DOUBLE GRUDGE DONUTS

Murder stalks a small-town Wisconsin cultural event.

Baker Emily Westhill has been looking forward to the weeklong Fallingbrook Arts Festival. The open-air presentations throughout the village not only provide entertainment but draw extra traffic to her shop, Deputy Donut, encouraging her to offer a new assortment of elaborately decorated treats. Emily’s parents serve as judges, so they’re staying with her in town instead of at the local campground, where they usually park their RV when they’re not in Florida, and she loves having them close by as she anticipates her upcoming wedding. But a cloud passes over on Musical Monday. Bagpiper Kirk MacLean begins interrupting other performers with a noisy rendition of “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.” Kirk’s antics continue on Troubadour Tuesday, when he drowns out a teen barbershop quartet. As Wee Wonders Wednesday dawns, Emily’s cat discovers MacLean’s body in a parking lot next to a piece of a broken Deputy Donut mug. His death puts an end to his distractions but opens a new concern: Who punked the piper? Could his unwanted piping have enraged another contestant enough to kill him? Or does someone else close by have a motive for murder? Although Emily’s fiance, Detective Brent Fyne, assures her that no one near and dear to her is a suspect, she can’t control her curiosity. Her sleuthing has all the expected consequences, including unmasking a killer (even if the denouement is overlong).

Bolton’s down-to-earth heroine is a winner.