Powdered Murder — A. Gardner

When Essie Stratter last saw her childhood crush, she was thirty pounds heavier and addicted to cookie dough ice cream. But Patrick isn't back in town to mess with her head. He's in town with his celebrity tart of a fiancée for a secret wedding at the Pinecliffe Mountain Resort â€" the very establishment where Essie works. Essie is roped into becoming a stand-in bridesmaid by her sister Joy, the resort's Assistant Event Coordinator. But Essie has more than just her resurfacing feelings for the groom to worry about when she finds one of the bridesmaids dead at the hotel spa. Essie searches for the killer, and with a list of suspects ranging from an undercover reporter to the Mayor's gossipy wife, it isn't an easy feat. Especially with a nosy landlady, and a meddling ex in-law with a fondness for nudism. But after she becomes the killer's next target, Essie realizes all her evidence points to the most unlikely person. Will she get it right before the big ceremony, or will the fresh mountain powder become her permanent resting place? **Recipes Included**