Red Velvet Revenge

Praise for

Red Velvet Revenge

“With a rodeo, a road trip, and the delectable title
Red Velvet Revenge
, the Fairy Tale Cupcake bakers are back, lassoed into big trouble this time. You’re in for a real treat with Jenn McKinlay’s Cupcake Bakery Mystery. I gobbled it right up.”

—Julie Hyzy, bestselling author of the Manor House Mysteries and White House Chef Mysteries

“Sure as shootin’,
Red Velvet Revenge
pops with fun and great twists. Wrangle up some time to enjoy the atmosphere of a real rodeo as well as family drama. It’s better than icing on the tastiest cupcake.”

—Avery Aames, author of
Clobbered by Camembert

Buttercream Bump Off

“A charmingly entertaining story paired with a luscious assortment of cupcake recipes that, when combined, make for a deliciously thrilling mystery.”

—
Fresh Fiction

“It is the characters and their interaction and dialogue that make this a standout mystery…
Buttercream Bump Off
is another tasty entry, complete with cupcake recipes, into what is sure to grow into a perennial favorite series.”

—
The Mystery Reader

“A hilarious story with smart heroines…If this series doesn’t leave you hungry for more of Melanie and Angie, or for a baker’s dozen of cupcakes, then shame on you!”

—
The Romance Readers Connection

Sprinkle with Murder

“A tender cozy full of warm and likable characters and a refreshingly sympathetic murder victim. Readers will look forward to more of McKinlay’s tasty concoctions.”

—
Publishers Weekly
(starred review)

“McKinlay’s debut mystery flows as smoothly as Melanie Cooper’s buttercream frosting. Her characters are delicious, and the dash of romance is just the icing on the cake.”

—Sheila Connolly, author of
Fire Engine Dead

“Jenn McKinlay delivers all the ingredients for a winning read. Frost me another!”

—Cleo Coyle, national bestselling author of the Coffeehouse Mysteries

“A delicious new series featuring a spirited heroine, luscious cupcakes, and a clever murder. Jenn McKinlay has baked a sweet read.”

—Krista Davis, author of the Domestic Diva Mysteries

Berkley Prime Crime titles by Jenn McKinlay

Cupcake Bakery Mysteries

SPRINKLE WITH MURDER

BUTTERCREAM BUMP OFF

DEATH BY THE DOZEN

RED VELVET REVENGE

Library Lover’s Mysteries

BOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING

DUE OR DIE

Red
Velvet
Revenge

Jenn McKinlay

BERKLEY PRIME CRIME, NEW YORK

Acknowledgments

First, here’s a shout out to Daneen Holcomb, who came up with the fabulous title
Red Velvet Revenge
. Well done! Also, I have to thank the artist, Jeff Fitz-Maurice, who created this spectacular cover. I want to go there now.

As always, I need to thank my fans (best fans ever) for joining in the fun and making the Cupcake Bakery Mysteries national bestsellers! Truly amazing!

For always helping me get to the finish line, I want to thank Jessica Faust, Kate Seaver, and Katherine Pelz.

And lastly, a big thank you to my families, the McKinlays and the Orfs, and to my dudes Beckett, Wyatt, and Chris—this would mean nothing without all of you.

Red
Velvet
Revenge

Table of Contents

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-one

Twenty-two

Twenty-three

Twenty-four

Twenty-five

Twenty-six

Twenty-seven

Twenty-eight

Twenty-nine

Thirty

Thirty-one

Thirty-two

Recipes

Going, Going, Ganache

One

“What are we going to do about the business?” Angie DeLaura asked. She was sitting across the table from Melanie Cooper, dishing up her 23 Skidoo sundae while Mel sipped on her Camelback soda.

They had escaped their cupcake bakery, leaving it under the supervision of their two employees, and were sitting in the Sugar Bowl, Scottsdale’s landmark ice cream shop. Mel always had the Camelback soda, vanilla ice cream scooped into old-fashioned soda with a pitcher of extra soda water on the side; it was her longtime favorite.

She glanced around the pink and chrome interior and noted that the Sugar Bowl hadn’t seemed to age a day since it opened in 1958. Not that she had been around then, but her mother, Joyce, had been, and she remembered coming here when she was a little girl just like Mel remembered
coming here with her father and her brother when they were kids. There was something about the thick glass ice cream dishes served on paper doilies on the classic white plates that was charmingly nostalgic.

Growing up, the Sugar Bowl had been a favorite hangout of Mel and Angie’s along with their other childhood chum Tate. The three of them had practically owned the table by the window, where Mel and Angie now sat enjoying the respite from the scorching-hot July day outside.

Summer in the Valley of the Sun was as mean as an old man with sciatica. The sidewalk was so hot, Mel was sure the bottom of her flip-flops were going to melt. Just walking around the corner from their shop, Fairy Tale Cupcakes, had made both Mel and Angie sweat like marathoners, which they clearly were not, given that the relentless heat had them moving about as fast as a pair of desert tortoises.

“What do you mean what are we going to do about the business?” Mel asked. She was staring out the window, watching the midday heat rise from the street, making everything shimmer as if it actually were melting under the ferocity of the midday sun.

“It’s a hundred and fourteen degrees out there,” Angie said. “Our tourist business has completely dried up, and the last special order we had was for the Levinsky bar mitzvah two weeks ago.”

Mel made a very loud slurp on her straw and reached for the pitcher to add more soda. She looked at Angie and said, “Your point?”