Maplewood Pie Shop Mysteries
Small-town secrets, homemade pies, and murders that refuse to stay buried.
❯The World of Maplewood
Maplewood is the kind of town that seems settled at first glance. The pie shop opens early, neighbors keep track of one another, and the seasons move with familiar rituals. Under that calm surface, though, old loyalties and private tensions have a way of surfacing.
The series blends cozy mystery warmth with culinary detail and a steady undercurrent of suspicion. Recipes, community traditions, and everyday comforts sit alongside whispered rumors, careful clues, and the kind of secrets that reshape a town when they finally come to light.
At the center is Emily Harper, an amateur sleuth who notices what others brush aside. Her work in the kitchen grounds her, but it also places her close to the people, habits, and half-finished conversations that turn everyday moments into evidence.
Author
Clara Hayes
Clara Hayes writes cozy mysteries set in quiet small towns—like Maplewood, where everyday routines conceal subtle inconsistencies and unspoken tensions.
Visit author pageBooks in the Series
Begin with the first mystery, then continue through the cases that open Maplewood even further.
Apple Pie & Alibis
A Small-Town Culinary Cozy Mystery with Secrets, Lies, and a Clever Amateur Sleuth
Emily Harper comes to Maplewood hoping for a fresh start, only to find herself tracing a murder through local loyalties, quiet tensions, and one revealing pie.
Cherry Tart & Cold Secrets
A Small-Town Culinary Cozy Mystery with Blossoms, Buried Tensions, and a Dangerous New Case
With spring settling over Maplewood, Emily faces a colder case in a town where the prettiest surfaces are no guarantee of innocence.
Lemon Bars & Lies
A Small-Town Culinary Cozy Mystery with Summer Secrets, Hidden Motives, and a Sharp-Eyed Amateur Sleuth
Summer arrives in Maplewood with festival crowds, old lakefront tensions, and a case whose cleanest clue is hidden in the timing of a lemon-bar box.
Pumpkin Pie & Poison
A Small-Town Culinary Cozy Mystery with Autumn Secrets, Hidden Notes, and a Sharp-Eyed Amateur Sleuth
Autumn returns with the Pumpkin Walk, a community recipe ledger, anonymous notes, and a clue on a slice of pumpkin pie that should not exist yet.
Familiar Faces
The mysteries return to the same warm circle of bakers, regulars, shopkeepers, and neighbors, where a casual comment can matter as much as a formal clue.
Emily Harper
Owner and baker at the Maplewood Pie Shop
Emily is Maplewood's steady observer: practical, warm, and far more attentive than people expect when they are talking over coffee and pie.
Lila Monroe
Emily's best friend and pie shop co-worker
Lila brings humor, skepticism, and a practical eye to the pie shop, especially when Emily starts noticing details no one asked her to notice.
Mrs. Collins
One of Maplewood's most observant neighbors
Mrs. Collins seems to know everyone, remember everything, and mention the important part only after pretending it was nothing.
People of Maplewood
Emily, Lila, Mrs. Collins, and the neighbors around Main Street give the series its familiar rhythm and its best small-town complications.
From the kitchen
Continue into the recipe pages for quiet companions to the books, from the apple pie in book one to the pumpkin pie that belongs to Maplewood in autumn.