Sitting in front of Wal-Mart under the hot Texas sun was definitely uncomfortable, but Phyllis, Carolyn, Eve, and Sam made the sacrifice for a good cause. The four friends, roommates, and retired teachers, were doing what needed to be done to make the bake sale for The Retired Teachers Association Scholarship Fund a great success. Although they were seeing plenty of people come and go into the store, few were stopping for refreshments. As it turned out, it might have been better if no one had stopped at all. Marie Tyler, current board member of the Loving Elementary Parent Teacher Organization, her two children and her husband could have just waved to Carolyn but they stopped. Marie might have just asked for some ideas for the PTO's upcoming bake sale but she asked the women to run the bake sale at the PTO's fundraising event. Carolyn might have said no but she didn't. All those small choices lead to the unfortunate moment where the women are not just present at the scene of a murder but one of them has accidentally furnished the killer's weapon.

The four roommates may be retired but they aren't done living. They each have their own interests: some have been married, some are have extended family they care about, some are interested in flirting with Sam, and some are very good at solving crimes. Phyllis turns out to be a superb amateur detective and has already solved a previous murder. With the help of her friends, can she do it again?

Small-towns can be fertile ground for murder mysteries and it seems that Livia Washburn has created a wonderfully small-town full of future victims. Her characters are just the right blend of oddly quirky, impossibly lucky, and amazingly wise. The set-up and the solution are just the right degree of confusing to keep the reader wondering if they've been able to figure things out. A special bonus are the recipes included at the end of the book.

Book Summary

At this year's school carnival fund-raiser, the obnoxious president of the Parent Teacher Organization is found stabbed through the heart with Phyllis Newsom's own knife, with traces of incriminating frosting. Clearing her name will be no piece of cake...