Suzanne Hart is the owner of Donut Hearts in April Springs, North Carolina. It's just before Christmas and everyone is loving the Winter Festival, especially Suzanne. She has a booth set up outside her shop where she's selling her donuts, and couldn't be happier. That is, until there's a commotion in the town square a few blocks away, and Suzanne hears someone shout that Muriel Stevens has been murdered.

Suzanne asks her employee Emma to watch the shop and goes to see what happened, and she notices Muriel's distinctive winter coat. But then she notices something else -- Muriel's hair has streaks of grey, which Muriel would never allow, and a touch of blonde. She tells them that's not Muriel, and it's discovered that the dead woman is Darlene Higgins, the woman who destroyed Suzanne's marriage by sleeping with her husband, Max. Now Max is a suspect in the murder, but he's disappeared and Chief Martin thinks Suzanne is shielding him. But Suzanne knows Max is no killer, so she and her best friend Grace set out to find the truth. But that's only going to work if the killer doesn't find her first...

This is the third book in the series and I have to tell you that it's improved over the first two. The characters are starting to come together and Suzanne is beginning to grow on me. I didn't much care for her in the first book, so that's saying a lot. I even like Max the Dirtbag. At least he's remorseful, but I agree with Suzanne wholeheartedly in her decision.

In this book we have a few changes in Suzanne's life and even Emma's, that make them rethink a few things. It's a nice concept and we see how they react to them. In all these cases, I like Suzanne more. She's generous, kind, thoughtful, and whole-hearted. Those are good qualities in a person. She's also strong and independent, and can give as good as she gets. Watching her reactions to people in different situations gives us an eye to her as a person, and it's nice to see.

Suzanne isn't sure who killed Darlene, or why, but she's determined to find out, and with this in mind she and Grace are asking questions -- as surreptitiously as they can, of course -- and while they're not quite discovering a murderer, they are discovering suspects, and reasons why someone would want Darlene out of the picture.

When the ending comes and the murderer is revealed, it's a bit of a surprise, but not an unwelcome one, at that. I really liked how this was done, and as unexpected as it was, it was a nice touch in the last few scenes. I also did like the ending of the book, giving us a hint of what might be next in Suzanne's life. Recommended. ( )

I love Suzanne and her crazy friends. I can usually figure out who the murder is from the start but this time I was fooled. ( )

It's nearly Christmas in April Springs, North Carolina, and the Winter Festival is taking place. As Suzanne runs her store's booth, she sees a commotion taking place near the courthouse. She discovers a woman dressed to look like Miriam was murdered. In spite of her best intentions to stay out of the investigation, she ends up investigating. In the mean time, her friend Grace's house is broken into, her store is robbed, and snow keeps falling. It's a fun read with several red herrings that will keep many guessing until the end. ( )

I wasn't much of a fan of the first two, but this one was a bit better. Something about the characters though; I have a hard time really caring about them, as they all feel a bit flat to me. Perhaps a bit formal and earnest to me for a cozy mystery. I probably wouldn't have continued with this series at all except that I bought this one and the next one at closeout prices and this one was a fit for a reading challenge. However, it's a good mystery with lots of suspects and I didn't guess the murderer until the big reveal. I'd recommend these for someone who wants a bit of light reading and might be between favourites. ( )

For much of the book, the rating was averaging a strong 5 stars. The pages flew by quickly, which is a requisite for a perfect score. But then while reading I frowned at the last part. That's a big no no. If I frown, either in concentration or with annoyance, then that disqualifies the book for a perfect score. The bummer is that things were bubbling and changing hues excitingly, only for everything to go back to square one at the end. But still, make no mistake, this is a book that kept me thrilled for the most part, and I hope it stays like that throughout this series. Jessica Beck is better than I credited her. Unfortunately this book doesn't lend itself to much analysis, but it was good fun reading it. Here ends my review. ( )