Cinnamon Toasted

Someone is willing to kill for computer software in Oust’s genial third mystery featuring Piper Prescott (after 2014’s Kill ’Em with Cayenne), the owner of a spice shop called Spice It Up! in Brandywine Creek, Ga. Piper’s former mother-in-law, Melly Prescott, has surprised everyone, including her pompous ass of a son, by becoming a whiz at software design. Now she’s designed a program fix worth a lot of money. But Melly’s in real trouble when one of the out-of-town software buyers who calls on her is found dead in her basement—and it turns out he’s been there for 12 hours. The insatiably curious Piper pokes around and unearths plenty of other suspects, all of whom had reason to want the victim dead. She gets in the way of the good-looking police chief, but of course she’s unstoppable. Cozy fans will enjoy the Oktoberfest backdrop, though most will have a good idea of whodunit long before all is revealed at the end. Agent: Jessica Faust, BooksEnds. (Dec.)