The Sweet Smell of Arsenic and Apple Pie
Cordelia Pruitt steps off a rattling bus into Honeybell Hollow, Georgia, expecting nothing more than a quiet life and her grandmother's battered recipe box. Instead, she steps directly into a murder investigation. A dead man lies tangled in the mayor's prized camellias, and the only law in town is a sunburned sheriff who would rather chase porcupines than clues. Armed with sharp intuition, a vintage apron, and Deputy Penny Pickett as her reluctant partner, Cordelia begins poking into family feuds, forbidden romances, and a suspiciously cut-throat baking contest. Between suspicious neighbors, poisoned apple pies, and a colorful cast including the eccentric Erasmus Quill, society's sharp-tongued Delphine Featherstone, and the dangerous-seeming Fierce Fabien, every secret she uncovers puts her closer to the truth. But the killer is watching, and the next batch of arsenic may be baked with her name on it. Cordelia must decide how deep into Honeybell Hollow's rotten heart she is willing to dig before she becomes the next ingredient.