Murder By Muffin by Rosie A Point & Charles Timmerman

The second book in the Cranberry Creek Word Search mystery series is just as delightful as the first, even if the solution to the mystery itself didn’t make the most sense this time.

But let’s be honest, if we’re talking cozy mysteries, a thoroughly logical conclusion is often secondary to cozy vibes, and this story has that latter in spades. Our heroine Abby has recently moved to the small town of Cranberry Creek after heartbreak in the big city. She’s opened a bookstore which is pretty much ruled by her cat Reggie. Her landlady Myrna is quirky but supportive, and her best friend Rose runs the local bakery. Abby’s also developing a tentative romance with cute deputy sheriff Nathan. Sure, she had to clear her name after being suspected of murder in the first book, but everything is looking much sunnier now.

And then, alas, it’s Rose’s turn to be prime suspect in a murder investigation. Local food critic Carson Pennington has recently given Rose’s bakery a scathing review. Fortunately, the bakery’s popularity ensured that business did not suffer as a result… until after Rose personally delivers a tray of blueberry muffins to the critic’s home. Next thing you know, Carson is dead and Rose is accused of having deliberately poisoned him with those muffins.

Abby knows that there’s no way that sweet, kind Rose would have even thought of killing a man who’d been, at worst, a minor irritation. But the official investigation is causing strain in Abby’s relationship with Nathan. Soon, she’ll have to take up the mantle of detective herself, to figure out who really murdered Carson before her best friend takes the fall.

In all honesty, I was a little dismayed by how the solution to whodunnit strained even my generous bounds of credulity. Fortunately, the word search portions more than made up for that! Charles Timmerman is great at setting word search puzzles that, like any good cozy mystery, give you just enough of a mental challenge while also affording you the comfort of pattern recognition. The puzzles aren’t tricky but they aren’t simple either, and I greatly enjoyed gliding through them with my pencil at the end of each short chapter.

While the first book in the series was definitely one to get for any cozy mystery a/o word search enthusiast, this one is probably better reserved for the latter. Hopefully, the series returns to form with the next book!

Murder By Muffin by Rosie A Point & Charles Timmerman was published today December 30 2025 by Adams Media and is available from all good booksellers, including