A Smoking Bun is Book 18 in the long-running Bakeshop Mystery series by Ellie Alexander, featuring bakeshop owner Jules Capshaw.
Title: A Smoking Bun
Author: Ellie Alexander
Series: Bakeshop Mysteries Book 18
First Published: February 20, 2024
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Genres: Mystery
Acquired: from the publisher
*** Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Paperbacks, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ***
The mountains are calling in Ashland, Oregon, where Jules Capshaw, is baking up a bevy of spiced curry buns and chai cookies for a moonlit snowshoe tour. Ramiro’s family is visiting from Spain and Jules can’t wait to take them up to her beloved Mount A with its charming lodge, backcountry trails, and star-filled skies.
After their winter adventure the group opts to return to the slope the next day for the annual Downhill Dummy competition in which contestants strap makeshift dummies to skis and send them hurling down a death-defying ski jump. The Torte team is in the mix this year with their own replica of a tiered cake and a baker who closely resembles their fearless leader. It’s a festive atmosphere until one of the dummies takes a deadly detour and lands atop Fitz Baskin, a mountain guide whose icy dealings have made for frosty relationships. Jules unearths a web of secrets that threaten to shake the mountain lodge to its core. Can she catch the killer before they strike again, or will the truth be buried forever under layers of fresh snow?
Diving right into the mystery
Things get off to a pretty quick start – almost straight away we’re introduced to at least three suspects that would have wanted Fitz dead – and to be honest, Fitz does not come across as a very sympathetic character and it might be faster to list the people who didn’t want to do him harm. The mystery zipped along and there are so many suspicious characters and actions that I couldn’t put my finger onto the right suspect until very late in the game, and still, there were some twists at the last minute to make me doubt my choice of suspect.
While there were lots of new characters introduced, it was fairly easy to keep track of everyone as they all had distinct personalities and jobs – I was surprised how easy it was to get used to all the new characters, especially considering the supporting cast in the Bakeshop series is quite large.
There was also a lot more focus on Mount Ashland and the lodge rather than Torte and the town itself, which was a nice change of pace.
The Torte team continues to delight
One of things about a good long-running cozy mystery series is that the regular characters become so familiar, but continue to grow and develop – just like real friends. The family and friends that Jules has surrounded herself with are all well-written, unique personalities. Sometimes they don’t feature as heavily in a story – there wasn’t much from Thomas or Kerry in this one – but they’re there and other characters take a more central role. My favourite continues to be Lance, who seems to be even more enthusiastic as a sleuth than Jules, but almost all the regulars have their endearing qualities.
And while each book in the Bakeshop series can be read as standalones, they’re so much more enjoyable when read in order as you see the characters grow evolve. Part of me feels like there are some changes ahead – there have been hints in the last couple of books – but I hope that those changes will feel just as organic as changes in real life do.
A Smoking Bun is definitely the perfect mystery to read during the winter months as it had lots of snowy outdoor activities and warm drinks and snacks to keep things cozy. And as usual, by the end of this book I was already anticipating the next one.
Quote from A Smoking Bun
