The owner of a delightful Southern café tastes the sharp sting of suspicion in this delectable comfort food mystery . . .

It’s fall in Winter Garden, Virginia, and business at Amy Flowers’ Down South Café has never been better. So when struggling beekeeper Stuart Landon asks Amy to sell some of his honey, she’s happy to help. The jars of honey are a sweet success, but their partnership is cut short when Amy discovers Landon’s body outside the café early one morning.

As Amy tries to figure out who could possibly have wanted to harm the unassuming beekeeper, she discovers an ever-expanding list of suspects—and they’re all buzzing mad. She’ll have to use all of her skills—and her Southern charm—to find her way out of this sticky situation…

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Cole’s Chicken Salad

Contributed by Cole Hileman

Yield: Approximately 7 cups

 

Ingredients:

3 pounds of chicken breasts

3/4 cup diced onion

3/4 cup diced celery

1 teaspoon chicken base (we use Better Than Bouillon)

2 cups mayonnaise

Salt and pepper to taste.

 

Directions:

Boil chicken to an internal temp. of 165°. Let chicken cool and cut into small pieces. Mix onion, celery, chicken base and mayonnaise. Add chicken. Refrigerate and serve.

About the Author

The cake decorating series features a heroine who is starting her life over in Southwest Virginia after a nasty divorce. The heroine, Daphne, has returned to her hometown of Brea Ridge to open a cake baking and decorating business and is wrestling with the question of whether or not one can go home again. She enjoys spending time with her sister, nephew, and niece, but she and her mother have a complicated relationship that isn’t always pleasant. Daphne has also reconnected with her high school sweetheart and is pursuing a rekindled romance while desperately trying to put her past behind her.

Kerry Vincent, Hall of Fame Sugar Artist, Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show Director, and Television Personality says the series is “a must read for cake bakers and anyone who has ever spent creative time in the kitchen!”

Says Dean Koontz, #1 New York Times bestselling author, “One day I found myself happily reading . . . mysteries by Gayle Trent. If she can win me over . . . she’s got a great future.”

The Embroidery Mystery series features a heroine who recently moved to the Oregon coast to open an embroidery specialty shop. Marcy Singer left her home in San Francisco, along with the humiliation of being left at the altar, in order to move to Tallulah Falls and realize her dream of owning her own shop. She takes along her faithful companion, a one-year-old Irish wolfhound named Angus O’Ruff. She makes many new friends in Tallulah Falls, but she also makes a few enemies. Thankfully, her best friend Sadie MacKenzie and her husband Blake run the coffeehouse right down the street from Marcy’s shop, the Seven-Year Stitch; and Detective Ted Nash always has her back.

Publishers Weekly says, “Fans of the genre will take kindly to Marcy, her Irish wolfhound, Angus O’Ruff, and Tallulah Falls. This is a fast, pleasant read with prose full of pop culture references and, of course, sharp needlework puns.”

Pat Cooper of RT Book Reviews says, “If her debut here is any indication, Lee’s new series is going to be fun, spunky and educational. She smoothly interweaves plot with her character’s personality and charm, while dropping tantalizing hints of stitching projects and their history. Marcy Singer is young, fun, sharp and likable. Readers will be looking forward to her future adventures.” (RT Book Reviews nominated The Quick and the Thread for a 2010 Book Reviewers’ Choice Award in the Amateur Sleuth category)

I live in Virginia with my family, which includes her own “Angus” who is not an Irish wolfhound but a Great Pyrenees who provides plenty of inspiration for the character of Mr. O’Ruff. I’m having a blast writing this new series!

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Review of Honey-Baked Homicide

Review (4.5 Stars): Honey-Baked Homicide is a perfect addition to this charming mystery series with a sassy heroine, colorful characters and a wide array of southern comfort food that is sure to have you coming back for more.  In this story, Amy decides to start selling jars of honey in her cafe to help out one of the locals, Stuart Landon.  When she comes to the cafe one morning and sadly finds the body of Mr. Landon, Amy finds herself in the middle of another mystery and needs to find the killer before she ends up next on their list.

This is the third book in this wonderful series and I’m a huge fan of culinary mysteries.  Amy is one of my favorite heroines because of everything that she went through to realize her dream of owning her own cafe and I love her personality.  This mystery was a smart well-written tale with delicious recipes that are just to die for.  I can’t wait to read book number four in the series to see what trouble Amy finds herself in next.