Books like First Degree Fudge by Christine DeSmet

Five-year-old Fudge Hatcher storms into the summer of a Maine vacation, sparking hijinks that involve his brother Peter, their homeswapping neighbors the Tubmans, and a host of family members in a fast‑paced, humor‑filled adventure.

When the beloved delivery man of Cozy Cow Dairy is found dead behind The Cookie Jar, Hannah Swensen must use her baking charm and detective instincts to solve the crime before her famed chocolate chip crunchies tarnish her bakery’s reputation.

New firsts follows Claudia and Monica, new freshmen at Pine Creek High, as they navigate the challenges of growing up and friendship, questioning whether high school will test or strengthen their bond.

A Texas Ranger and a group of paranormal investigators solve a case of murder and disappearance in San Antonio.

Annie Roberts, the local busybody, investigates the suspicious circumstances surrounding her death in the village of Mere Barton, where Mrs. Malory, a woman sleuth, takes on the case as she seeks to uncover the truth.

In his wickedly brilliant first novel, Debut Dagger Award winner Alan Bradley introduces one of the most singular and engaging heroines in recent fiction: eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison. It is the summer of 1950--and a series of inexplicable events has struck Buckshaw, the decaying English mansion that Flavia's family calls home. A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath. For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. "I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn't. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life."To Flavia the investigation is the stuff of science: full of possibilities, contradictions, and connections. Soon her father, a man raising his three daughters alone, is seized, accused of murder. And in a police cell, during a violent thunderstorm, Colonel de Luce tells his daughter an astounding story--of a schoolboy friendship turned ugly, of a priceless object that vanished in a bizarre and brazen act of thievery, of a Latin teacher who flung himself to his death from the school's tower thirty years before. Now Flavia is armed with more than enough knowledge to tie two distant deaths together, to examine new suspects, and begin a search that will lead her all the way to the King of England himself. Of this much the girl is sure: her father is innocent of murder--but protecting her and her sisters from something even worse....An enthralling mystery, a piercing depiction of class and society, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is a masterfully told tale of deceptions--and a rich literary delight.From the Hardcover edition.

After her soon-to-be ex-husband Philippe is found murdered, pastry chef Rita Lucero is stunned to discover that she stands to inherit Philippe's high-end shop, Zydeco Cakes, which makes her the prime suspect in his murder.

In Margaret Maron's atmospheric thriller 'Storm Track,' Judge Deborah Knott faces a chilling murder mystery amid an impending North Carolina hurricane, blending legal intrigue with atmospheric suspense.

In The Interior, Chinese detective Liu Hulan spies on a U.S. toy plant to uncover a family mystery that spirals into a web of violence and conspiracy, while her American lover, attorney David Stark, grapples with legal and ethical quandaries.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Stark teams with Beijing detective Liu Hulan to investigate a crime that links a dead U.S. embassy son, an iceberg‑bound cargo ship, and a murdered Red Prince, leading them through the political and criminal underworld of modern China and Los Angeles.

Bertie earns a hot fudge sundae in three adventures involving a neighbor, his sister, and his mom.

A campus policewoman leads a murder investigation, navigating procedural steps and unraveling clues in a university setting.