Hello there, my name is Sugar. Okay it’s really Rosetta Sugarbaker Calloway but everyone calls me Sugar. I love St. Ignatius, the town where I live. I’m not originally from the Midwest and I’d grown up in cities, but I found that small town life was perfect for me.

I love the simplicity, the friendships, the slower pace. It’s great for someone who is looking for fewer distractions and a sense of belonging. And perfect for the types of cookbooks that my best friend, Dixie, and I create at Sugar & Spice Publishing. You’ve maybe heard about the “outsider effect” in small town but I had to say that most everyone has been very welcoming. Well, maybe except for my next-door neighbor, Mrs. Pickett. Bless her heart, if you gave the woman a bouquet of roses, she’d complain about the thorns.

Most days start with my coffee and my cat, Ernest, who makes sure I get off to a good start. And, of course, that his needs are taken care of properly. I head to the Sugar & Spice office which along with other fun shops is on the beautiful and quaint town square. If I’m lucky, I might have time to swing by the Red Hen Diner for a blueberry muffin to go with my coffee. If I’m really lucky, Dixie is already in the Sugar & Spice kitchen and testing recipes which means something amazing and delicious just might be on my morning agenda. Dixie is the cooking talent in the business and I’m the tasting talent. I also manage sales, clients, and contracts. Which is how I came to be at the Jameson County Historical Society early one morning last week to talk to the board chair about their proposed bread cookbook.

And what started out to be a lovely low-key day in my quiet small town, suddenly morphed into a crazy murder investigation with me as the first on the scene. And my grumpy neighbor asking for my help.

Night of the Living Bread – A Sugar & Spice Mystery, Book 4
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: May 2025
Format: Digital, Print
Purchase Link

Sugar Calloway and Dixie Spicer are up to their aprons in community cookbook projects, but Sugar can’t resist when the Jameson County Historical Society asks for their assistance with a cookbook featuring bread recipes. But they’ve barely begun when suddenly troubles are on the rise. Marla, the board’s president is stabbed with a bread knife, her best friend, Mame, is a suspect & some dough (of the money kind) is missing. As Sugar and Dixie try to save the cookbook project and help Mame, things take a twist with a second body. But what’s the connection? And who in St. Ignatius has been keeping secrets? And, mostly importantly, will Sugar and Dixie be able to figure out whodunnit before the killer catches up with them and they are toast.

About the author
Mary Lee Ashford is a lifelong bibliophile, an avid reader, and supporter of public libraries. In addition to writing the Sugar and Spice series for Oliver Heber Books, she also writes as half of the writing team of Sparkle Abbey, author of the national bestselling Pampered Pets mystery series from Bell Bridge Books. Prior to publishing Mary Lee won first place in the Daphne du Maurier contest, sponsored by the Kiss of Death chapter of RWA, and was a finalist in Murder in the Grove’s mystery contest, as well as Killer Nashville’s Claymore Dagger contest.

She loves encouraging writers and is a frequent lecturer and workshop presenter for writers’ groups on topics from motivation to plotting to humor. Mary Lee has a passionate interest in creativity and teaches a university level course in Creative Management to MPA candidates, as well as presenting workshops and blogging about creativity. She currently resides in the Midwest with her husband, Tim, and Zoey, her feline coworker. Her delights are reading and enjoying her two sons and daughters-in-law, and six grandchildren. She is the founding president of Sisters in Crime – Iowa and a former board member of the Mystery Writers of America Midwest chapter, as well as a member of Novelists, Inc., Sisters in Crime, and the SinC internet group Guppies.

For more information or to sign up for her newsletter, visit her website at maryleeashford.com.