I love my life. Seriously, LOVE my life. What’s not to love? I work with my two best friends every day at a cupcake bakery. Of course, working with Anna, the pink-haired baker pixie, has its own challenges. The girl is crazy. C-R-A-Z-Y – crazy. She thinks every single problem can be solved with a cupcake. Even a murder. And then there’s Kristie. She’s mild-mannered, so everyone thinks she’s some kind of angel. Snort. Not likely. The woman is on a crusade to save the world. Don’t even try to get in her way.

Oops! I’m getting off track. I’m supposed to be telling you about a day in my life. My day starts mega early. Even the early birds aren’t up trying to catch the worms when I get to my office at the bakery. All the cupcakes and pastries at Callie’s Cakes are freshly baked on location, which translates into my getting up when most college students are just going to bed. While Anna is our baker extraordinaire, I work on the books, advertising, and all the other million little things that comes with running a business.

But working at the bakery is only half of my day. In addition to co-owning Callie’s Cakes with Anna, I’m an adjunct professor at the local university where I teach German and World literature. I teach two classes per semester, which means I teach almost every day in the week.

Gosh. It sounds my life is boring with a capital B. Nothing could be further from the truth. Lately, the cupcake crew and I have been on some adventures. Big, scary adventures in fact. It all started when I was accused of murder. Somehow I found myself running around with Anna trying to solve the murder. Once we solved the murder – I know, I was surprised we managed to pull it off – I thought things would go back to normal. Fat chance. Anna found her friend murdered and before I knew it we were running around chasing gang members. Can you say yikes? Then, Kristie found herself in hot water when she decided to investigate sexual abuse on campus. And off we were again.

So, yeah, we’ve had some scary adventures lately. I’m glad everything’s finally calmed down. Now, we can get on with the holiday season. Anna’s baking up a storm. Every surface of the kitchen is covered with cupcakes, cookies, and cakes. Of course, she also died red and green stripes in her hair to celebrate the season. That woman.

You can only imagine my surprise when I walked to the front of the bakery this morning to discover a dead elf on our doorstep. Just when I thought our lives were settling down. Somehow, I have to convince Anna and Kristie it’s not up to us to solve this mystery. There is a police force in the town, ya know!

I just hope the elf’s murder is solved before this holiday season is ruined.

Christmas Cupcakes and a Caper is the fourth book in the “Death by Cupcake” humorous culinary cozy mystery series, released November 1, 2019.

It’s all candy cane cupcakes and peppermint coffee until you find a dead elf on your doorstep.

Only the elf wasn’t a real elf, because elves don’t actually exist – not even at Christmas time. A college student dressed like an elf decided taking a nap in sub-zero winter temps was a good idea. It wasn’t. Anna, the pink-haired baker extraordinaire of Callie’s Cakes, is convinced the student’s death was not an accident. She drags Callie and Kristie along with her as she attempts to discover who killed the elf . . . um. . . student.

Will the gals of Callie’s Cakes find the killer before Christmas is ruined?

Cupcakes not included, although you’ll find recipes for all the delicious Christmas cupcakes Anna baked.

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About the author
I grew up reading everything I could get my grubby hands on, from my mom’s Harlequin romances, to Nancy Drew, to Little Women. When I wasn’t flipping pages in a library book, I was penning horrendous poems, writing songs no one should ever sing, or drafting stories which have thankfully been destroyed. College and a stint in the U.S. Army came along, robbing me of free time to write and read, although on the odd occasion I did manage to sneak a book into my rucksack between rolled up socks, MRIs, t-shirts, and cold weather gear. After surviving the army experience, I went back to school and got my law degree. I jumped ship and joined the hubby in the Netherlands before the graduation ceremony could even begin. A few years into my legal career, I was exhausted, fed up, and just plain done. I quit my job and sat down to write a manuscript, which I promptly hid in the attic before returning to the law. But practicing law really wasn’t my thing, so I quit (again!) and went off to Germany to start a B&B. Turns out running a B&B wasn’t my thing either. I polished off that manuscript languishing in the attic before following the husband to Istanbul where I decided to give the whole writer-thing a go. But ten years was too many to stay away from my adopted home. I packed up again and moved to The Hague where, in between tennis matches and failing to save the world, I’m currently working on my next book. I hope I’ll always be working on my next book.

Connect with D.E. at dehaggerty.wordpress.com, her blog, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, on Goodreads, on her Amazon page, on Pinterest and on Bookbub.

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