Piper Donovan has barely arrived in New Orleans to perfect her pastry skills at a renowned French Quarter bakery when a ghastly murder rocks the magical city. Intrigued by the case, Piper can’t help but look for the “Hoodoo Killer” among the faces around her. When the murderer strikes again, she thinks she can unmask the killer. But Piper will have to conjure up some old black magic of her own if she hopes to live long enough to reveal the truth.

Struggling actress and wedding-cake decorator Piper Donovan is spending the dead of winter in warm and sunny Sarasota, Florida, for her beloved cousin's wedding. But a cloud seems to be hovering over the whole affair. A bridesmaid mysteriously disappears, a neighbor's car is run off the road, and a body is found on the beach where the wedding will take place. With the nuptials threatened, it falls on Piper to unmask the killer.

Mary Jane Clark’s beloved Piper is back on a cake-creating assignment at a West Coast luxury spa for the wealthy and famous --- where nip and tuck and murder are offered in equal measures.