A Doomful of Sugar by Catherine Bruns is the debut of the Maple Syrup Mysteries. Leila Khoury is our main character. She is a high school teacher in Florida. She left home four years prior after another disagreement with her mother (the two are opposites). When Leila's father is murdered, she returns home to Sugar Ridge, Vermont to learn that he left the maple farm, Sappy Endings to her. Leila is determined to discover who killed her father. Her questioning technique needs a lot of work. Leila is impulsive and speaks before she thinks things through completely. There are a couple of suspects. There is misdirection when Leila's younger brother, Simon is arrested for the crime. I liked the various incidents that occurred which kept things eventful. I wish the solution had not been so obvious. The clues are there to help readers solve the crime before the tension filled reveal. I like how the reveal was done. There may be some details that surprise readers. I had mixed feelings about Leila. She is immature for her age especially for someone who teaches high school students. She is stubborn, has anger issues, and impulse control problems. Leila is also defensive and suspicious which makes her a poor investigator. Her emotions were ruling instead of her head. Leila makes assumptions instead of logical deductions. Leila put herself and her best friend in danger. I am hoping that her new role as head of Sappy Endings will mature her. There is romance in the story as well. Personally, I felt it was inappropriate for this story. Leila is grieving the loss of her father, but she has tingles when is near Noah Rivers (he oversees many aspects of Sappy Endings). I wish the author had let Leila and Noah become friends first and then let the romance progress from there. I liked Heather, Leila's best friend. She is a sweet, thoughtful, and a loyal individual with an upbeat personality. I also enjoyed getting to know Noah Rivers. It was interesting learning about a maple farm and the many dishes that can be made using maple syrup. A Doomful of Sugar is a good start to the series. I am hoping the author will provide more details on Sappy Endings in the next book. There are recipes for items with maple syrup at the end of the book including the baklava made by Leila's mother. A Doomful of Sugar is a sweet treat with an alarming murder, a startling will, yummy maple syrup candy, a setup sibling, tire trouble, a handsome manager, and a terrible threat.

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