Description

Spring has arrived in the picturesque town of Ashland, Oregon, where Juliet and the team at Torte are busy baking an array of seasonal treats—lemon curd cupcakes, mini coconut cream pies, grapefruit tartlets, and chocolate-dipped almond tuiles. The town is in full bloom, with Japanese maples adding splashes of color and spotted deer grazing in Lithia Park.

Meanwhile, Juliet’s friend Lance, artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, is embarking on a bold new venture with his theater company, the Fair Verona Players. Their latest production—a modern, gender-bending take on *The Taming of the Shrew*—is set to take place at Uva’s vineyard. However, the excitement soon gives way to chaos as backstage tensions flare and a string of accidents threaten to derail the show.

But the drama turns deadly when the lead actor, Jimmy Paxton, takes his final bow—permanently. Now, Juliet finds herself at the center of the mystery. With a clever mind and a knack for solving puzzles, she’ll have to piece together the clues and uncover the truth before the curtain falls on another victim.