Murder in the Mix Boxed Set 28-30: Cozy Mystery by Addison Moore (books like beach read .TXT) 📕

“I’ve never had anything to do with any of them.”

He presses out a short-lived smile. “Keep yourself safe, would you?” he says, taking off for the scene of the crime.

“Oh, Lottie.” Mom quickly removes her stole. “It’s too cold for you to be out here in that skimpy dress.”

“I don’t feel a thing,” I say as Lainey dives over me with a hug. Lainey has caramel-colored hair and hazel eyes that match my own. We look so much alike that for years I was convinced my parents had the details of my adoption wrong.

“Lottie, this is terrible.” Lainey pulls back with tears in her eyes. “I have to get back home to Josie. And I’m taking the rest of the week off from the library.” Lainey just so happens to be the head librarian at the Honey Hollow Public Library, a position she worked hard for. “I just want to bubble wrap my sweet baby girl and never leave the house again.” She takes off her heavy wool coat that touches down to her calf and slips it over me and my body drinks down the warmth clinging to it. “You need this more than I do. That baby is your priority, Lottie Lemon. I’ll stop by the bakery soon and make sure you’re okay. And we have to plan your baby shower next month—you haven’t even done your belly pictures. And look at you.” She gently places her hands on my stomach. “You just popped out overnight. You’ll be as big as a house in no time.”

Carlotta grunts, “You get any bigger, Lot, and I might just be tempted to move on in.”

Meg snorts at the thought. “She’ll find a way to do it, too, Lot. I hear Everett’s adding a wing onto that mansion he’s building just for Carlotta.”

Meg is my younger sister, younger by one year. She used to take part in the female wrestling circuit in Vegas as Madge the Badge before coming back to Honey Hollow. She’s the one that works at Red Satin, but she also helps manage the Honey Pot Diner, the quaint restaurant that’s attached through a shared walkway to my shop, the Cutie Pie Bakery and Cakery.

Meg has jet-black hair, icy blue eyes, and an overall morose view of the world. Her lips are painted a dark shade of chocolate, and she has on copious amounts of inky kohl over her eyes, giving her the appeal of a Goth princess—a look she’s very much after.

“That’s right.” A touch of pride infiltrates Carlotta’s face at the thought of Everett tacking on a wing just for her. “I knew it was a good move to get on Mr. Sexy’s good side.”

Lainey’s brows bounce. “So did Lottie.” She pats my belly before wincing. “I guess you’re on Noah’s good side, too.” She shrugs. “I’ll text Forest and tell him I ran for the hills. Goodnight! Don’t let the killer bite,” she says, trotting out into the parking lot.

“Hey, Lot?” Carlotta growls as she looks around. “Something isn’t right.”

Meg shoots her a look. “You think? There’s a dead body in there in the event you didn’t notice.”

Mom offers a crimped smile my way. “And I couldn’t help but notice she had one of your tasty waffles wedged between her lips.” She gives a little wink.

“Mother,” I say, incredulous that she would even bring it up.

She rolls her eyes. “Lottie, I’m just stating the obvious. You and I both know what a boon that’s been for business. Each time a homicide victim bites the big one while clutching one of your desserts, the public gets a hankering for that exact sweet treat. People are going to line up for miles in the snow just to get their hands on your fluffy, sweet waffles. I would start to increase production on those right away. In fact, I have my very first haunted Honey Hollow B&B tour of the year coming through tomorrow, and I’m going to send them straight your way right afterwards. We know what they’ll be looking for.”

I sigh because it’s true. After my mother sucks approximately eighty dollars out of the wallets of the people who line up to tour her haunted B&B—and it is haunted by a happy family of ghosts—she sends the tourists my way for what she’s dubbed as the Last Thing They Ate Tour. And horrifyingly enough, it has been a boon for business indeed.

Mom gasps as she looks to Carlotta. “I just thought of something. We should expand our writers’ workshop to run the entire month. We can do theme days! Meg, how about you bring some of the dancers from that cute little club you work at to my place? I bet my writer friends would have tons of questions they’d love to ask them. Romance writers are a curious bunch, and they might help authenticate some of the scenes in our books. Carlotta, you can bring your mobster girlfriends. Oh, and Lottie, you can do an entire class on how to juggle two men at once. This is just going to be wonderful. I should find my publisher and fill him in on all my new ideas.” She wiggles her shoulders in a suggestive manner before taking off while calling for Wiley.

Yes, Noah’s father has convinced her that his publishing house actually has some prowess in the literary world. And I’m sure that plays into the fact she’s perfectly fine with him taking far more than half her profits. Suffice it to say, I’m not all that impressed with Wiley Rose Publishing, or Wiley himself.

Meg makes a face. “I’d better head to Red Satin. That was Jimmy Canelli’s niece who was gunned down in there. I’m sure the news has already hit the club and my girls have to be scared spitless. I’ll see you both at the B&B for strippers day.”

“I’ve got jury duty.” I shrug over at her. “But I’ll try to make it.”

Meg gives a slight tick of the head.