Beagles Love Muffin But Murder (PAPERBACK)

Tall and handsome, with short brown hair and cool gray eyes, Sheriff Walker was impressive in uniform—and not too shabby out of it. Lyra’s cheeks flamed as if she’d voiced the thought aloud. Heaving a sigh of relief when no one reacted, she shook her head at the silliness. Naturally, she’d been innocently thinking of him in jeans and a T-shirt.
“Good morning, Sheriff,” the knitting group chorused.
“Ladies.” He removed his hat, nodded, then switched his attention to Lyra and followed her to the counter. “The usual, please.” 

Without hesitation she slipped a fresh muffin into a bag while Maggie made his coffee. Naturally the sheriff noticed.
“Ahhh, what did you put in there?” He pointed at the bag.

“A muffin,” she said casually and picked up another bag.
Confusion took a few years off his usually stern features. “Is it for me? Because I wanted a cupcake.”

She almost laughed. “You can have one of those as well. I want an honest opinion on these new savory muffins and thought you’d be my best bet. Do you mind? It’s free.”

Rob McKenna, a neighbor and friend, had been her go-to person for honest feedback outside of Maggie and Dan. With his death, the unpaid job was vacant. Where the spontaneous decision to ask Sheriff Walker to step into the large shoes came from, she wasn’t entirely sure. He blinked a couple of times, and she thought he might refuse.

“I guess it’s okay. What’s in it?” he asked suspiciously.

“Good things, like spinach, feta, and pine nuts.”

His face screwed up comically. “What the heck? I hate spinach.”

“You sound like a big baby.” She smirked. “I promise it’s not the kind that you’ve probably eaten before—all mushed up and soggy. Anyway, you’re used to tackling things you don’t like, so why not give it a try. Like I said, it’s free.”

He peered into the bag and grimaced. “Free isn’t much of an incentive if it makes me gag.”

“I should be offended, and if you didn’t look so scared, I might have been. Tell me when you’ve had anything here that made you gag?”

“There’s a first time for everything.”

“Suit yourself.” She shrugged and held her hand out. “Don’t have it, but I swear you’ll be sorry you missed out on such a tasty muffin.”

He raised an eyebrow, and Maggie laughed.
“Lyra’s not fooling. They’re delicious.”

“If other people have already tried them,” he huffed, “why do you need me to eat one?”

“Because Maggie loves everything I bake, where as I know you’ll be brutally honest. I need that when I’m contemplating putting a new recipe in one of my cookbooks.”

“So, I’m your guinea pig?” He groaned and held the bag as if it contained poison. “Twist my arm then—since it’s for research.”

When Lyra simply grinned, he shook his head. “How do you do that?”

“I don’t know what you mean, Sheriff,” she said innocently.
He snorted. “You get people to do exactly what you want even when they don’t want to.