Torte - the beloved small town bakeshop run by Jules Capshaw - is set to hit the stage. But who would have guessed that murder would makes a surprise appearance? It's the role of a lifetime for Jules. The Shakespeare Festival has returned to Ashland, Oregon, for the season and Torte has been castas the supplier of Elizabethan-era treats for the main event. But on the eve of opening night, a brawl between Jules's friend Lance, the artistic director, and a strapping young thespian named Anthony almost brings down the house. . . and the next morning, Anthony is dead. Jules knows that Lance loves his drama - and his just desserts - but she also knows that murder is way off-script for him. Now it's up to Jules to cut through a bevy of backstage betrayals and catty co- stars who all have their own secrets - before the curtain drops on someone else...