Deck the Donuts

Set at Christmastime, Bolton’s sprightly sixth cozy featuring widow Emily Westhill, part owner of the Deputy Donut shop in Fallingbrook, Wis. (after Beyond a Reasonable Donut), takes Emily and her police detective boyfriend, Brent Fyne, one snowy afternoon to an accident scene after Brent gets a call that a tour bus has driven into a ditch. The inside of the bus reeks of alcohol, raising questions about the accident’s cause, while the injured, disoriented driver, Travis Tarriston, is taken to the hospital for observation. Early the next morning, Emily discovers that her shop’s seven-foot-tall Frosty the Donut ice sculpture, part of Fallingbrook’s seasonal Ice and Lights Festival, has toppled over. Underneath is Travis’s hospital gown–clad body. Once again turning amateur sleuth, Emily discovers that Travis had made enemies among the townsfolk. The romantic stakes rise when Travis’s murder brings in Det. Kimberly Gartborg of the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigations, who soon has hopes of more than a working relationship with Brent. Well-defined characters match the sufficiently complex plot. Delectable doughnut recipes are a plus. Agent: John Talbot, Talbot Fortune Agency. (Nov.)