Sugar & Vice: A Hannah Swensen Mystery

At the start, Hannah and her Cookie Jar team are preparing desserts for the Lake Eden Inn and Spa’s masquerade party, which is intended to impress the whole town and celebrate the hotel’s renovation. Hotel manager Daryl oversees the event and pushes for everything to look elegant and photo-ready, while Hannah’s mother Delores pressures her to dress up instead of working in her chef’s apron. Hannah is also juggling her relationship with Chad, who is helping her through the busy night while the hotel fills with guests in costume. The party gets underway amid a costume contest, red carpet photos, and a growing storm outside. During the festivities, a disturbance in the hotel leads Hannah and the others to discover Brandi Wine dead in a temporary office belonging to Kurt Howe, the hotel owner. Sheriff Ron Ealing arrives, seals off the crime scene, and realizes the storm has blocked the road, which prevents detectives and forensics from coming in right away. Because everyone is trapped inside the hotel, Ron and Hannah start narrowing down suspects. Kurt Howe is revealed to have had an affair with Brandi, which makes him and his wife Cheryl immediate red herrings, and Cheryl’s jealousy only deepens suspicion. Bobby, another hotel employee, becomes suspicious too when he seems to know more about Brandi’s private life than he should. Meanwhile, Hannah notices that Brandi had been investigating something related to the hotel staff, especially time cards and possible cheating. The investigation expands when Hannah and Ron look at Brandi’s notebook, the guest list, the hotel exits, and whatever footage may have been recorded before the blackout. Hannah learns that Brandi had been pushing for a promotion and had also been suspicious of someone tampering with time cards, possibly to hide employees sneaking out for side deals. Cheryl later confronts Hannah at the Cookie Jar, frightened that she may be blamed for her husband’s affair and desperate for Hannah to find the real killer. As Hannah pieces together Brandi’s notes and the timeline, she realizes Daryl has been lying about when he saw Brandi and that he has much more to hide than he admitted. Brandi had been working on a hotel renovation idea, but she also appears to have uncovered Daryl’s time-card fraud and kickback scheme with subcontractors. Hannah confronts Daryl, who reacts violently and chases her and Bobby into the garden room before Bobby knocks him out, allowing the police to arrest him on assault charges and take DNA for the case. In the end, the murder is solved, the hotel’s corruption is exposed, and Hannah returns to her routine with the case closed and her romance still intact.