Boston Scream Murder (Deputy Donut Mystery #4)

by Ginger Bolton

Overview

Halloween in the small town of Fallingbrook, Wisconsin, is the perfect season for Deputy Donut owner Emily Westhill to unmask a killer.
 
October 31 is just around the corner and Emily Westhill’s Boston cream donuts, carved with a scream, have made an indelible impression on local eccentric Rich Royalson. So much so that he’s ordered three dozen, with no screaming faces and twice the fudge frosting, for his seventieth birthday—a special event in more ways than one. It’s to be held on fog-shrouded Lake Fleekom where, twenty years ago, his wife mysteriously drowned.
 
But the next day, when Emily arrives with her Boston cream donuts, she stumbles upon Rich’s corpse. The poor guy wanted a unique birthday bash—just not one to the side of his skull. With a guest list of possible perpetrators left at the scene, Emily soon discovers that the Royalson closet is rattling with skeletons. As the fog thickens, motives mount, and the tricks outnumber the treats, Emily fears that Rich may not be the last one in Fallingbrook to go out screaming.
 
Praise for Jealousy Filled Donuts
 
“Charming . . . Yummy donut recipes round out a whodunit (or is it a whodonut?) sure to please cozy fans.”
—Publishers Weekly

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781496725561
Publisher:	Kensington
Publication date:	08/25/2020
Series:	Deputy Donut Series , #4
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	91,611
Product dimensions:	5.52(w) x 8.16(h) x 0.76(d)

About the Author

Ginger Bolton is the pseudonym of an Agatha-nominated cozy mystery author. She is the author of Survival of the Fritters and Goodbye Cruller World in the Deputy Donut Mystery series, and is very fond of donuts, coffee, and coffee shops that encourage patrons to linger and chat. Ginger lives in a rural area surrounded by cozy villages. When she isn’t reading, writing, or daydreaming while gazing out windows, she walks her dogs, plays an electric piano (she uses earphones so as not to frighten the wildlife), creates minor disasters in her kitchen, and, very occasionally, takes part in local amateur theater productions, which, intended or not, become comedies.

Editorial Reviews

07/20/2020

In Bolton’s disappointing fourth Deputy Donut mystery (after 2019’s Jealousy Filled Donuts), Emily Westhill is preparing special doughnuts for Halloween when a pompous former bank manager, Richmond P. “Rich” Royalson III, enters her shop, Deputy Donut, in Fallingbrook, Wis. Rich orders Boston cream doughnuts and coffee for his birthday bash, but when Emily later arrives at his home, she finds him dead with the murder weapon—a heavy skillet—lying nearby. Emily learns that Rich’s wife, Patty, drowned under suspicious circumstances a while back, and that those with a motive for his early demise include a pianist neighbor who was an old friend of Patty and was thwarted by Rich in a real estate purchase; a caterer who was cheated out of business by Rich; an ex-boyfriend of Rich’s girlfriend, Terri Estable, with whom Rich was having an affair at the time Patty drowned; and Terri herself, who stands to gain substantially from Rich’s will. An awkward construction, far-fetched situations, and an obvious perpetrator provide less than satisfying reading. Hopefully, Bolton will return to form next time. Agent: John Talbot, Talbot Fortune Agency. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

2020-06-03
Spooky delights don’t discourage a murderer in small-town Wisconsin.

Black cats and scary pumpkins are just some of the confections Emily Westhill is cooking up this year at Deputy Donut, the shop she owns with her father-in-law, Tom. But Richmond P. Royalson the Third turns up his New England nose at these Midwestern pastries. The only one he’ll order is the Boston Scream doughnut, although he insists on calling it by its proper name: Boston cream. Still, the doughnut is obviously the high point of his blind date with Cheryl, a member of the Knitpickers, a knitting club for seniors. After ordering three dozen Boston Screams for his birthday party over the weekend, Rich leaves Emily’s shop, returning later that afternoon with a younger, snazzier gal for another date at Deputy Donut. Terri Estable, his new squeeze, is actually an old flame, and it looks like she and Rich may have hit the jackpot. She’s clearly been helping Rich set up for the party when Emily and her assistant, Nina, deliver the doughnuts to his mansion on Lake Fleekom, although when they arrive she’s out canoeing. Which is lucky for her, since the two bakers discover Rich’s body, conked to death with an oversized skillet. The murder brings detective Brent Fyne to the scene, stirring up all of Emily’s mixed feelings toward her late husband’s partner. She really doesn’t need to investigate the murder of a man she just met, but between Brent, the moonlight on the lake, the lure of solo kayaking, and her own natural curiosity, Emily just can’t seem to stick behind her stove.

Typical cozy fare with a dollop of moonlight mist.

Kirkus Reviews