Cake Stand Conundrum, The: A Cozy Mystery of Layered Lies and a Frosted Fiend

?? Wedding cake artist Buttercup Bliss is preparing for the social event of the season when the bride's controlling mother is found dead, her body arranged dramatically atop a three-tier cake stand in Buttercup's own kitchen. The police suspect a simple heart attack, but Buttercup notices the cake stand has been tampered with and the victim's final bite of cake contains a mysterious ingredient not found in any of her recipes. With her reputation as the town's premier baker crumbling faster than a dry cake, Buttercup must whip up her own investigation. Assisted by her cake-decorating apprentice and the groom's suspiciously knowledgeable brother, she uncovers a multi-layered conspiracy involving blackmail, stolen inheritance, and decades-old family recipes. From coded messages written in icing to cake layers that reveal different baking techniques, every tier tells part of the story. But when Buttercup discovers the victim was systematically destroying local bakeries to eliminate competition for her own daughter's planned bakery chain, she realizes the killer might be someone she's been frosting alongside for years. With the wedding rapidly approaching and the real killer still mixing in plain sight, Buttercup must slice through the sweet deception before she becomes the next layer in this deadly confection.