Cozy Mystery Review: Cutthroat Cupcakes by Cate Lawley

🧁🔮 Book Spotlight: Cutthroat Cupcakes by Cate Lawley

Genre: Cozy Mystery • Paranormal • Light Fantasy • Humor

☕ Book Details & Rating

Format: Audiobook Series: Cursed Candy Mysteries #1 Year Published: 2017 Page Count: 262 Rating: ☕☕☕½ (3.5 Coffees)

🥤 Coffee Pairing: “The Bewitched Blend” (Black Coffee with a Twist)

A bold, no-nonsense black coffee—Bastian’s signature order—served with a rotating single-origin bean that changes weekly, just like Lina’s unpredictable drink choices. Simple at first sip, but with a layered complexity depending on the bean… perfect for a story where “plain” people aren’t always what they seem.

About the Book

Life is sweet for cupcake shop owner Lina Cavanaugh—until a customer drops dead and the police point the frosting-covered finger at her. Things get even stranger when she discovers she’s actually a witch, and her magical aura may have been involved in the death. Enter Bastian, a calm, annoyingly handsome investigator who specializes in magical crimes and seems determined to rope Lina into the supernatural world she never knew existed.

To clear her name, Lina must learn to control her new powers, navigate a hidden community of witches, and figure out who really committed the crime. With quirky spells, sharp humor, and a sprinkle of potential romance, this cozy paranormal mystery is as charming as it is chaotic.

My Thoughts

I love cozy mysteries—the humor, the quirky characters, the slightly absurd plots. They’re pure comfort reads, and Cutthroat Cupcakes delivers everything I adore about the genre.

I typically avoid magical stories rooted in occult practices, but this one leans fully into the fantastical side of magic—where accidentally hexing candy by thinking murderous thoughts about an ex is just… a Tuesday. Lina has no idea she’s a witch, and one of my favorite early clues is her uncanny ability to look at a customer and instantly know the candy they need. She chalks it up to a fun personal skill—turns out it’s one of her magical gifts. Watching her try (and fail) to believe Bastian as he explains the supernatural world was genuinely hilarious.

The contrast between Lina and Bastian is also one of the book’s strengths. She’s quirky, chaotic, and driven by emotion—prime witch energy—while he’s calm, logical, and very by-the-book, which fits his role as a wizard and magical investigator. In this world, witches tap into emotions, intuition, potions, and brews, while wizards work with logic, spells, and structure. Their dynamic creates the perfect balance of tension and charm.

As with all good cozy mysteries, the case wraps up neatly with a satisfying little bow. While the bigger series arcs—Lina learning to be a witch and her slow-burn romance with Bastian—are still unfolding, the murder mystery itself is cleanly resolved, and Lina is fully cleared. And for the first time in a cozy mystery, I didn’t guess the culprit! My money was 100% on one of the ex-wives… and I was delightfully wrong.

Final Thoughts

Cutthroat Cupcakes is everything I love in a cozy mystery—quirky characters, magical mishaps, and a mystery that ties up neatly without dragging you through darkness. It’s fun, fast-paced, and full of charm, with the perfect contrast between Lina’s chaotic, candy-coated energy and Bastian’s calm, straight-laced wizard logic. I also appreciated that while there is a little bit of language, it’s very minimal and never takes away from the sweetness (or the silliness) of the story. If you’re in the mood for a light, magical, feel-good mystery you can breeze through in an afternoon, this one is absolutely worth the read.