Excerpt: 'To Have and to Kill' By Mary Jane Clark

Dec. 29, 2010 — -- Bestselling author Mary Jane Clark introduces readers to a new protagonist, Piper Donovan, in her newest book, "To Have and to Kill."

After struggling as an actress, 27-year-old Donovan moves home to help out in her mother's bakery. But a mysterious murder quickly interrupts her quiet life, and Donovan soon finds herself right in the thick of things.

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Read an excerpt of the book below and then check out the "GMA" Library for more great reads.

Sunday, November 28... Twenty-six Days Until the Wedding

Mother and daughter worked, side by side, in the kitchen of The Icing on the Cupcake. Piper Donovan mixed buttercream while her mother poured smooth batter into round baking pans. The front of the store was closed, the shelves emptied of the rolls, Danishes, and coffee cakes eagerly purchased by the morning's many customers. The ever-present aroma of sweet delights wafted throughout the building.

With her long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, Piper stood at the table laden with bricks of butter, cartons of eggs, and bags of flour and sugar. She picked up a flower nail—a thin, two-inch-long metal rod with a small, round platform affixed to the end—and secured a square of parchment paper to it. Holding the flower nail in one hand, she applied firm and steady pressure to the plump bag she held with the other. Piper concentrated on the stream of stiff buttercream icing that oozed out from the piping tip and fashioned it into an acorn shape on top of the parchment. Then, pick¬ing up another decorating bag, with a different tip, she piped a wide strip as she turned the nail, cloaking the top of the acorn completely. Piper slowly spun the nail, making longer petals that overlapped again and again. When she reached the bottom, she had created a perfect yellow rose.

She repeated the process over and over, gently sliding the parchment squares with the finished roses onto baking sheets before storing them in the refrigerator.

"You've gotten so good at it, Piper," said her mother as she leaned forward to get a closer look at the flowers.

Piper shrugged and smiled mischievously. "And all those years you complained I never paid attention to you," she said.

"I really appreciate you taking the time to do this, honey," said Terri Donovan. "It's getting so I can't keep up with ev¬erything. I hated to do it, but I even had to turn down three wedding cake orders. Having these flowers made in advance will really help me at the end of the week when I have to make the cake I did promise to do."

"It's no big deal. I had to come out again anyway with more of my stuff. Might as well do these while I'm here." But it is a big deal if my mother's turning down wedding cake orders, she thought.

"Do you have much more to bring back?" asked Terri as she sifted confectioners' sugar into a mixing bowl.

"A few more cartons and the rug," said Piper, squeezing out a final delicate yellow flower. "I sold pretty much all the furniture and the kitchen things to the guy who is taking over my apartment."

"Good," said Terri. "None of it owes you anything. We found most of it at tag sales and, when the time comes for you to get another place, we'll be able to find more."

As she brought the decorating utensils to the sink and began washing them, Piper was thinking about getting back to the city and the audition she had in the morning.

Terri reached out and touched her daughter's arm. "It's going to be great having you back home, Piper," she said softly. As Terri spoke, her eyes were trained over Piper's shoulder.

Piper turned around to see whom her mother was look¬ing at. There was nobody else in the kitchen. "What are you looking at, Mom?"

"I'm looking at you, honey."

"Uh, no. No, you're not. You were looking at something behind me."

"I was not," insisted Terri. She nodded in the direction of the cleaned piping tips. "Make sure you put everything back exactly where you found it."

"Got it, Mom."