A Mother’s Day Tea at the church promises to be great fun. Bailey’s candy shop is supplying sweets for this fund raiser for a local woman’s support group. Even her parents are in town for a visit, allowing her mom to attend the tea. It’s a smashing success, until the organizers discover someone has stolen all the money while their attention was on the main speaker. Without this money, the support farm will have to close, and the women who are fighting to put their lives back in order will have to leave. Bailey feels compelled to find the thief, but narrowing down suspects to the right one is a daunting task. Author Amanda Flower always can be counted on to deliver a clever mystery, but she also often addresses and inserts a social need or concern into her stories. Rather than just an entertaining mystery, readers have some food for thought as they use their wits to solve the case along with Bailey. ( )

This book although being a short story gives a good background of the main character, Bailey King. Mother's Day and missing money that was raised for women in need are the stories. ( )

This was a nice quick read in this series that I love. Instead of a murder mystery, we have a theft of a fundraiser and the mystery is solved in a day. In this novella, we finally meet Bailey's parents and Aiden seems to beginning accept his mother's pushing Bailey and him toward marriage. ( )

“Botched Butterscotch” continues the cozy mystery series about Bailey and her candy-making adventures in Amish country. Leaving her career as a chocolatier in New York, Bailey has joined her Amish grandmother in managing the Swissmen Sweets candy store. In this latest installment, a monetary theft occurs during a Mother’s Day tea which Bailey and her grandmother help to cater. The theft jeopardizes the existence of a local drug treatment farm for women. Bailey teams up with local law enforcement to help solve the crime.

This cozy novella presents a mystery that is quickly solved in a satisfactory manner. It is a light, clean read with no profanity, graphic violence, or adult situations. Readers do not need previous experience with the characters and setting to enjoy this novel. It can be read as a stand-alone, but readers of the series will feel welcomed by the quirky characters and home-like setting with which they are familiar.

I received this book from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own. ( )

Botched Butterscotch by Amanda Flower has Bailey King expecting her parents for Mother’s Day weekend. Bailey has been busy preparing treats for the Mother’s Day Tea at the church that is supporting Abigail’s Farm, a place for women to recover from addiction. While everyone is enjoying the tea and butterscotch bars, a sticky-fingered thief makes off with the contents of the donation box (over $10,000). Detective Little is going solo and Bailey promises to help him nab the crook and recover the cash. Botched Butterscotch is An Amish Candy Shop Mystery Novella (No. 4.5). It can be read on its own (but why would you want to miss any of the books in this entertaining cozy mystery series). I sat down and quickly devoured this humorous story. I love the cast of characters that Amanda Flower has created for this series from Bailey King to Jethro, the polka-dotted pig. The descriptions of the sweet treats from Swissmen’s Sweets will have you craving something yummy (recipe at the end of book). There are delightful laugh-out-loud moments especially with Juliet Brody and her pet pig, Jethro. Juliet is determined her son, Aidan will wed Bailey very soon (they are dating, but no imminent proposal). The setting of Harvest, Ohio is bucolic. I like that it is a combination Amish and English area. The mystery suits the story and I enjoyed following Bailey as she solved the crime while giving Deputy Little credit. Botched Butterscotch is an amusing tale that will tide me over until Marshmallow Malice comes out. Botched Butterscotch is a delightful cozy mystery with precocious pigs, batches of butterscotch bars, a matchmaking mama, purloined philanthropy, and Mother’s Day mayhem. ( )