Piece of Cake

Piece of Cake is the fourth Widdershins book. It continues the Deadly Sins arc with Gluttony as the main antagonist. It introduces a new protagonist Alexa King and breaks from the formula of the other books by beginning in modern day 2013 and featuring characters from a range of time periods through time travel magic.

Blurb
The formerly prestigious Hotel Gula in Widdershins is this year's host for the National Bakeoff competition, and gifted young baker Alexa King has every intention of winning. But unfortunately for her, the prize is not quite what she expected...

Flung into the past and faced with a foe with an endless appetite for the finer things in life, it's down to her and a mismatched kitchen staff of maids, criminals, housewives and more to figure out how to escape the never-ending buffet.

Can Alexa uncover the Hotel's mysteries before she and her fellow cooks end up on the menu?

Plot Summary
"What if the Great British Bakeoff was kind of fucked up?"

Characters

 * Alexa King
 * Nora Fenton
 * Gladys Shaw
 * Rosie Bell
 * Edie Shaw
 * Ethan Booth
 * Mrs Sykes
 * The Butler / Mr Gula
 * Samuel
 * Gluttony

Cameos/Minor Characters

 * Alexa's mum
 * Alexa's dad
 * Lucas (competition rival)
 * Mr Cartwright Senior (previous owner of the hotel)
 * Mr Cartwright Junior (current owner of the hotel)
 * Mayor Robert Hackett
 * Sarah (cleaner at the hotel)
 * Ryan (Ethan's husband)
 * Courage (spirit)
 * Philippe Rousseau
 * Margery White (member of Rosie's magic club)

Locations

 * Hotel Gula
 * Ruby Tuesdays (restuarant in 2013 Widdershins)

Website
The post book bonus content on the website was 4 pages of character Q&As.

Book
The PDF and print versions of the book include 5 pages of character development sketches.

Release
Piece of Cake ran on a mostly Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule from July 3rd 2013 to March 14th 2014. The Kickstarter campaign ran from July 28th 2014 - August 27th 2014 and 467 backers pledged £10,565. The unique rewards for this campaign were a sticker sheet and a metal keyring with Alexa's skull/cupcake design. The stretch goals were A6 character themed recipe cards. The funding goals were reached for Alexa, Rosie, Ethan, and Gladys & Edie's cards, but not Sam's.

Easter Eggs

 * The train Alexa gets to Widdershins passes a billboard for a movie called 'Dead Winter' - this is actually a webcomic.
 * A woman on the train reads a magazine with an advert for a game called 'Derelict' which is actually another webcomic (now discontinued it appears).
 * Alexa passes a bookstore advertising three comics which are actually real webcomics: Curia Regis, Cucumber Quest, and Gunnerkrigg Court.
 * An adult Alexa is visible at the bar in Ruby Tuesdays, the restuarant where Ethan and Ryan have their conversation.
 * The chalkboard menu at Ruby Tuesdays lists 'Green Eyed Monster' (the title of the next book) as one of the guest ales.