Sweet Masterpiece: The First Samantha Sweet Mystery (Samantha Sweet Magical Cozy Mystery Series)

Samantha Sweet breaks into houses for a living--all perfectly legal as a caretaker for the USDA. But her real dream is to open her own pastry shop, Sweet's Sweets.Life is a little crazy for Sam right now. At one of her break-in properties a dying woman insists that she take a small wooden box. Sam doesn't realize that the old woman was known locally as a bruja, a witch, until she begins to feel some strange effects from the box, herself.Meanwhile, at another property, she finds an unmarked grave and the authorities come to investigate. The property owner disappeared a few months earlier and Sam wonders--who is the body in the grave? A small mural in the house leads to a connection with a famous artist; a bogus will points to possible fraud; and the handsome deputy investigating the case seems completely enchanted with Sam.While Sam scrambles to fill bakery orders and keep her properties in order, she's equally intrigued with the idea of a new romance. It all makes for a delightful romantic mystery with elements of the paranormal. Amazon.com bestselling author Connie Shelton has wowed readers with her down-to-earth female sleuth in her Charlie Parker mystery series. Now she introduces a new set of characters in a mystery series that contains a little romance, a little magic and a lot of chocolate! Samantha Sweet is a lady who breaks into houses for a living, and the things she discovers often lead to trouble. When she finds an unmarked grave on a property in a remote spot in Taos County, New Mexico, Sam calls in the authorities. A small mural painted inside a closet in the abandoned house provides clues and Sam is caught up in an investigation. A fortune in artwork, a bogus will, and a wooden box that seems to give Sam powers she never dreamed she possessed -- all lead to a genuine mystery for Sam to solve. Then there is all that chocolate! Sam's real goal in life is to use her elegant baking skills to open her own pastry shop, Sweet's Sweets. She's gaining quite the reputation as a baker with a magical touch, but a few obstacles stand in her way. Her grown daughter shows up on her doorstep -- jobless and homeless; her bank account is at an all-time low; and trying to work from the tiny cramped kitchen in her home is becoming impossible. Somehow, Sam copes and she finds that her dreams might just have a chance of coming true