by Maddie Day
First published 2026
Mac Almeda juggles her bike shop, two young children, and her Cozy Capers Book Group during a dreary Cape Cod February. She stops by the Toy Soldier to buy a gardening toolkit for her daughter Ella's fourth birthday. Zia Carven, a young employee Mac recognizes from her father's food pantry, wraps the gift while Mac rushes back to work. When Mac returns that evening, she discovers Zia's body slumped behind the counter with a bloodied toy rifle nearby. The investigation draws in Mac's mother Astra, who had been helping Zia, and shop owner June Fadiman, whose police officer son August responds to the scene. Mac learns that Zia came to town searching for her birth mother, opening up a web of potential suspects and hidden connections. With the police investigation moving slowly and her mother under scrutiny, Mac turns to her book club friends to uncover the truth about who killed the young woman and why.
Genres: american-fiction, mystery, crime, contemporary, adult-fiction, cozy-mystery
Vibes: accessible, community-driven, cozy, engaging, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, community-mystery, found-family, mother-daughter-bond
Setting: Cape Cod, Toy Soldier, bike shop, food pantry
Period: February, 21st-century
Paperback · Thorndike Press
Content warnings: death, murder