Tea Time Tuesday Book Spotlight Murder With Lemon Tea Cakes by. tea Time Tuesday Book Spotlight

 Today we are featuring the first book in the Daisy 's Tea Garden Mysteries by Author Karen Rose Smith 

I popped over to Karen's blog and found her behind the scenes post where she shares a bit about the makings if the series

Daisy's Tea Garden, a Victorian house in downtown Willow Creek, has become a town gathering place.  Daisy and her Aunt Iris are the proprietors.  

I created the fictional town of Willow Creek and located it in beautiful Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, with its Amish buggies, manicured gardens, fertile farms, hex signs on barns, delicious baked goods and home-grown food, handcrafted quilts and cottage industries.  

This area embodied all the feelings that I want my readers to have when enjoying DAISY’S TEA GARDEN Mysteries—a strong sense of home, belonging, friendship and warmth.  Setting the series in a small town in Lancaster County was taking a step back in time to when values, home and hearth mattered.   

My sleuth, Daisy Swanson, is a widow with two teenage daughters—Violet (aka Vi) and Jasmine (aka Jazzi).  Daisy’s mother Rose named her two daughters Daisy and Camellia. Rose’s sister’s name is Iris. Flower names are a family tradition. Since Daisy likes to garden, she followed the tradition. By the way, Daisy and her daughters adopted two cats—Marjoram and Pepper  

Marjoram is modeled after my own feline  Miss Paddington 

Pepper is modeled after my companion feline Zoie Joy 

Daisy and her daughters live in a renovated barn which she transformed into a unique home when she returned to the area after her husband's untimely death.

 Visit the blog over Here 

Meet the author 

 Karen Rose Smith’s plots are all about emotion. She began writing when she listened to music and created stories to accompany the songs. After expressing feelings in poetry, earning a degree in English and French, completing short stories that became too long to find a market, she turned to her love of relationships in romance. This award-winning best-selling author has sold over 95 books since 1991 and has published with Silhouette, Harlequin, Kensington and Meteor/Kismet. Her awards include the Golden Leaf in short contemporary romance, the Golden Quill in traditional romance, cataromance.com’s award for Best Special Edition and Best Single Title as well as Romance Review’s Today’s Best series romance award. Jane Bowers of Romance Reviews Today states: “Karen Rose Smith’s storyworlds are complete and realistic and lovely places to visit and revisit. She excels at stories that feature couples brought together by infants and children, and she handles her plots and characters with sublime sensitivity.”

Connect with Karen 

Click Here

New Releases

 

Chesapeake Crimes: Magic is Murder

 edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley (Anthology)
Mystery and magic collide in this thrilling, all-new collection of short stories by some of the top talents in the crime-writing field. Tales of fantasy worlds and stage illusion, of magic-users and magic-abusers, fill these pages with a heady, deadly mix!
Here you will find—   

Available on Amazon

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Peg and Rose Solve a Murder

 by Laurien Berenson 

Rose Donovan looks for the good in everyone. With her sister-in-law, Peg, that sometimes requires a lot of searching. Even a sixty-something former nun like Rose has her limits, and gruff Peg Turnbull sure knows how to push them. But after forty years of bickering, they’re attempting to start over, partnering up to join the local bridge club.

 Available on Amazon

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The Trouble with Hope and Glory

 by Melissa Bourbon 

Hope and Glory McIntyre are about as different as sisters can be. Glory is the quintessential Texas beauty queen, while Hope wants nothing more than to dismantle Tumbleweed’s beauty queen scene with the mighty stroke of her journalist pen. Glory’s dreams of becoming Mrs. Tumbleweed might be over when her rival is found dead, and while they might be as different as water and Texas oil, Hope won’t rest until she clears sister of wrongdoing and gets to the truth.

Available on Amazon

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Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder

 by Valerie Burns

When Maddy Montgomery’s groom is a no-show to their livestream wedding, it’s a disaster that no amount of filtering can fix. But a surprise inheritance offers a chance to regroup and rebrand—as long as Maddy is willing to live in her late, great-aunt Octavia’s house in New Bison, Michigan, for a year, running her bakery and caring for a 250-pound English mastiff named Baby.

Available on Amazon

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Death on the Argyle

 by Anne Canadeo 

Spring has reached Plum Harbor, Massachusetts, and the weather isn’t the only thing that’s changing. Eight months pregnant, Lucy prepares to enter an exciting phase in life while weaving together loose threads from her past. It feels like fate when she reconnects with college friend Rebecca Hurley, whose eclectic Happy Hands Café is the perfect locale for Black Sheep gatherings. But just as charming Rebecca joins their closely knit circle, she’s suspected of murder. 

Available on Amazon

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The Trouble with Exes

 by Christie Craig

Everything happens for a reason, but sometimes that reason is that you’re daft and make dumb decisions. When it comes to men, Cassie McGee is a champion at picking losers. Hence, Cassie is in Tumbleweed, Texas, hiding from an abusive ex-husband. Life gets hairy when an ex-boyfriend, now a private detective, learns Cassie is in danger. He and his flatulent, dishonorably-discharged K-9 show up to play knight in shining armor. Ahh, but Cassie’s done being a damsel in distress.

Available on Amazon

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A Colorful Scheme 

by Krista Davis 

Coloring-book creator and Washington, DC, bookstore owner Florrie Fox is attending the wedding of her wealthy boss and a famous romance author, who are taking their vows—for the second time—on the grounds of the gorgeous Maxwell mansion. But it soon becomes clear that the soothing vibe of coloring books is very different from the stress and backstabbing in some corners of the literary world. 

Available on Amazon

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Mischief, Murder and Merlot

 by J.C. Eaton

Back at Two Witches Winery for a short stay, Norrie Ellington is warming to the holiday spirit and the upcoming Hallow Wine Weekend, and she’s happy to steer clear of the writer from Wine Enthusiast magazine who’s come to do interviews about this year’s spectacular Merlot. But then the critic’s dead body is found slumped over a Halloween cauldron display, and despite a stern warning from the local deputy to keep her nose out of it, Norrie instantly switches into sleuth mode.

Available on Amazon

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A Certain Darkness

 by Anna Lee Huber 

March 1920: Life has turned unsettlingly quiet for former British Intelligence agent Verity Kent and her husband, Sidney. But even that false calm is about to end. As threats remain, the French authorities soon request Sidney’s help with a suspect who claims to have proof of treason—shortly before she is assassinated. And Verity, too, is called to investigate a mystery . . .  

Available on Amazon

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The Trouble with Digging Too Deep  

by Diane Kelly

CPA Debra Ott finds herself suddenly single after catching her dentist husband “drilling” a patient. Good thing she’s too busy with her audit of Tumbleweed Pawn & Pistols to dwell on her heartbreak. When an elusive gun supplier fails to confirm his account, Deb has to dig for answers. But the more she digs, the more danger comes her way. Could digging too deep mean she’s digging her own grave?

Available on Amazon

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The Trouble with the Tumbleweed Twister

 by Lawrence Kelter 

Tough times have put the squeeze on auto mechanic Smoky Rolle. Forced with losing his home, Smoky accepts an easy money side job from his cousin Travis. What should’ve been a quick fix goes sideways when Travis is abducted at gunpoint leaving Smoky to wonder if Tumbleweed is the sleepy little West Texas town he believed it to be or if something nefarious is bubbling beneath the surface. Secrets lead to lies and lies to larceny in this pulse-pounding smalltown mystery.  

Available on Amazon 

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Murder at Beacon Rock 

by Alyssa Maxwell 

As a reporter, Emma is used to covering Newport’s social events. But this time she is appearing on the arm of her fiancé, Derrick Andrews, at a small but exclusive gathering of the New York Yacht Club at Beacon Rock, the Grecian-inspired summer “cottage” of Edwin and Elizabeth Morgan. The members—which include cousin and Yacht Club Commodore John Pierpoint Morgan and widow Lucy Carnegie, the first woman to be admitted to the Club—are there to discuss their strategy for the next America’s Cup Challenge, to be held in New York Harbor the following summer. 

Available on Amazon

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The Alchemist of Riddle and Ruin

 by Gigi Pandian 

When Zoe Faust sees the ghost of a murdered young woman, is it really a spirit—or a flesh and blood woman who stopped aging because she’s a fellow alchemist? Sixteen years ago, high school student Ridley Price discovered a secret she planned to reveal through a party game—but someone killed her first. The baffling crime was never solved.    

Available on Amazon

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A Berry Flavored Obituary

 by Rosie A. Point 

Naturally, Elly is horrified. Not only is the victim frozen solid, but she’s a local pillar of the community in the small town of Huli Bay, Hawaii. The cherries on top of this terribly flavored cupcake? Elly’s just lost her beloved husband, an unreasonably tall detective won’t stop asking her questions, and if she thought business was bad before the whole “dead lady in the cooler” incident, she’s in for a surprise.

Available on Amazon

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A Deadly Covenant 

by Michael Stanley 

While building a pipeline near the Okavango Delta, a contractor unearths the skeleton of a long-dead Bushman. Kubu and Scottish pathologist, Ian MacGregor, are sent to investigate, and MacGregor discovers eight more skeletons. Then an elder of the nearby village is murdered at his home. The local police believe it was a robbery, but Kubu thinks otherwise. So does a strange woman who claims it was an angry river spirit. The situation gets more confusing when the strange woman is found dead, apparently killed by a crocodile.

Available on Amazon

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A Nice Place To Die 

by J. Woollcott

The body of a young woman is found by a river outside Belfast and Detective Sergeant Ryan McBride makes a heart-wrenching discovery at the scene, a discovery he chooses to hide even though it could cost him the investigation – and his career.

Available on Amazon

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Happy Rudolph Day Christmas Reads

 

Welcome thanks for joining us!

We are celebrating Christmas & Rudolph Day with a collection of Cozy Mysteries and Sweet Romances.  

I have not read any of these are most are new authors to me.  But I always love to find and share a new read.  All the covers 'Got Me' so I am askin' Santa! 

 

Free on Amazon

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Available on Amazon

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The series 

Available on Amazon

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This one is a Novella

Available on Amazon

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This one is a Prequel 

Available on Amazon

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The Series

 

The Maple Lane Mysteries  

The prequel - Sugar and Sliced

Book 1 Apple Pie and Arsenic

Book 2 Bagels and Blackmail

Book 3 Cookies and Chaos

Book 4 Doughnuts and Disaster

Book 5 Eclairs and Extortion

Book 6 Fudge and Frenemies

Book 7 Gingerbread and Gunshots - coming soon!

Available on Amazon

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Saddled Up For Murder by JC Eaton Read An Excerpt

 

“Put a firecracker under those deputies before Louise is forced to get a prescription for anti-anxiety medicine. She had an incident today while she and Myrna were at the thrift store. Not the resale store, the big thrift store. The one where everyone smokes in front of it. Call me.”

As if it wasn’t bad enough I’d have to break the news I’d be with Aunt Ina at a spa, now I prayed Louise’s “incident” didn’t include another shove or worse. I went into the kitchen, poured myself a tall glass of iced tea, and composed myself before returning the call.

“Phee! You got my message. Good. Louise is beside herself. While she and Myrna were shopping in the thrift store, she smelled that same saccharine and smoke smell she detected the morning Billie’s body was found. What did she call it? Oh yes – cloying. Sounds like a word that should be used in one of those Bronte novels. Anyway, it brought back the memory of that awful morning and the poor woman had an anxiety attack right in the middle of the store. Three people offered her their Xanax and another two had lorazepam they wanted to give her.”

“Oh brother.”

“You can say that again. Suffice it to say, Louise didn’t take anything. She just sat and took deep breaths until she felt better. But that’s not the real reason I called.”

Oh dear Lord, help me.

“I, um, er…”

“Myrna had the most ingenious idea. Whatever it was Louise smelled, had to be the same smell from whoever was in the tower with Billie. Maybe a man’s cologne. Maybe a woman’s perfume. So, Myrna came up with The Inhalation. It’s a new plan. Once Louise calms down, we’ll return to the library where it happened, and have her sniff around at the patrons to see if she smells that scent.”

I clenched my fist and tried to stay calm. “I’m not sure that’s going to get you the results you want, and besides, it may get all of you thrown out for annoying the library patrons. Look, the deputies have some decent leads, let them deal with it. Um, by the way, I was going to call you tonight. Uncle Louis has a double gig out of town and Aunt Ina wants me to join her at the Soulful Serenity Spa tomorrow night. It’s in Tucson.”

“Tucson? My sister wants to drag you to Tucson to stay at one of her rejuvenation spas? What’s it this time? Don’t tell me. It’s the place with the Nova Scotian seaweed wrap, isn’t it? Ina was raving about it. Well, if the two of you want to soak in mud and get wrapped up in kelp, who am I to stop you?”

Hmm, she’s taking this much better than I thought.

“Uh, no. Not seaweed wrap. Something about hot stone massages and warm herbal soaks.”

“Massages and soaks?”

“Uh-huh.”

“You know what? I think I’ll join you. Those places always allow pets and Streetman deserves a break. I’m calling my sister right now.”

Me and my enormous mouth. Now I’m really sunk.

“Maybe now’s not the best time. What if Louise needs you?”

“Shirley and Lucinda have her for the weekend. Louise will be fine. Did you and your aunt pick a time to head out tomorrow? Never mind, I’ll ask her. I imagine you’re driving since no one wants to be in a vehicle with Ina behind the wheel. Pick Streetman and me up first, then we’ll get your aunt. See you in the morning.”

And, for the second time in the same day, someone ended the call before I could utter a word. The minute I realized the line was dead, I phoned my aunt but her line was busy. Drat! My mother must have had her on speed dial. Now all I could do was try to figure out how I could salvage this mess. 

A half hour later, my aunt called and told me we were sunk. 

“Did you mention the Wiccans?” I asked. 

“Are you kidding? We’ll just deal with it when the time comes. Pick me up at nine-thirty, okay?  And make sure your mother’s in the backseat with the dog.”

“No problem. By the time we get to Tucson, all of us will need a nice long soak and an endless massage. The dog’s fine on short trips but moans like nobody’s business if it’s longer than a half hour.”

Just then, I heard my aunt yell, “Louis! Where did you put those noise-cancelling headphones?” 

Yep, it was going to be one heck of a ride. 

Buy the book 

Available on

Amazon

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Connect with the authors 

Social Media Contacts for J.C. Eaton

Website: www.jceatonmysteries.com

https://www.facebook.com/JCEatonauthor/

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-c-eaton

https://twitter.com/JCEatonauthor

https://www.instagram.com/j.c.eaton/

A Shot in the 80% Dark by Amber Royer Great Escapes Book Tour My Review

About the book 

Felicity Koerber’s bean to bar chocolate shop thriving. Despite everything she’s been through with the murders she’s helped solve, Felicity is ready to take on new challenges. So when a local museum offers her a contract to create a chocolate replica of a gigantic sailing ship sculpture for a gala celebrating Galveston’s history, she jumps at the chance to combine chocolate-crafting with art.

The project is fun – right up until there’s not just one but two dead artists on the scene, and Felicity has to change gears back to detective. Logan, Felicity’s business partner and previous bodyguard, and Arlo, Felicity’s ex who is now the cop investigating the case, are split on which victim they think was actually the intended one. Felicity may have to take some chances, both emotionally and in luring out a killer, to determine the truth.

Can she find out how Galveston’s history relates to the murders, unmask a killer, and prepare 2,000 chocolate desserts for the gala all at the same time?

And I thought 

My favorite cover so far!  They just keep getting better.  

A Shot in the 80% Dark was a fun and charming read. 

For several reasons I have enjoyed this series! 

I mean Hello Chocolate.  I can't help myself I always look at the end of books for recipes.   

Author Amber Royer provides the reader with a little tour of  Galveston Island, Texas.  And shared some historical events.  (That btw are excellently researched. ) 

And well I love this little island. 

The characters are just fun.  And I think Felicity just keeps drawing me in like an old friend. 

I have had the chance through the Great Escapes Book Tours to read each title in this series. 

It is hard to choose a favorite character in the series because the author tends to make the animals steal the show. 

In each of the books in the series there is an animal depicted on the cover.  Renoir the Cockatoo makes himself heard.  He seems to have witnessed alot of goings on.  And has a lot to say. 

While Felicity tries to lure out the killer and get some answers she struggles maybe a little with two beaus trying to get her attention. 

I get Felicity and the little  romance triangle it is a bit hard to decide on team Logan and his  mysterious background.  Or team Arlo her highschool boyfriend.  

For this reader I am impatiently waiting for the next one.  It will be fun to see how my hometown plays into the mystery.  

My review will appear on Amazon and Good Reads. 

I received a complimentary copy. 

Buy the book

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Visit the tour 

To read reviews and other special posts click Here

Lime Truffles & Ocean Breezes Recipe from A Shot in the 80percent Dark by Amber Royer

 August 26 – My Journey Back – RECIPE RELATED POST August 23 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW  

Lime Truffles and Ocean Breezes

In A Shot in the 80% Dark, Felicity is creating a chocolate sculpture of a giant boat, to celebrate the maritime history of Galveston, Texas, the island where the books are set. To go with the maritime theme, she creates a set of bonbons with flavors the project has inspired. There are hints of pirate history, and the museum’s mouthy cockatoo, which puts her in the mind of coconut, lime and ginger. They make her think of a tropical drink, and she imagines that the bonbons will transport visitors at the museum’s gala, where the sculpture will be unveiled, into the world of the sculpture. Of course, since it’s a murder mystery, there’s a snag, and one of the artists who has been helping Felicity construct the sculpture winds up dead. She has to solve the mystery before she can actually share her bon-bons.

I love the fact that throughout this book series, I have been able to write about many of my favorite things about Galveston. Sometimes it is just the simplest things: like being on the beach, enjoying ocean breezes. And in my daydreams, this truffle transports me there.

The version of this recipe in the book is fairly complicated. Felicity is layering lime curd with a white chocolate coconut ganache and a dark chocolate ginger ganache, inside shells created using polycarbonate molds. Here, I’ve simplified the recipe, combining all three flavors into a ganache that is firm enough to roll into a truffle, so that it doesn’t require any special equipment. If you prefer a non-alcoholic truffle, feel free to omit the rum and add a teaspoon of vanilla extract instead.

1 c. heavy cream

5 Tbsp. lime curd

2 Tbsp. chopped crystalized ginger

¼ c. rum

1 tsp. lime zest

2 Tbsp. coconut powder

1 lb. dark chocolate, chopped

Sweetened Flaked coconut, for rolling

Place the cream in a medium pot and heat over medium-low until the cream starts to steam.

Place the chopped chocolate in a large bowl. Pour the cream over it, and allow it to sit for several minutes, until the chocolate starts to melt. Whisk the mixture until smooth.

Place the lime curd, crystalized ginger, rum, lime zest and coconut powder in the bowl of a blender or food processor. Process until as smooth as possible. Pour the mixture over the chocolate/cream mixture and whisk until evenly combined. Place the ganache in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

Roll the ganache mixture into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball into the flaked coconut.

Place the ganache in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

Roll the ganache mixture into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball into the coconut until evenly coated.

About the book 

Felicity Koerber’s bean to bar chocolate shop thriving. Despite everything she’s been through with the murders she’s helped solve, Felicity is ready to take on new challenges. So when a local museum offers her a contract to create a chocolate replica of a gigantic sailing ship sculpture for a gala celebrating Galveston’s history, she jumps at the chance to combine chocolate-crafting with art.

The project is fun – right up until there’s not just one but two dead artists on the scene, and Felicity has to change gears back to detective. Logan, Felicity’s business partner and previous bodyguard, and Arlo, Felicity’s ex who is now the cop investigating the case, are split on which victim they think was actually the intended one. Felicity may have to take some chances, both emotionally and in luring out a killer, to determine the truth.

Can she find out how Galveston’s history relates to the murders, unmask a killer, and prepare 2,000 chocolate desserts for the gala all at the same time?

Buy the book 

Amazon Barnes and Noble Kobo Apple Books

Visit the tour 

To read meet the author read  reviews and character posts click Here

 

New Releases

 

Twist of Fate 

by Kathi Daley 

Ainsley is hired to find the twelve-year-old daughter of a woman who was told by her husband, the baby’s father, that their baby had died during delivery. Ainsley could see that the decision her client’s husband had made had been a difficult one, and that the baby’s father had simply been trying to do what was best for everyone, causing conflicting emotions for Ainsley about the job she has agreed to take on.

Available on Amazon

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Peanut Butter Panic

 by Amanda Flower 

Thanksgiving is Bailey King’s busiest holiday weekend. This year promises to be even more hectic, since Bailey’s candy shop, Swissmen Sweets, is providing desserts for Harvest, Ohio’s first village-wide Thanksgiving celebration. Yet, even with a guest list close to seven hundred people—Amish and English alike—the event’s organizer, Margot Rawlings, is unfazed . . . until she discovers her mother, former judge Zara Bevan, will be in attendance.

Available on Amazon

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Home Is Where the Body Is 

by Jody Holford 

When graphic designer and true crime fan Annie Abbott agrees to house sit her parents’ home for a year, she’s convinced that even though the small town has ten coffee shops, nothing exciting will happen. But that’s before a seemingly feral cat gives birth in her garage, prompting a call to the very handsome, very single town vet. It’s a dream meet-cute, but just as their romance blooms, Annie discovers the bloody body of her grumpy neighbor. 

Available on Amazon

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A Treacherous Tale 

by Elizabeth Penney (Cozy)

Lately, Molly has been feeling that she might have fallen into a fairy tale: she’s reinvigorated the family bookshop Thomas Marlowe—Manuscripts and Folios, made friends in her new home of Cambridge, England, and is even developing a bit of a romance with the handsome Kieran—a bike shop owner with a somewhat intimidating family pedigree. 

Available on Amazon

Here

Six Feet Deep Dish

 by Mindy Quigley 

Delilah O’Leary can’t wait to open her new gourmet deep-dish pizzeria in Geneva Bay, Wisconsin—a charming resort town with a long history as a mobsters’ hideaway, millionaires’ playground, and vacation mecca. Engaged to a hunk with a hefty trust fund, Delilah is poised to begin a life that’s just about as delicious as one of her cheesy creations. 

Available on Amazon

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Murder at Mount Ephraim 

by Julie Wassmer 

Pearl Nolan receives a wedding invitation from an old school friend. Journalist Amy has chosen somewhere very special for the wedding ceremony – the historic Kent manor house of Mount Ephraim – and the invite includes a pre-nuptial stay for Pearl and other guests at this venue. Nestled in an 800-acre estate, and surrounded by beautiful gardens and a lake, Pearl sees this break as a chance to leave crime behind, along with her own detective agency and her restaurant, The Whitstable Pearl. 

Available on Amazon

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Mrs. Morris and the Pot of Gold

 by Traci Wilton 

Charlene has hired a van to ferry her B&B guests to an all-you-can-eat corned beef and cabbage dinner hosted by Salem’s Irish community at the Ancient Order of Hibernians club—but she should have booked a hearse. It’s never a good sign when the family black sheep drunkenly crashes a party by punching the guy dressed as a leprechaun. But things go from troublesome to fatal when Charlene stumbles upon a second brawl in an upper room—and this fight Connor Gallagher loses, his anonymous assailant rushing past Charlene, hidden by a hoodie.

Available on Amazon

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Death on the Golden Mile

 by Caleb Wygal 

He takes the beautiful stranger up on her offer. Her father is the host. He is a retired Hollywood music composer and lover of puzzles. What Clark doesn’t know is that someone wants the host dead, and the host wants Clark to figure out who before it’s too late. But a storm is coming that disrupts the dinner party and ends with murder at an oceanfront mansion on one of the most prime stretches of Myrtle Beach. The host leaves hints about who had a motive to perform the deed.

Available on Amazon  

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