The Gingerbread Bump-Off

This Christmas, a killer's serving up a trayful of trouble in a new holiday Fresh Baked Mystery.

As Christmas approaches in Weatherford, Texas, Phyllis Newsom is decorating her house in preparation for the Jingle Bell Tour. The last thing she expects is that one of her ceramic gingerbread men will be used to commit murder....

When her friend Georgia Hallerbee asks Phyllis to have her house featured in the annual Christmas Jingle Bell Tour of Homes, Phyllis is equally flattered and flustered. She already has a bridal shower on Christmas Eve and a wedding on New Year's Eve to prepare for, and she's been baking gingerbread cookies like they're going out of style. But like her tasty treats, she rises to the occasion.

Before the tour can even get under way, Phyllis hears a crash on her front porch and makes a gruesome discovery. Someone has broken a decorative gingerbread man over Georgia's head. Santa's naughty list just got longer--and with the police baffled, it's up to Phyllis to catch a half-baked killer...

Includes recipes

About the Author:

Livia J. Washburn has been a professional writer for more than twenty years. She received the Private Eye Writers of America Award and the American Mystery Award for her first mystery, Wild Night, written under the name L. J. Washburn, and was nominated for a Spur Award by the Western Writers of America for a novel written with her husband, James Reasoner. She lives with her husband in a small Texas town, where she is constantly experimenting with new recipes. Her two grown daughters are both teachers in her hometown, and she is very proud of them.