Sourdough and Secrets

A sourdough baker. A rival vendor. A farmers market full of secrets.

Charisma Finnegan came to Cypress Bend, Florida, for a quieter life, a fresh start, and enough Saturday mornings to rebuild herself one loaf at a time.

With her almost six-year-old sourdough starter, Vincent VanDough, riding shotgun in the cooler and her sunflower-scored boules earning a loyal following at the local farmers market, Charisma is finally beginning to feel like she belongs. The market has its own rhythm: gossip tucked between tomato crates, grudges hiding under polite smiles, and vendors who know far more than they admit.

Then rival vendor Rick Callahan is found dead behind the market tents.

The timing could not be worse. Earlier that morning, half the market witnessed Rick threatening Charisma over stolen customers and sourdough rumors. When one of her own baking tools goes missing, suspicion rises faster than overproofed dough, and Charisma’s hard-won new life starts to collapse around her.

To clear her name, she’ll have to read Cypress Bend the same way she reads bread: by watching pressure, timing, texture, and the small signs everyone else overlooks. But the deeper she digs, the more she realizes Rick’s death may be tied to something bigger than a vendor feud.

In a town where secrets travel faster than gossip and every friendly face may be hiding a grudge, Charisma has one choice.

Find the killer before someone else decides she is the perfect recipe for blame.

Sourdough and Secrets is a warm culinary cozy mystery filled with small-town charm, slow-burn intrigue, market gossip, fresh-baked bread, and one very opinionated sourdough starter. Perfect for readers who love clever amateur sleuths, close-knit communities, and mysteries with heart.