Livia J. Washburn

Retired schoolteacher Phyllis Newsom, who is on a personal mission to win the blue ribbon for the best peach pie at the Peach Festival, finds herself accused of murder when her spicy entry kills a judge. Original.

A Fresh-baked Mystery

A Peach of a Murder

After a decorative scarecrow at an autumn festival ends up being the festival's organizer's corpse, Carolyn, the judge of the festival's baking contest, is shocked when her friend falls under suspicion and soon turns to amateur sleuth and baker extraordinaire Phyllis for help, in a mystery that also includes tasty recipes. By the author of Killer Crab Cakes. Original.

The Pumpkin Muffin Murder

At this year's school carnival fund-raiser, the obnoxious president of the Parent Teacher Organization is found stabbed through the heart with Phyllis Newsom's own knife, with traces of incriminating frosting. Clearing her name will be no piece of cake...

Murder By the Slice

In "Frankly My Dear, I'm Dead," readers first met the unforgettable Delilah Dickinson and her literary travel agency. In the second book of this witty series, award-winning writer Washburn takes her sleuth to Mark Twain country, where murder is brewing on the Mississippi.

Huckleberry Finished

Looking forward to the end of a very unlucky year, retired teacher and amateur sleuth Phyllis Newsom enters the Christmas cookie bake-off contest for fun, but during the annual cookie exchange, she discovers the elderly Mrs. Simmons dead in a pile of lime sugar cookies. Original.

The Christmas Cookie Killer

While looking after her cousin's bed and breakfast, and entering the annual Rockport, Texas Just Desserts competition, Phyllis and her boyfriend Sam discover a dead body, and forced to investigate when the suspect list gets too close for comfort. Original.

Killer Crab Cakes

Indomitable Southern sleuth Delilah Dickinson is back. Delilah's Literary Mystery Tour is underway again, and this time Tennessee Williams is the subject--but murder will steal the spotlight.

Killer on a Hot Tin Roof

Delilah Dickinson led a group of tourists to the tropical paradise of Key West so they could explore the home of literary icon Ernest Hemingway, take in the exciting nightlife, and enjoy the luxurious amenities of an exclusive beach resort. What Delilah didn't know was that murder was also waiting for her in Key West . . .FOR WHOM THE FUNERAL BELL TOLLS is the eagerly awaited fourth novel in the best-selling series of Delilah Dickinson Literary Tour Mysteries. These books have been called a fun read. Light, entertaining, and well written.—Novel Observations. The prolific author has a winner in series heroine Delilah Dickinson, a Southern belle and feisty redhead (just don't call her “Red”) with a knack for solving crime. – Book Reporter Washburn's literary in-jokes and lightly satirical jabs at academe entertain, but the book's main attraction is its likably down-to-earth protagonist. – Publisher Weekly.

For Whom the Funeral Bell Tolls

In this delectable Fresh Baked mystery, Phyllis Newsom returns with a festive Christmas recipe that’s to die for… ‘Tis the season in Weatherford, Texas, and everyone in town is gearing up for the annual holiday parade and tree-lighting ceremony in the town square, where Phyllis Newsom will be serving her much-anticipated candy cane cupcakes. Local rancher Barney McCrory manages to charm one away from her before the ceremony begins. But unfortunately, when the minty confection is finished, so is he. This isn’t the first time someone has dropped dead after eating one of Phyllis’s treats. But when the paramedics determine the rancher was shot, suspicion swiftly falls on McCrory’s daughter and her husband—who both stand to reap some sweet rewards from his death. Though Phyllis doesn’t want to get mixed up in another murder investigation, something about this case doesn’t sit right with her. With a little help from a tabloid TV news crew, Phyllis must unwrap the truth and restore good cheer to Weatherford before it’s too late... Includes recipes!

The Candy Cane Cupcake Killer

It’s Halloween in Weatherford, Texas—which means Phyllis Newsom is baking up a storm of yummy seasonal treats...but she’s about to get even busier unmasking a killer. While Phyllis and her friend Carolyn are preparing for a baking contest, her housemate Sam adopts Buck, an adorable Dalmatian who was hit by a car. To thank local veterinarian Hank Baxter for helping the dog, Phyllis and Carolyn bake a batch of doggie treats for his other four-legged patients. But when they arrive at the clinic, the vet is in the process of being arrested—for the murder of his wife! Convinced that the police are barking up the wrong tree and that someone’s been burying evidence, Sam begs Phyllis to help find the real killer. Joined by Buck, the friends engage in a dogged pursuit of the murderer, who will stop at nothing to muzzle them…permanently. Includes Recipes

Trick or Deadly Treat

All year round, retired schoolteacher Phyllis Newsom is as sweet as peach pie-except during the Peach Festival, whose blue ribbon has slipped through Phyllis's fingers more than once... Everyone's a little shook up when the corpse of a no-good local turns up underneath a car in a local garage. But even as Phyllis engages in some amateur sleuthing, she won't let it distract her from out-baking her rivals and winning the upcoming Peach Festival contest. She and all the other contestants guard their secret, original recipes with their lives-and talk a whole lot of trash. With her unusual Spicy Peach Cobbler, Phyllis hopes to knock 'em dead. But that's just an expression-never in her wildest dreams did she think her cobbler would actually kill a judge. Now, she's suspected of murder-and she's got to bake this case wide open.

It's time for the Harvest Festival again, and Phyllis is determined to bake a killer pecan pie.Hollywood comes to Weatherford, Texas, as a movie company arrives to shoot scenes for a film based on the novel by Phyllis Newsom's friend Eve. But movie fantasy turns to deadly reality as a murder recreated for film turns out to be the genuine article, and once more Phyllis has to track down a cunning killer to see that justice is done.Death Bakes a Pecan Pie is the fourteenth novel in the critically acclaimed and best-selling Fresh Baked Mystery series. Phyllis and her friends tackle another complex case with all the humor, camaraderie, good-hearted warmth, and delicious recipes that have made readers around the world fall in love with this series.Recipes included!

Livia J. Washburn

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