Cranberry Crimes Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Recipes

  Other Books by Jessica Beck

  JESSICA BECK

  THE DONUT MYSTERIES, BOOK 31

  CRANBERRY CRIMES

  Donut Mystery #31 Cranberry Crimes

  Copyright © 2017 by Jessica Beck All rights reserved.

  First Edition: April 2017

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Recipes included in this book are to be recreated at the reader’s own risk. The author is not responsible for any damage, medical or otherwise, created as a result of reproducing these recipes. It is the responsibility of the reader to ensure that none of the ingredients are detrimental to their health, and the author will not be held liable in any way for any problems that might arise from following the included recipes.

  The First Time Ever Published!

  The 31st Donut Mystery.

  Jessica Beck is the New York Times Bestselling Author of the Donut Mysteries, the Classic Diner Mysteries, the Ghost Cat Cozy Mysteries, and the Cast Iron Cooking Mysteries.

  For P and E,

  Always and Forever!

  When Suzanne Hart is commissioned at the last minute to make donuts for a long-time customer’s birthday party, she happily complies, but when the guest of honor dies before the party can even begin, Suzanne taps Grace, Jake, and even Phillip to help her solve Jasper Finney’s homicide before the killer gets away with murder.

  Chapter 1

  We never even got to sing “Happy Birthday” to Jasper Finney.

  He’d commissioned an extravagant party for himself, but little did we know that the celebration had been arranged for something deeper, and much darker, than simply marking another year of his life. I didn’t realize it at the time, but Jasper had set the wheels in motion for something bad that was going to happen well before midnight struck, and much too soon, the residents of April Springs had a brand new murder to deal with.

  “How’s that donut, Jasper?” I asked one of my oldest customers as he tasted a cranberry baked donut coated with a silvery glaze. Jasper Finney wasn’t my oldest customer because he’d been coming to Donut Hearts longer than anyone else. It was because his time on earth exceeded that of everyone else I knew. I had to say though, that Jasper looked young for his age, but that was just because his age happened to be somewhere in the early nineties.

  “It’s delightful,” the silver-haired man said with a grin as he looked up at me. “In all of my one hundred and thirty-seven years, I’ve never tasted something so delicious.”

  “Wow, you’ve aged incredibly fast lately,” I said, doing my best not to smile. It was tough to do, but I knew if I did, Jasper would feel slighted, and I wasn’t about to do that to him. “The last time you were in here, you were a hundred and fourteen.”

  “You can’t blame me for shaving a few years off my total,” he replied with a mischievous grin. “If I tell the truth, some folks treat me as though I were actually old!”

  “Hard to believe, isn’t it,” I said. “Can I get you anything else?”

  “No, I’m all set, but there’s something that I can give you.”

  “What’s that?” I asked, wiping up a handful of crumbs from the kids who’d been sitting near him a few moments before. When he’d sat near them, I wasn’t sure how Jasper would receive their presence, especially given how loud and rowdy the boys had been, but he’d seemed absolutely delighted by their proximity and their antics.

  Jasper reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded envelope. It had my name scrawled across the front of it, and I marveled at the fine details of his penmanship. It had been a different era when Jasper Finney had learned to write.

  I started to open it when he put an aged hand on top of mine. “Not now, Suzanne. It’s for later.”

  “Do you mean like after I shut the donut shop down for the day?” I asked as I held the envelope in my hand, wondering what it might be.

  “No, more like when I’m gone,” he said.

  “So, even sooner, then,” I said with a grin. “Goody. I just love surprises. I’ve got to warn you though, if it’s a love note, my husband can be a very jealous man, particularly when the competition is coming from such a worthy rival.”

  “I don’t mean gone, Suzanne. I mean gone.” For once, there wasn’t a touch of humor in his gaze, but I still didn’t get it at that point.

  I laughed. “Jasper, you’ll outlive us all if you have anything to say about it. After all, you’ve already seen a hundred and thirty-seven years.”

  “True, but I’m not going to make it to one thirty-eight,” he said with a shrug.

  Our humorous exchange had suddenly just gotten serious. “Jasper, is there something you’re not telling me? What’s going on?”

  “Just please do as I ask,” the old man said. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

  I was about to push him on it anyway when his grandson came in. “Jasper, you can’t just take off like that without telling anyone.” I had never been a fan of Ethan Finney. How that tight-cheeked fifty-year-old stick-in-the-mud could be related to his grandfather was beyond me. Ethan was portly bordering on obese, and he seemed to be constantly sweating. There was something oily about the man that I didn’t like, but maybe it was just because of the way he treated his grandfather, as though he were a foolish old man incapable of taking care of himself. Lately, Ethan had been trying to take control of his grandfather’s life, without much success, I was pleased to see.

  From what I could see, Jasper seemed just fine taking care of himself.

  “I can, and I will continue to do so,” Jasper said as he gestured to the letter and made a motion telling me that I should put it away. Whatever it was, he didn’t want Ethan seeing it. I shoved it into my apron pocket, wondering what was going on.

  Ethan tried to take his grandfather’s arm to escort him out of Donut Hearts, but Jasper wasn’t having any of that. The older man stood and said, with more than a little indignation, “Put another hand on me, my dear boy, and you’ll lose it. I may be old, but I’m not too feeble to put you over my knee and give you a good spanking. Do you remember those, Ethan? You certainly needed enough of them growing up.”

  “You’re not going to spank me, Grandfather. It’s not socially acceptable any more,” Ethan chided him.

  “There you both are,” Ethan’s son, Bobby Finney—a man in his early thirties—said with obvious relief as he came into the donut shop. Bobby was just beginning to go to seed, packing on a few more pounds than was strictly necessary. I wondered if every time he looked at his father, he reali
zed that he was seeing his future unless he did something about it, and soon. “I swear, I’m going to put tracking devices on both of you. I know April Springs is a small town, but I feel like I’ve been searching for days.”

  “Hey, Bobby,” I said. I’d grown up with Bobby, though he’d been a few years behind me in school. He had mostly been known for having a quick temper back then, but since he’d come back to Elkton Falls with his father, he’d seemed to start taking after his great-grandfather instead. “Care for a donut, Bobby?”

  “No one’s eating any donuts,” Ethan said firmly. “We’re leaving.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong,” Jasper said as he took his seat again. “Bobby, the cranberry donuts are amazing.”

  “Sounds good to me. I’ll try anything once,” Bobby said as he joined his great-grandfather.

  Ethan stood there a moment, clearly wondering how he’d lost such complete control of the situation, and then he threw his hands up into the air. “Fine. Whatever. Do as you please.”

  “I plan to,” Jasper said with a smile.

  Ethan stormed off as I served Bobby a donut. “There you go.”

  “Sorry about Dad. He feels as though he’s responsible for the entire clan. Just wait until Aunt Phyllis gets here.”

  “Phyl is coming?” I asked. Bobby’s aunt was one of my mother’s contemporaries, and her claim to fame in our family was that my father had taken her out twice before he’d started dating my mother. With all of Momma’s successes—both in business and in life—she still resented the fact that Phyllis had ever dated my dad.

  “Oh, yes. My great-grandfather has called for a grand Finney conclave for his birthday. Every last sprout left from our waning family tree will be here.” Bobby took a bite of the cranberry donut, and then he smiled. “It’s even better than promised.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “Is this celebration your idea, Jasper?”

  “I’ve called a few family and friends in to celebrate my birthday,” Jasper said. “I hope you and Jake can make it.”

  “We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I said. “When should we come?”

  “Tomorrow at six,” Jasper said. “You know, I’ve been rattling around in that big old house for far too long. Even with what little is left of my kith and kin coming, there’s plenty of room at my place. Would you and Jake like to stay for the night? It would mean the world to me if you’d say yes.”

  “I’m not sure. I’ll have to speak with my husband first,” I said.

  “Do that.” Jasper took another bite of his donut, and then he stood. “Let’s go, Bobby. Your father has stewed long enough.”

  “I say we let him marinate a little bit longer,” Bobby said, and then he took another bite of his donut.

  “You know, you can always take that donut with you.”

  “That’s my plan,” he said as he slid a single dollar bill under his plate.

  It would mostly cover the cost of the donut, since I’d had to go up on my prices recently, but Jasper’s substantial tip more than made up for it.

  Bobby noticed the ten his great-grandfather left. “I think you made a mistake there, Jasper,” he said as he retrieved the bill and tried to hand it back to him.

  “I know perfectly well what I’m doing,” Jasper said as he winked at me. “Put it back.”

  “He’s right, you know,” I said. “It’s far too much.”

  “What can I say? To some, I’m feeling particularly generous.” As Bobby shrugged and replaced the bill where he’d found it, Jasper continued, “I expect you out at my place tomorrow evening, Suzanne. Convince Jake to spend the night. It should be interesting, at the very least, and I could really use both of you there.” As Jasper said the last bit, his gaze looked at me imploringly. Something was going on here besides a friendly party invitation. Clearly Jasper wanted both my husband and me there, and I doubted it was because of my donut-making skills. Jake was a former state police investigator, though. Could it be that Jasper was in need of my husband’s services and not mine? Lately, Jake had been toying with the idea of starting his own private detective agency, but so far, it was just that, an idea. Maybe Jasper’s request would give him the push he needed to put his hard-earned skills to work.

  If nothing else, it might be fun seeing Jasper tease his family and friends on his birthday, no matter what year he was celebrating.

  “Do you feel like going to a party tomorrow night? It’s a sleepover,” I told Jake with a grin as I walked through the front door of our cottage.

  “You’re too late with your invitation,” my husband said with a grin. “Jasper just called me.”

  “Man, he really must want us to go,” I said. “What did you tell him?” I was expecting my husband to decline the offer, but I was going to do my best to talk him into going. Emma, my assistant at Donut Hearts, was already set to work the day after the party—and the one after that—with her mother, Sharon, so I was as free as a bird.

  “I told him that we’d be there,” Jake said. “I hope you don’t mind that I spoke for the both of us. If you don’t want to go, I can probably still get us out of it.”

  “No way. I think it sounds awesome. How old do you think Jasper really is?”

  “I could ask a buddy to look it up online, but then what fun would that be?” Jake asked me with a smile. He still had strong ties with the state police, though he was reluctant to use them.

  “I say we go with his latest estimate. He told me this morning that he was one hundred and thirty-seven years old.”

  Jake laughed. “He’s the only person I know who pads his age instead of shaving years off. Do you still want to go hiking this afternoon? If you’re too tired to go, I understand completely.”

  “No, I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I said. “Let me grab a quick shower, change, and then I’ll be ready to go.”

  “You realize that there’s a good chance you’ll need another shower when we get back, right?” he asked me.

  “Yes, but I smell like donuts right now. I’m normally fine with it, but if we’re going to be in the great outdoors, I’d actually like to smell the wildflowers instead of my own hair.”

  “I don’t know. I like the way you smell just fine,” Jake protested.

  “I know that. If I fried a little bacon to add to it, it would be the perfect scent, wouldn’t it?”

  He nodded. “You wouldn’t hear me complaining.”

  “I’ll be ready in ten minutes, so get your hiking boots on.”

  “Will do,” he said.

  After a quick shower and a change of clothes, I felt like a brand new woman. As I was drying my hair, I told my husband, “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”

  “It is at that. Suzanne, we aren’t going hiking so you can walk me like some kind of a dog, are we?” He didn’t look happy about the prospect.

  I shook my head. “No way. I need the exercise a lot more than you do. Try working around donuts all day long and see how long it takes for your jeans to get tight.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked me intently.

  “Positive. It will be good for both of us,” I said as I reached down, grabbed his hand, and pulled him up off the couch. “Come on. I’ll race you to the truck. The winner gets to drive it.”

  He laughed. “I didn’t think you liked driving my old beater.”

  “What can I say? It’s growing on me.”

  We raced to the truck at full speed. I would have beat him, too, but he cut me off at the last second as he lunged for the bed of the truck and tapped it. “I win. I get to drive.”

  “Fine,” I said. “But I almost beat you. You know that, don’t you?”

  “That’s why I’m happy we’re taking this walk.”

  “It’s not a walk. It’s a hike,” I said.

&
nbsp; “Strolling to the top of the waterfall is not what I’d call an endurance expedition,” Jake replied.

  “Maybe not, but it’s the best hike we have around.” I’d been reluctant to ever take that hike again after what had happened on it to me once, but I’d finally gotten over it, and Jake and I were now making it at least a weekly outing lately.

  I’d actually lost two pounds since we’d started.

  He’d lost five.

  I wondered if he wasn’t sneaking out and exercising while I was at work. If he was, then good for him. Hiking the trail also gave us a chance to chat without any outside distractions other than nature itself.

  After we parked and started the ascent, I said, “Ethan Finney came by the donut shop and collected Jasper today as though he were a little boy playing hooky from school.”

  “Did Jasper make a scene?”

  “No, Bobby came by before they could really get into it. When he sided with his great-grandfather, I thought Ethan was going to blow his top,” I said, catching my breath as I hiked upward. The view at the top was worth it, but it took some doing to get there.

  “That family appears to be a little odd,” Jake said. I was miffed that he didn’t seem to be out of breath at all, and my suspicion that he’d been secretly exercising without me was growing. “Did Jasper always have money?” he asked me.

  “From what I understand, he was born into it, but then he multiplied it substantially running a factory just out of town. No one really knows how much he’s worth, but it’s got to be in the millions.”

  Jake whistled softly beside me. “Wow. That’s a lot of money. People have been known to do some pretty bad things for a great deal less.”

  I stopped for a moment. “What is that supposed to mean?”