Thank you for asking about my day, Dru! Typically, it starts at 5:28 a.m, exactly two minutes before the alarm goes off. Honeybee, my tabby cat and witch’s familiar, jumps on the bed and pads up to peer at my face, purring all the while. She’s done it since she was a little orange fluffball, and I must admit it’s more pleasant than any alarm.

I turn off the actual alarm, give my husband Ben a kiss on the cheek to wake him, and proceed immediately to Honeybee’s food dish. Pleasant awakening or not, that’s her ultimate agenda. Then Ben and I shower and dress, fill our travel mugs with hot coffee, and head out the door with Honeybee in her fancy leather carrier.

The Honeybee Bakery is, of course, named after my feline alarm clock. My niece Katie, who is a naturally early riser, is always there before we arrive. I must say that perhaps my favorite scent on the whole planet is freshly baked sourdough bread, and Katie’s sourdough is the best. She made the starter back when she still lived in Akron and brought it with her when she came to Savannah to start the bakery with Ben and me. Sourdough is inevitably regional, as the levain, or starter, picks up the particular flavors and yeasts in the air, which vary from place to place. So just as over two years in Savannah, Georgia has offered changes to my dear niece, that time has also made her sourdough a thoroughly local food – one that’s in much demand among our customers.

Ben mans the espresso counter, but he also takes care of ordering supplies, marketing, and working with local farmers to get the freshest ingredients for our baked goods. Katie and I do the daily baking, complete with a sprinkle of beneficial magic here and there.

Oh, yes. Magic. I believe I mentioned that Honeybee is my witch’s familiar? Katie’s is a Cairn terrier named Mungo, by the way. And we are both hereditary hedgewitches. Green witches. Kitchen witches, if you will. I’ve known about my heritage my whole life and was trained by my mother until she passed to the other side of the veil too soon. My sister, Katie’s mother, was trained by our mother, too. Unfortunately, Mary Jane decided it was too risky for Katie to know about her witchy power, so she and Katie’s father kept it from her. I didn’t like it, not one bit, but I didn’t feel like I could interfere when Katie was a child. As a young woman, practically dumped at the altar and hating her job, though, she needed my help. So after Ben retired as Savannah’s fire chief, we decided to make a new start with the bakery. Good thing I had a niece who had recently completed pastry school in Cincinnati.

Oh, Mary Jane was furious when she learned I’d told Katie that she was a hedgewitch. She was even more angry when I told her I was training her with the help of the ladies of the spellbook club – my very informal coven of six delightful witches, each with their own magical specialty. There were a few acrimonious phone calls between my sister and I that Katie has no idea about. We’ve reconciled now, though.

Mostly.

Most of my day is spent simply baking with a bit of spell casting, selling pastries and chatting with customers. Edna Standish comes in most days, her big personality filling the whole bakery. Iris Grant, our part-time helper is learning both the baking and the magical side of things, so I make sure to spend time with her when she’s scheduled. I make sure our resident author is supplied with his favorite tea, experiment in the kitchen with new recipes and spells, and help with the constant work of tidying up after customers.

Evenings are either spent at home with my darling Ben, tending to my extensive herbal garden, meeting with the ladies of the spellbook club, or the occasional show or dinner out. This evening, spellbook-club member Jaida French has tickets for a ghost tour of Savannah. There are tons of those, of course, but it happens that I’ve never gone on one. Neither has Katie. Jaida assures us this one will be unique. Given that my dear niece is not only a witch, but a catalyst – meaning more things just seem to happen around her – I’m curious about what the evening might bring!

Spirits and Sourdough, A Magical Bakery Mystery #10
Genre: Cozy
Release: January 2022
Purchase Link

Baker Katie Lightfoot needs a sprinkle of magic to solve a haunting mystery in the newest book in this New York Times bestselling series.

Hedgewitch Katie Lightfoot works at the Honeybee Bakery in Savannah, and she’s always up for investigating her adopted home’s rich supernatural history. That’s why she’s taking a ghost tour for the very first time. But when the psychic tour guide tells Katie that she’s being followed by the ghost of a recently murdered woman, Katie realizes she met the victim earlier that day, just before she died. She knows she must bring the killer to justice.

And this murder isn’t the only mystery Katie needs to solve. Her new husband, Declan McCarthy, is missing the guardian spirit who always watched over him, and she’s concerned that Deck’s life could be at risk if they can’t find him. Under pressure from the living and the dead, Katie will have to use all of her magical skills to start an investigation from scratch and avoid half-baked alibis, because this baker kneads to find a killer.

About the author
Bailey Cates is the New York Times bestselling author of the Magical Bakery Mysteries featuring Katie Lightfoot, her aunt Lucy, and the ladies of the spellbook club. She also authors the Enchanted Garden Mysteries as Bailey Cattrell. She lives in Colorado with her guy and Cheesecat the Orange, who looks an awful lot like Honeybee. Find out more about Bailey and her books at baileycates.com.

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