Circus Animal Cookie Catastrophe (Murder in the Mix 57)

The circus is coming to Honey Hollow! Big top thrills, death-defying acts, and a murder that’s anything but an illusion.

My name is Lottie Lemon, and I see dead people. Okay, so I rarely see dead people, mostly I see furry creatures of the dearly departed variety who have come back from the other side to warn me of their previous owner’s impending doom.

When Sterling and Sons Circus rolls into Honey Hollow for a week of performances and a charity benefit, I’m thrilled to showcase my animal cracker cookies at the fairgrounds. But the circus isn’t the only excitement in town—Everett’s thirteen-year-old twin daughters are staying with us for the week.

Entertaining teenagers for seven whole days? I’ve got this. With twin babies in a stroller, a sugar-crazed two-year-old, and two eye-rolling teens in tow, what could possibly go wrong at a wholesome family circus?

Of course, when someone ends up dead backstage with a knife in their chest and one of my cookies in their hand, I realize the greatest show on earth just became the deadliest. Between jilted lovers, blackmail victims, and enough secrets to fill a circus tent, half the performers had motive to commit murder. And what in the world does Suze Fox have to do with this? Well, it turns out everything.

But when the investigation reveals this case has more twists than an acrobat’s routine, I know I’m dealing with a killer who’s been hiding behind sequins and spotlights. With my rolling pin in one hand and my detective skills in the other, plus a pint-sized pachyderm with a serious peanut addiction and enough suspects in spandex to staff a Vegas show, I’ll need to solve this case before the killer decides I’m the next act to disappear.

Living in Honey Hollow can be deadly.