Sweet Ginger Poison by Robert Burton Robinson

This text provides excerpts from a novel titled "Sweet Ginger Poison," focusing on the aftermath of a young man named Navy Newcomb's death after eating one of Ginger Lightley's famous coffee cakes, leading to a murder investigation. Ginger, the bakery owner, decides to investigate the crime herself after the newly appointed police chief, Daniel Foenapper, suspects one of her employees, Lacey Greendale. The narrative explores several suspects, including Lacey, who had a complicated relationship with Navy and is framed with planting evidence, Navy's financially desperate business associates like the donut shop owner Cash Crawley, and a loan shark named Manny Monet. The autopsy reveals Navy died from anaphylactic shock due to a fish oil allergy, leading Ginger to uncover that the real killer is a former acquaintance of Navy's, Silvy Knox, who sought revenge for past humiliation and died by suicide before being arrested. Ultimately, Ginger helps the Chief arrest Manny Monet for the murder of Danny Iper, who had been hired to shoot Navy but failed, and resolves the tangled plot involving stolen recipes, financial desperation, and vengeance.