Murder at the Toy Soldier - (Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery) by Maddie Day (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

It's a cold, wet, February on Cape Cod, but a murder at the local toy store blows an especially icy wind through town--and through bike shop owner Mackenzie "Mac" Almeda's sleuthing Cozy Capers Book Group.

Mac is extra busy these days as she and Tim do their best as working parents of a preschooler and a baby, not to mention Mac's participation in the Cozy Capers book group. With Ella's 4th birthday approaching, Mac uses her lunch break to shop for a gift at the Toy Soldier--still run by June Fadiman, despite being the site of a murder last spring . . .

Behind the counter is Zia Carven, a young woman Mac recognizes as a shopper at the Free Grocery food pantry Mac's father sponsors. Zia finds Mac a kid-sized gardening toolkit Ella will love and offers to gift wrap it. In a rush, Mac plans to pick it up after work. But at 5:30, she finds Zia slumped over the counter, dead, dried blood on a toy rifle nearby. The first police officer to arrive is June's son, August. Then June arrives and is upset to find the police won't allow her inside.

Mac's mother, Astra, confides that she'd been trying to help Zia, and now the police want to speak with her, which worries Mac. Then Mac discovers that Zia had been in town searching for her birth mother, which only multiplies the questions--and the suspects. Just one thing is certain: Mac and the book group will have to double down to find a killer who isn't playing around . . .

About the Author

Maddie Day is the Agatha Award-winning author of the Cozy Capers Book Club Mysteries, the Country Store Mysteries, the Cece Barton Mysteries, and the Local Foods Mysteries, as well as other series and short crime fiction written under the name Edith Maxwell. A member of Mystery Writers of America and a proud lifetime member of Sisters in Crime, she is a regular contributor at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen and belongs to the Wicked Authors, a group of bestselling authors who blog at WickedAuthors.com. Day lives with her beau and their cat Martin north of Boston, although she knows Indiana, California, and Cape Cod intimately. She is a wine enthusiast, talented amateur chef, and former farmer and can be found online at MaddieDayAuthor.com.