn't know the author or narrator before this book. The blurb interested me, and the book was included in my Audible plan. No worries.
I really liked the narrator, Pam Ward, and I will look for more from her. Clear diction, even with the various character voices. Excellent pacing. Just enough emotion to get the point across, without sacrificing that clarity. [Some narrators go too far in one direction or the other, and that just takes me out of the story.]
I liked the author almost as much. I read a lot of mysteries, so the plot twist didn't surprise me. With 'cozy' mysteries, that's easily forgiven; the atmosphere is a more important component than with traditional mysteries.
This is clearly not the first book in the series, but I enjoyed it all the same. Without spoiling anything, readers of the previous books in the series will probably cry more than I did at various points in the book.

Super Cute

Wasn’t sure at first if I was going to like this story. So happy I decided to continue to listen to it! The ending stumped me big time! Enjoy the read

Puts the cozy into cozy mystery

This story helped me get into the holiday spirit. I liked that it was a mystery but without murder. Really liked the narrator and the writing. I found Sadie to be a bit preachy and condescending at times but that is my only complaint.

A joyful mystery

Great characters. The storyline pulls you unto the book. It also throws in a family Christmas. Very nice.