Despite an incredibly busy holiday season, Mel and Angie can't pass up the opportunity to provide cupcakes for the VIP lounge when Angie's old friend Shelby comes to town for a Christmas showcase. On the first night of the show, Mel finds Shelby's overbearing manager dead in her dressing room. Despite having literally one million things to do, Mel feels compelled to have exonerate Shelby. After all, this is her second manager that has mysteriously died. Weird...

The mystery was good even though I guessed the culprit and the story was fun. But what the hell is with Mel and her family? Her mom: "Oh, honey, I know you are busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest, but can you host us, your brother and a total of 8 people for Christmas? And if the house could look like a Hallmark-movie, that's mandatory." (Not quite a direct quote, but close.) Then Joe: "Well, since your family is already coming, plus Shelby and her stylist, then we should also invite my parents, brothers, their partners, and children. Because why not?! It's not like you're busy." (Again not quite direct quote, but close.) And who helped prepare the celebration meal with Mel? Oz. That's it. And he didn't even stay to eat! The only other help she got was entrusting Joe's brothers to decorate for her, which naturally turned out to be a mess. That whole storyline irritated the shit out of me. They dumped a TON of work on her, and nobody popped in with help, offered to bring a dish (except for the eternally annoying Olivia), or anything. Just pushed their menus of what MUST be made toward her and gave her their dietary restrictions. I'm still pissed off on her behalf.

Overall, I enjoyed it. But Mel needs to grow a backbone.

4 stars. Love the most recent addition to the Cupcake Bakery mysteries. The heroines are quirky and relatable. The secondary characters are sharp and funny. All around a great cozy mystery series!

Sugar Plum Poisoned is the 15th book in the awesome Cupcake Bakery Mystery series by Jenn McKinlay. Even after this many books they are still great! It is Christmastime and Melanie (Mel), and Angie are busy with Fairytale Cupcakes and their regular lives. Angie's friend Shelby is in town to sing a Christmas concert and Mel and Shelby become friends. Shelby's manager is found dead and Angie and Mel need to keep her safe and find the culprit. Of course they have help from Uncle Stan, Joe, Tate, the brothers, Oz, and Marty. They all add humor and support. The Christmas meal was my favorite part and why these books continue to be so enjoyable! I suspected the culprit but wasn't sure until near the end. I always look forward to the next book in this series! The audiobook narrated by Susan Boyce was amazing and made the characters come to life. There are a lot of people and Susan made the voices individual so it is easy to get lost in the book! Loved it! #SugarPlumPoisoned. #NetGalley #DreamscapeMedia. #BerkleyPublishing

Thank you to @Dreamscape Media for the ARC. I really enjoyed this book. I love a mystery with yummy descriptions of food and drinks. This book put me in the holiday mood. The narrator was really good.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 stars
Happy publication to Jenn McKinlay and Sugar Plum Poison! Thank you to Jenn McKinlay, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley ( @netgalley ) for allowing me to read an ALC (Advanced Listener 🎧 Copy) for an honest review!

📅 Monday, October 9, 2023 was the pub date for Sugar Plum Poisoned by Jenn McKinlay. The narrator🎙️for this audiobook 🎧 is Susan Boyce. 📅

Being a cupcake 🧁 crime fighting duo is whisky business for Angie and Mel! Sugar Plum Poisoned is a cozy murder 🔪 mystery at its finest.

Fairytale Cupcakes is located in Harvest, Ohio and is owned and operated by Mel and Angie. A local hotel has hired celebrity singer, Shelby Vaughn, to headline their upcoming Christmas Concert shows. Shelby is friends with Angie, local baker extraordinaire, and hires the confectionery dynamic duo to provide gourmet holiday flavored cupcakes 🧁 for the artist meet and greets following every show.

Mel (and Angie) become increasingly suspicious of Shelby’s manager due to his controlling nature, controversial comments about body image, and mismanagement of money. It’s unfortunate that he was found dead just after Shelby was giving him the axe 🪓 (firing him that is). He was poisoned with a cupcake and found with the fibers of a Santa suit close by. With so many Santas 🎅🏼 in sight, anyone could be the killer.

Shelby becomes a suspect but Angie and Mel don’t believe Shelby could be a cold blooded killer. Although law enforcement is on the scene, the bakers mix together all of the clues and ingredients to help put the real criminal behind bars.

A heartwarming tale of friendship and justice with a splash of holiday cheer. This book provides both sugar and spice (<— the personalities of the female main characters) for its readers!

In book fifteen (!!!) of Jenn McKinlay's Cupcake Bakery mystery series, we see bakery owner Mel and her friend and coworker Angie catering the VIP suite for singer Shelby's holiday residency at the local hotel. When Shelby's manager ends up murdered, Mel and Angie work to keep Angie's long-time friend, Shelby, safe--and out of jail--and figure out who the killer is.

I've only read one other book in this series (book fourteen) but I'm a huge fan of McKinlay's cozy mysteries so I was excited to read it--and wasn't disappointed. I love the holiday infusion throughout the book, from the themed cupcakes, Santa suits, decorations, carols, and Christmas dinner. I thought the inclusion of a "celebrity" and show business was also a fun aspect. The mystery was well-done and creative, though I wonder if there could have been more breadcrumbs earlier in the books; they all seemed to come in the last quarter, though perhaps I missed some. Overall, a very fun holiday read/listen!

I will say, I listened to this book on audio, but I didn't love the narrator. She has a very staccato cadence, almost robotic way of speaking, that was disorienting. I got used to it after a while but the first few chapters almost didn't sound like they were narrated by a real person. She also sounded a bit old for our main character Mel, though she did a wide variety of voices with skill. I've listened to McKinlay's other two cozy mystery series on audio and LOVE the two narrators for those, so it was a bit disappointing, especially with this being her longest running series.

Thanks to Dreamscape Media for my ALC and Berkely for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

Sugar Plum Poisoned
Cupcake Bakery Mystery #15
Jenn McKinlay
Things are busy at Fairy Tale Cupcakes. They are baking a variety of cupcakes from an Eggnog flavored one to a Chocolate Peppermint Cupcake. Murder always seems to find Mel just as it does in this book. An old friend of Angie is in town for two weeks. Shelby Vaughn is a talented singer/songwriter in town to do a series of Christmas concerts. Shelby hires Fairy Tale Cupcakes to furnish the cupcakes for the VIPs. The bakery crew are concerned for Shelby. Her manager, Doc, tells her what to eat and what to sing; he wants total control of her life and her money. Doc’s body is found in a pool of blood; in his hand he has a piece of a Santa costume and a cupcake. There are several suspects including Doc’s ex-wife, a local loan shark and the daughter of a previous manager.
This is the 15th book in the Cupcake Bakery Mystery series. Most of the characters are like old friends. This is an easy cozy read.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for an audiobook copy of Sugar Plum Poisoned for review consideration.

The Cupcake Bakery Mystery series by Jenn McKinlay is one of my favorite cozy mystery series. I love baking and mysteries so it's the perfect combination. Although they're predictable, since it's a cozy mystery, I look forward to every year when I can go back to Arizona to visit Fairy Tale Cupcakes. Sugar Plum Poisoned was my first time listening to one of these books and I really enjoyed the narration. There are few male voices in case you don't enjoy female narrators performing male voices so you don't have to worry about that. The narrator's voice differences for the male characters didn't personally bother me. I'll definitely need to consider listening to the next releases vs. reading a print copy for any upcoming books in the series.

Another great installment in the Cupcake Bakery Mystery series. I love Mel and Angie's relationship and the bakery team. I was able to guess who the killer was before the reveal but I still enjoyed learning the motive and reading the reveal.

Susan Boyce did a great job narrating this novel. I look forward to listening to more books narrated by Susan in the future.

It’s Christmas time! Fairy Tale cupcakes is on deck to provide the delectable treats for the VIP guests of up-and-coming, singer and friend of Angie, Shelby Vaughn’s two week Christmas showcase in Scottsdale. It’s the busiest time of the year and spirits are bright. Well, until Shelly‘s manager is found dead with a fairytale cupcake in his hand. Mel and Angie have their hands full with the ongoing catering of Shelby shows, Mel hosting Christmas dinner for a small army, and now they are tangled up in a murder once again. Mel and Angie, not only want to clear the bakeries name because they know there was nothing wrong with their cupcakes. They’re out to clear Shelby’s name from this murder as well.

Sugar Plum Poisoned was a fun and entertaining weed. I love the combination of Mel and Angie. Their friendship is solid, extremely strong, and it’s to the point that they are basically family. And have been for a very long time. Angie is that person that will go to bed for the people she cares about. Mel is a little more stand back and think it through. They are truly a perfect team. Sugar Plum Poisoned shows us that Angie has definitely rubbed off on Mel after all these years. Although I figured out who the culprit of this caper was fairly early on, I very much enjoyed the story. Marty and Oz are always a trip whenever they are on the page. Seeing the brothers up to their antics is always a good laugh. They also help solve a murder and give a good friend a Christmas that she truly needed.


Narrator Susan boys did an amazing job with this book. She beautifully distinguishes each character and truly brought the story to life.

"Sugar Plum Poisoned (A Cupcake Bakery Mystery #15)" by Jenn McKinlay is a cozy Christmas mystery. It is very Christmas. The ARC of the audiobook I received from Netgalley didn't have any recipes, hopefully the book does. The holiday cupcakes described throughout this one had me craving cupcakes.

The mystery in this one focuses on the death of the music manager for Angie's friend Shelby. She's in town to do a series of holiday performances and has Fairytale Cupcakes make cupcakes for her VIP lounge. Of course, while there, Mel finds yet another murder victim. This constant happenstance has a local loan shark terrified of Mel, someone I think will probably become a new reoccurring character bit in future books.

As far as solving the mystery, I feel like Mel was a little extra ditzy in this one. It could be excused that for some reason both her mother and mother-in-law expect her to host and cook for everyone on Christmas day during her busiest business season of the year. It'd one thing if she could do it her way but that would be too easy, they have to have it how they'd always done it for both sides.

Back to the mystery, I had a pretty good idea who I thought was the murderer. I was open to other possibilities until a fairly blatant clue was dropped pretty early on (once the mystery actually started). However, you'd have to have been paying attention to connect it to information given later. In the end, and after much why-aren't-you-looking-at-them-ing, I was right. It was a very similar situation to a real life famous singer's issues. With some obvious differences. I wont name names as it would spoil it all.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Another great cozy mystery. I have listened to other books in this cupcake series and I Iove all of them.
The best part is you could take this one on as a standalone or go for listening to the whole series.
Great narration too as always.

Sugar Plum Poisoned is the fifteenth book in the Cupcake Bakery Mystery series. This will work perfectly fine as a standalone but you may feel like you are missing out on some character development with not knowing the rest of the series. This was my first entry and I do feel that McKinlay did a great job of making it accessible but there were certain areas that would have been better if I was more familiar. None of this took away from my enjoyment of the book and I am looking forward to checking out more in this series.

Mel and Angie are best friends who own a cupcake bakery. Angie's friend, a famous singer Shelby is coming to town and hires them to make cupcakes for her event. Shelby’s manager is murdered and she looks to be suspect number one since this is her second manager who was killed.

I enjoyed the investigation in this book but what really shined for me was the detail in the cupcake business. With everything going on they still had a business to run and I loved seeing how they handled their stress and work.

This is not my first book or series by this author. I jumped into the Library Lover’s Mystery series at book thirteen and felt that was easy to jump right into. McKinlay has a knack for getting you up to speed on her characters and doing it without you even realizing it. This is a book that I definitely recommend.

When up-and-coming singing sensation Shelby Vaughn arrives in town for two weeks of concert dates, she hires her old friend Angie and the rest of the bakery crew to supply cupcakes for the VIP guest lounge every night. It is pointed out to Melanie that she is always at the scene of a murder, will this holiday concert be any different?

I've only read a handful of books in this series as I discovered it late and my digital library only has a few of the books (I've listened/read all the ones that are available as audiobooks but not the 3 that are available as ebooks only). I really love her Library Lovers series which is how I discovered this series. I enjoy it. I particularly loved the recipe for pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese icing from Pumpkin Spice Peril. Unfortunately, the audiobooks don't include the recipes. I wasn't sure that was the case since I listened to an advance copy of Strawberried Alive but I recently checked out Red Velvet Revenge audiobook and there wasn't a recipe included.

This series is growing on me and I really liked Sugar Plum Poisoned. It's book 15 in the series, but it is okay if you haven't read the earlier books. While it is set at Christmas, it isn't really a Christmas book and is definitely a full-length entry in the series. The cupcakes are holiday-themed and there are scenes of the Melanie preparing for Christmas dinner, which she is hosting this year (and the guest list keeps growing!).

The murder victim is not someone from the town and because I don't really know the person or the people connected to the victim, it is difficult to determine who is the most likely culprit. That just makes the story more compelling.

The audiobook is easy to follow. The narrator does a good job of making different voices for the various characters.

If you are looking for a Christmas book that isn't overly sweet but still fluffy, then you should read Sugar Plum Poisoned.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Tuesday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2023/10/2-cozy-audiobooks-for-fall-listening.html

Mel and Angie find themselves back in the midst of murder when an old friend of Angie's shows up in town to put on a Christmas Music Show, but with so many possible suspects and a lack of clarity on who the actual victim was meant to be, the girls and Uncle Stan are going to need to work double time to save Christmas, their friend's life and possibly even their own! Once again, a wonderfully plotted story has been presented for our reading enjoyment and I can't be happier! The characters are so well fleshed out that they seem like living, breathing people that you definitely want to be friends with or avoid depending on the character. The plot is well thought out with twists, turns and plenty of red herrings, but if you pay attention you'll find your way to the truth! I've been as addicted to this series as I am to cupcakes since the first book in the series and I am still addicted after this book! I do highly recommend that you start with book one in the series and work your way up to this one or you will miss out on tons of backstory and connecting that is brought up in this book. I must also mention that the narration of the audiobook takes an already amazing book and takes it up a notch from there! The narrator brings to life the feelings and emotions of the characters as well as their personality traits and flaws. I can't wait for the next book in the series to come out and I just finished this one!

Mel, Angie, Tate and the rest of the Fairy Tale Cupcakes Bakery crew are back in this 15th book in the series.

A fun Christmas-themed plot has Angie's old school friend Shelby (now a rising star musician) in town for a series of shows at a local hotel. When Shelby's manager is found dead, the suspicion falls on one of Mel's cupcakes that had been provided for the cast and crew. When it is revealed that Shelby's previously manager dies recently too, all eyes point to Shelby. Luckily Angie can provide an alibi for Shelby - or can she?

Mel is a little jealous of the close relationship between Angie and Shelby, for a while. But as usual, she gets to work on trying to solve the murder.

Lots of twists and turns and funny moments continue through the plot, and even though I guessed the murderer before the big reveal, this was a fun read. I enjoyed the usual DeLuca family antics in here too!

I listened to the audiobook and it was very well done. Narrator Susan Boyce did a lovely job with a pretty large cast of characters, keeping all of their voices distinct and helping you to really get into the feel of the book.

Looking forward to the next book in this series!

Deliciously mysterious!!

It’s my first time to come across the Cupcake Bakery Mystery series. I enjoyed the cozy and festive mystery. (It will be perfect to read this along with a cupcake and a cup of coffee!)

Shelby had two singing concerts upcoming. She went to Fairy Tale Cupcakes to ask for her old friends Angie and her bakery team to bake some cupcakes for the VIP.

The story got hotter when Shelby’s manager found dead after having an argument with Shelby. Her manager was holding a piece of costume fabric and a cupcake which pointed to all the dancers and Shelby…

Shelby was suspicious because something similar had happened before. Two of her managers was killed.

I love reading this cozy crime fiction. The characters were likable and the narrator brought the characters alive, especially Shelby and Mel. I could even smell the cupcakes!

I would love to go back and read all other books in this series.

Joining Mel and Angie for a Christmas visit to Fairytale Cupcakes and Arizona is just what I needed. Mel’s already packed schedule gets crazier when Angie volunteers them to provide cupcakes for Shelby Vaughn’s Christmas concerts at a local hotel. Adding to that Mel and Joe are roped in to hosting both families for Christmas dinner.
There are a host of shenanigans by the brothers. This will only make sense if you have taken part in the Cupcake Bakery mystery series before.
I think you could enjoy reading Sugar Plum Poisoned as a stand-alone but that enjoyment will be much greater if you read the entire series.
Read and see if Dear Joe doesn’t top your list of swoony book husbands/boyfriends.
I enjoyed listening to this narrator.
Thanks to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the chance to listen to Sugar Plum Poisoned.

Sugar Plum Poisoned AUDIO by Jenn McKinlay is a Cupcake Bakery Mystery. This is a series I have been reading for years. I takes place near where I live, written by a local author. I have seen her numerous times at my favorite bookstore and continue to enjoy that she writes. This is another book featuring people we all know well, Mel and Joe, Angie and Tate, Oz, Uncle Stan, and all the others who populate this small world. This time, singer Shelby Vaughn, an up and coming singer, and friend of Angie’s, is in Scottsdale for a two-week Christmas run at a local hotel. The bakery will be providing cupcakes for the VIP room before the show. They have done private events in the past, but never an ongoing gig like this AND it is Christmas, so they were both very busy. The worst happened when Shelby’s manager was killed and when found, he had a cupcake in his hand. Mel and Angie knew the cupcake had nothing to do with it, but it was still upsetting. On another note, Mel’s mother’s kitchen was being redone and so she decided Christmas dinner would be at Mel’s this year. AND she wanted Mel and Joe to decorate. AND it got out of hand quickly.

Mel and Angie are the perfect team. Mel is pragmatic while Angie is emotional, more so since the baby had been born. They had been friends forever and it shows. They are both really likable characters and provide the backbone for the bakery and for the story. The plot is decent, although I figured out the murderer well in advance. I am not sure what the clues were but it cam to me all at once. It was a sad day all around when the murderer was uncovered and it become clear how far their reach had been. It continues to be an excellent series.

The reader is Susan Boyce and she did a fine job with the many characters. I think I prefer reading these books rather than listening. I guess it is the habit of it for me. I would recommend it, however, in audio form.

I was invited to listen to a free e-ARC of the audio by Dreamscape Media, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #DreamscapeMedia #JennMcKinlay #SugarPlumPoisoned.

Another slam-dunk cozy mystery from Jenn McKinlay. She is now on my always-to-be-read list anytime a book comes out! I have loved each by her that I've read! This was a super cute & heartwarming story! And throwing in cupcakes on top of that is just the cherry on the sundae!!

#SugarPlumPoisoned
#NetGalley