To Have and To Kill by Mary Jane Clark

Soap operas, cake and murder...You pretty much gotta assume I'm going to love this book.  And I did, for whatever curious thing that says about me.

According to Publisher's Weekly, this story is a "fluffy first in a promising new cozy series".  Mary Jane Clark is a new author for me, so I can't speak to this story's "fluffiness" as compared to her previous works, but as an experienced reader of cozy mysteries, I can say that it outshines the average. 

Piper Donovan (you also gotta love a heroine with such a cool name) is an out-of-work actress who moves back home to help out in her mom's bakery.  She agrees to make a wedding cake for her friend and Soap star, Glenna, but a series of murders surrounding the happy couple throw a wrench in the nuptuals, so Piper turns sleuth and helps track down the killer.  Ostensibly, it's the standard, well-worn, foodie-themed fluff, but there's CAKE under that fluff (cause saying it has meat sounded disgusting).  

Along with crime solving, Piper is dealing with her stalled career, the guilt of moving in with her parents, and her mother's failing eyesight.  Even when the murderer is busted, these open issues, combined with promising romantic lead and handy FBI agent, Jack, leave plenty of puzzles to be solved in the next installment.