A holiday costume party in the sleepy coastal town of Santa Sofia could be just the boost Ivy needs for her fledgling photography business. At the party, Ivy enters a Victorian fantasy come to life, all courtesy of the fabulous Ms. Eliza Fox. Ivy gets to play shutterbug while hanging with Scrooge, Marley, the Cratchits, and other classic Dickens characters. But what begins as the best of times turns out to be the very worst for one of the party guests-a tabloid journalist with more enemies than Ebenezer himself. When the man's body is found sprawled across the jagged rocks below the house, the fingers begin pointing at Eliza. Meanwhile, Ivy gets roped into helping prove the starlet's innocence. Her festive photos are now official evidence-and the Ghosts of Christmas Present could mean the party for Eliza is over, once and for all.
Vincent van Dough focaccia is being touted on Instagram as the best thing since sliced bread. By strategically placing chives, olives, and yellow peppers to look like poppies and sunflowers, bakers create a mouthwatering masterpiece in the style of the great postimpressionist painter. At Yeast of Eden, where bread making has always been an art, they're baking their own version for the school district's Spring Fling. But one person won't be tasting the Mexican bakery's latest specialty. Ambitious school-board president Nessa Renchrik has been murdered. Like the rest of this close-knit community, Ivy is shocked. But she's just as surprised to discover her beau-restaurateur Miguel Baptista had his own fling with Nessa back in the day, and now the police have this half-baked notion he might have killed her. It's up to Ivy, her boss Olaya Solis, and eighty-six-years-young Penelope Branford to separate the wheat from the chaff to determine who the real culprit is...
People come to the beach town of Santa Sofia as much for the healing properties of Yeast of Eden's breads as for a vacation getaway. And now a cable food channel has selected the bakery as a featured culinary delight for a new show. Baking apprentice Ivy Culpepper is excited as the crew arrives, ready to capture all the ins and outs of the renowned bread shop. But instead they capture something much harder to stomach: the attempted murder of the show's cameraman just outside Yeast of Eden... With no motive and no clues and the town craving answers, it will be up to Ivy to sift through the evidence to find the truth. But she'll have to move quickly before someone else is targeted or the wrong person gets the heat and the business collapses like a deflated soufflé, right before her eyes.
Just as Ivy's brother Billy is about to get engaged to his beloved, a tragedy interrupts the happy moment. The body of longtime Santa Sofia resident Marisol Ruiz washes up on the beach-and it's even more heartbreaking since Marisol's father also recently died. But Marisol was a strong competitive swimmer. It seems unlikely there's even a grain of truth to the theory that she accidentally drowned. As Ivy gets to work helping her mentor, Olaya Solis, with the catering for Marisol's funeral, she also teams up with her partners in detection-because if they want to prevent someone from getting away with murder, there's no time for loafing.
Apprentice baker Ivy Culpepper sees art cars everywhere she turns. Besides helping prepare the bread and pastry for Santa Sofia's annual spring event, she's the official photographer, documenting the elaborate cars, outspoken artists, and riotous celebrations. Even her family's in on the act: her brother Billy has been runner-up in the competition more times than she can count-but this is going to be the year he celebrates his win in the victory lane. But after Billy's rival, Max Litman, revs up his bombastic showmanship, Billy is once again set to cruise into second place...until Max is found dead, positioned as a prop in his own art car. The whole town knows there's no love lost between the two men, and Billy is the prime suspect. Now Ivy will have to sift through collusion, deception, gossip, and lies to find out what really happened. But with the help of her octogenarian Watson, her restaurateur beau, and her adopted aunts at Yeast of Eden, she knows she can take the heat.
For once, Ivy Culpepper feels fulfilled. An apprenticeship at Yeast of Eden has opened her world to time-honored baking techniques under owner Olaya Solis's guidance-as well as the freshest small-town gossip, courtesy of chatty regulars known as the Blackbird Ladies. Ivy even begins accepting that she and restaurateur Miguel Baptista may never again rekindle their romance-despite the undeniable tension between them. But she's tied to Miguel again when his trusted produce supplier goes missing. Old Hank Riviera's financial troubles would make anyone consider running away forever. And with his relationship woes, there are plenty of people who might want to see Hank disappear. As Ivy, with the help of her octogenarian sidekick, turns to the loose-lipped Blackbird Ladies for leads, she soon finds herself caught in a web of lies stickier than a batch of Olaya's popular pastries.
Struggling photographer Ivy Culpepper has lots of soul-searching to do since returning to seaside Santa Sofia, California-that is, until the thirty-six-year-old enters a bread-making class at Yeast of Eden, the Mexican bread shop in town. Whether it's the aroma of fresh conchas in the oven or her instant connection with owner Olaya Solis, Ivy just knows the missing ingredients in her life are hidden among the secrets of Olaya's bakery. But Ivy's spirits crumble when a missing classmate is suddenly discovered dead in her car. Even more devastating, the prime suspect is Olaya Solis herself. Doubting the woman could commit such a crime, Ivy embarks on a murder investigation of her own to prove her innocence and seize the real killer. As she follows a deadly trail of crumbs around town, Ivy must trust her gut like never before-or someone else could be toast!
