It's

Cozy Food Friday!

That means it's time to share a recipe from 

another great cozy mystery!

Today I'm featuring a recipe from the cozy mystery 

FILLET OF MURDER

Book 1 in the Deep Fried Mystery series

by

Linda Reilly

Talia Marby serves up delectable English deep fried fare in the heart of the Berkshires—but she soon discovers there’s something fishy going on…
 
Sometimes in this life, you have to fish or cut bait. After walking away from a miserable job and an even worse boyfriend, Talia Marby has no regrets. She’s returned to her hometown and is happy to help her dear friend Bea Lambert by working at Lambert’s Fish & Chips, a cornerstone of a charming shopping plaza designed to resemble an old English village.
 
But not all the shop owners are charming. Phil Turnbull has been pestering Bea to sign a petition against a new store opening up, and his constant badgering is enough to make her want to boil him in oil. When Talia and Bea stumble upon Turnbull murdered in his shop, the police suspect Bea. Now it’s up to Talia to fish around for clues and hook the real killer before her friend has to trade serving food for serving time…
 
Includes delicious recipes!

MY REVIEW

This new series had me at Deep Fried! I had been looking forward to reading since I had first heard about it. It was worth the wait.

In this first book in the Deep Fried Mystery series, author Linda Reilly has created a delightful cast of characters, as well as an enchanting setting. I knew even before finishing the first chapter of FILLET OF MURDER I was going to love this book . . . and I did!

I immensely enjoyed the relationship between lead character Talia Marby and her friend, and owner of Lambert’s Fish & Chips, Bea Lambert. They really played well off each other and have a wonderful mother/daughter vibe. As for the fish & chips restaurant, I have no doubt that would be my hangout. I could smell the incredible scents of fried food while reading, and more than once heard my stomach growling. Speaking of growling tums, Ms. Reilly has included a couple of tasty recipes to use as side dishes for your next fish & chips (or any other) dinner!

This mystery had a wonderful plot and was extremely well written. There were enough red herrings (or in this case, haddock) to keep my guessing until the surprising reveal. I did not see it coming. Well done Ms. Reilly!

FILLET OF MURDER is one of the most delicious introductions to a new series (first books) I have read so far this year and has secured a spot in my top five favorites! If you’re looking for a new cozy series to whet your appetite for mystery, FILLET OF MURDER is the perfect choice! 

Today's recipe

BEA'S COLESLAW

Ingredients

1/2 head of green cabbage, shredded

1/2 head of red cabbage, shredded 

2 medium carrots, shredded 

1 large shallot, diced 

1/2 cup mayonnaise 

1/4 cup sour cream 

1 tsp. white sugar 

1 tbs. chipotle paste

2 tsps. salt 

Finely ground black pepper (to taste, about 1/4 tsp.)

Directions

Using a box grater or food processor, shred the cabbage and plaice it into a colander.

Sprinkle the salt over the cabbage and combine, then place a plate over the cabbage and weight it with a large can of tomatoes or something of similar weight.

Place the colander into a bowl and refrigerate for an hours. This will allow the excess water to drain. 

In the meantime, prepare the dressing, whisking together the diced shallot, mayonnaise, sour cream, white sugar, chipotle paste, and ground black pepper. 

Drain and rinse cabbage and dry thoroughly with paper towels. 

Combine cabbage and carrots. 

Add the dressing a little at a time until you've reached your desired consistency. 

Chill before serving. 

Serves 8 to 10

NOTE: All images are from Google Images and Pinterest. 

Your dish may vary in appearance.

This is of course a wonderful side dish or   

serve it on top of burgers, hotdogs or tacos!

Okay, who besides me is 

good and hungry now?

FILLET OF MURDER

is available in bookstores and online!

Please keep reading and check out my 

installments of 

Book Beginnings on Fridays

and

The Friday 56

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Book Beginnings and Friday 56

 for this week are from 

PURL UP AND DIE

Book 13 in the Knitting Mystery series

by Maggie Sefton

In the latest novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Yarn Over Murder, Kelly Flynn and the Lambspun Knitters must unravel the truth from the lies to clear a friend’s son suspected of murder…

Kelly Flynn’s summer in Fort Connor, Colorado, is off to a great start with romantic celebrations with her boyfriend, Steve, and enjoyable—albeit challenging—knitting classes taught by her friend Barb at the House of Lambspun. But while Barb’s advanced stitches are giving Kelly the slip, a more deadly problem soon has her friend coming apart at the seams.

A young woman has accused Barb’s son, Tommy—a young doctor doing his residency—of assaulting her. The yarns spun by the local rumor mill are bad enough, but when the young woman is found dead in her ransacked apartment, Tommy becomes the number one suspect.

The police are ready to close the case, but Kelly is convinced that there are a few more likely suspects. Now she has to knit together the clues herself to uncover a killer who doesn’t seem to drop a stitch.

Book Beginnings on Fridays is a meme hosted by Rose City Reader

Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading

My Book Beginnings...

A Monday in early July, one year after the High Park Wildfire

Kelly Flynn pushed open the heavy wooden entry door of the Lambspun knitting shop and stepped inside the foyer. Shop owner Mimi Shafer Parker was draping a rainbow-hued knitted shawl across the doors of an antique dry sink in the corner. 

"Good morning, Mimi. I thought I'd get a coffee refill and hear how your camping trip went this past weekend."

Mimi gave Kelly a big smile. "It was great. Weather was perfect. Cassie had a ball learning how to cook over the camp stove."

"I tried scrambling eggs over a campfire once, and they got pretty hard. Almost inedible," Kelly said as she walked through the central yarn room to the main knitting room and dumped her shoulder bag onto the long library table there. "Hopefully Cassie did better than I did."  

The Friday 56 is a meme hosted by Freda's Voice

Rules: *Grab a book, any book. *Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader (If you have to improvise, that's okay.) *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you. *Post it.

My Friday 56...

Lisa exhaled a long breath and sipped her iced tea. 

Kelly was stunned by the litany of bad things that happened to _________ _____. "Good Lord! It sounds like that man's whole life imploded after being accused." 

"That's a good way to describe it. I tell you, it depressed me just listening to it."  

PURL UP AND DIE

releases 

June 2

Pre-order now! 

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by 

clicking on the link in the 

upper right hand corner of this page.

BLOG TOUR

I'm so happy to be a stop on 

author Carolyn Arnold's blog tour for

COFFEE IS MURDER

Book 9 in the McKinley Mystery series

A cup a day won’t kill you, but a few might.

Their first case as private investigators have Sean, Sara, and Jimmy neck-deep in coffee beans trying to find a killer. With their client certain that her mother was poisoned through her coffee of the month club, it has them setting out to Williamsburg, Virginia. But instead of approaching matters from the traditional standpoint, Sean and Sara brew a robust plot and stir Jimmy into the blend, all to get close to their top suspect and grind out the truth.

Going undercover at Tasty Beans, the coffee company, the three of them work to expose the culprit before anyone else dies. 

THE MCKINLEY MYSTERY SERIES ventures outside of the typical crime genre, lending itself to the cozy variety with no foul language or graphic violence. The series combines romance, mystery, humor, and adventure for a lighthearted, easy read. Each episode is a standalone read, meaning it’s not necessary to have read previous installments.

Available

Wednesday, May 27!

Pre-order now

Amazon: http://ow.ly/JIUWj

Amazon UK: http://ow.ly/JIWE1

Barnes & Noble: http://ow.ly/JJcvw

iTunes: http://ow.ly/JIV9C

Kobo: http://ow.ly/JIV5m

Excerpt

Chapter 5

Special Memories

      People didn’t seek them out when they felt their loved ones had passed away peacefully. They sought them out to get answers they weren’t getting elsewhere.

Sara crossed her legs underneath the table and leaned forward. She considered taking another sip of her coffee, but decided against it. “Tell us about your mother.”

“You mean, did she have anyone who didn’t like her?”

Sara nodded. This woman was sharp. Despite Sara’s initial assessment that her loss had shaken her spirit, the truth couldn’t be further from that evaluation.

“No, not that I knew. My mother was a kind woman, soft spoken, thoughtful. Half the time she’d be out in the neighborhood picking up people’s recycling boxes for them. She didn’t need to do that, but she said she wanted to do her part.”

“She picked up their recycling boxes?” Sean queried further.

“You know how you set it out on the curb and—well, maybe you don’t.”

Sara felt her cheeks heat. “We do know.” She glanced at Sean, who appeared to be equally embarrassed by being categorized into the rich and naïve segment of society.

“We weren’t always—” Sara rolled her hand, hoping that Sophie would pick up and save her from putting things bluntly.

“That’s right. You’re weren’t always rich. I apologize.”

Sara was wearing a blazer with a long-sleeve blouse, and this conversation was making her warm and uncomfortable. People who had limited means complained that judgment was unduly passed on them. Until now, Sara never realized how the reverse was also true. It didn’t matter who you were or what you had, people always had an opinion to offer. Typically it was fired from the other end of the spectrum based on nothing more than fabricated conjecture. It was a sad reality of mankind.

Sophie continued. “On recycling day, after the boxes and garbage receptacles were emptied, my mother took them from the curb and put them in front of her neighbors’ doors.”

“What a sweet woman.” Sara’s automatic reaction had Sean smiling at her.

“Yes, she was, and I can’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt her, let alone kill her.”

The file held the answer to her next question, but Sara wanted to hear it from Sophie. “Your mother was found in her home?”

“That’s right. She…” Sophie’s voice hitched and was gravelly, but she continued, “was found in her favorite chair by the window. She always loved watching the world go by. She was a real people watcher.”

Sean shuffled some paperwork on the table and lifted a sheet. “The autopsy shows cause of death as respiratory failure.”

“That’s what it says.”

“You don’t believe that part to be true?”

Sophie looked between them. “I’m not sure about that part, but if she did just stop breathing, it wasn’t because it was her time.” She pulled out a tissue from her purse and dabbed the corners of her eyes. “It wasn’t the flu either. I was going to take her to the doctor and have him tell her. I didn’t want to be the one to say what I thought it really was.”

“And what’s that?” Sara asked.

“I’m a nurse. You probably saw that in the file. Well, normal flu symptoms in an adult include fever, headache, fatigue, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, and body aches. Vomiting isn’t a symptom, despite popular belief. It is more likely in children, but my mother also had dizziness and winded easily.” She paused, and when she seemed certain she had their full attention, she said, “My mother was poisoned with cyanide.”

With Sophie laying out her diagnosis so pointedly, Sara swallowed deeply. She couldn’t imagine stating the cause of her mother’s death so calmly. Maybe it had to do with Sophie’s medical background.

“Cyanide? Why do you figure that specifically?” Sean asked.

“The symptoms line up.”

“But you said that no one would dislike your mother enough to kill her.”

“Oh, I never said that she was targeted, but I do believe she was murdered.”

Sara was certain her facial expression reflected her confusion.

Sophie elaborated. “I don’t think she was necessarily targeted, per se, but the poisoning resulted in her death nonetheless. The doctor was always saying that all that coffee would kill her someday.”

“Her coffee?” Sara pushed her mug down the table. The thought of dying as a result of drinking it took away any desire to finish it off.

“Yeah, she drank five, six, cups a day. She found joy in it. That, reading, and watching her soaps.”

Sara ignored the sideways glance Sean shot her.

“You think someone poisoned her coffee?”

“I do, but I don’t think it was someone she knew. I think it came to her poisoned.”

www.escapewithdollycas.com

Click on the above link for a full list of tour participants.

MY REVIEW

COFFEE IS MURDER was a good book (novella). And with the lead character Sara McKinley’s love of coffee, it was only a matter of time that this title would come to be.

This is the first story I’ve read in this series. But I understand that they are pretty much standalone titles so readers can jump in anywhere and not feel lost. In this story Sara & Sean McKinley, the husband and wife lead characters get their first cast in their new PI firm. I really enjoyed them and the other characters is this series. I liked the way they interacted with each other.

Ms. Arnold is a talented writer and I was impressed that she was able to write a novella that didn’t feel too rushed. I would think it’s harder to tie things up with less words and pages.

All in all an interesting mystery with a clever, satisfying conclusion.

About the author

CAROLYN ARNOLD is the international bestselling and award-winning author of the Madison Knight, Brandon Fisher, and McKinley Mystery series. She is the only author, in her genre, with POLICE PROCEDURALS RESPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.^TM

Carolyn was born in a small town, but that doesn’t keep her from dreaming big. And on par with her large dreams is her overactive imagination that conjures up killers and cases to solve. She currently lives in a city near Toronto with her husband and two beagles, Max and Chelsea. She is also a member of Crime Writers of Canada.

Website: carolynarnold.net

Twitter: twitter.com/Carolyn_Arnold

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorCarolynArnold

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by 

clicking on the link in the 

upper right hand corner of this page

I found an awesome deal yesterday 

Hardcover copies of

MOURNING GLORIA

Book 19 in the China Bayles Mystery series 

by 

Susan Wittig Albert

Another herbal treat from national bestselling author Susan Wittig Albert. 

While Pecan Springs bustles back to life in the warmth of spring, one woman's life is tragically brought to an end. China Bayles happens upon a burning house trailer and hears a woman screaming for help. The evidence leaves no doubt that it's arson homicide. 

Jessica Nelson, an intern-reporter at the local paper, is assigned to cover the story. But she's gotten herself too deeply involved. When Jessica disappears, China is determined to find her, before she becomes headlines herself.

and

WORKING STIFF

Book 1 in the Mattie Winston Mystery series 

by 

Annelise Ryan

Former nurse-turned deputy coroner Mattie Winston has gone from working on live patients to cutting open corpses. But she has no idea that trading in her nurse's cap for a deputy coroner's badge will take her closer to her own death than she'd ever imagined...Mattie Winston's decision to change careers had nothing to do with a mid-life crisis or desire to suddenly spend a lot of time with a bunch of corpses. But catching her surgeon husband David Winston in the act of receiving some very special loving care from R.N. Karen Owenby was enough to make Mattie never want to show her face again in the hospital where they both worked. When her best friend Izzy suggests she'd be a natural as a deputy coroner, she reluctantly gives it a try. Now, instead of taking patients' pulses, she's weighing their hearts and livers. But living in Izzy's cottage, which just happens to be next door to her ex's house, is a little too close for comfort, and Mattie can't resist spying on her husband one night. Peeking into a window, Mattie glimpses Karen Owenby and David in the middle of a heated argument - one that leads to David shaking Karen violently by the shoulders...The next day when Izzy takes Mattie on her first homicide call, Mattie's shocked to discover the victim is none other than Karen. Recalling the previous night's scene, she refuses to believe David could be a killer. Keeping mum about what she saw, Mattie is also left speechless by the sight of hunky Detective Steve Hurley...Mattie's investigation soon turns up a host of dizzying revelations, including the fact that Karen wasn't who she said she was. From learning the ropes on her new job to sorting out her feelings about her ex and dealing with her growing attraction to Detective Hurley, Mattie's in deep water and in danger of sinking quickly, especially when she places herself dead center in the path of a desperate - yet determined - killer.

These were such a great deal that I bought the only extras they had of each title to share with my readers. 

I am giving away 

1 copy of MOURNING GLORIA 

and 2 copies of WORKING STIFF 

This giveaway is WORLDWIDE! 

To enter, select the title you would like to win on the Rafflecopter form below. 

You may pick both titles if you'd like. 

There will be one winner per book. 

As always, please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by 

clicking on the link in the 

upper right hand corner of this page.

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'm thrilled to be hosting a giveaway for

author 

Leslie Matthews Stansfield

Leslie is the author of the 

Madeline's Teahouse Mystery series

Readers Worldwide are welcome to enter for a chance to win a print copy of the second book in the series 

MR. TEA & THE BOBBIN' BODY

Mr. Tea, everyone’s favorite teahouse mascot, is back with another adventure. His owners, sisters Terry and Karen Sutter, are in high gear preparing for the upcoming high school reunion. Old friends and “frenemies” alike are just beginning to party when one of the guests, a former football player, is found bludgeoned to death in the swimming pool. Terry’s boyfriend, Detective Greg Mullins, and his partner, Tom O’Hara, are on the case. When another body turns up, Terry and Karen, along with those loveable seniors Uncle Henry and Aunt Rose, put their heads together to try and find the common thread. What they uncover is a terrifying story of brutality, revenge, deceit and old secrets that won’t stay buried. Did Mr. Tea know the secrets all along? Can he help the sisters solve the mystery before another body turns up?

The lucky winner will also receive a beautiful 

summer shawl 

made by Leslie herself! 

(Leslie is still making the shawl for this giveaway, so it may vary in appearance and may take a little extra time to mail out)

Isn't it lovely?

Once again, this giveaway is open Worldwide! 

Please use the Rafflecopter form at the end of the post.

MY REVIEW

MR. TEA & THE BOBBIN’ BODY is book 2 in the Madeline’s Teahouse Mystery series. I haven’t read the first book yet, but now I can’t wait to get a hold of it!

I’ve read cozies with dog, and cats, but this was my first with a parrot, Mr. Tea. I simply fell in love with him! He is a wonderful part of the group of characters is this book.

This story was so fast paced, I felt energized reading it! The mystery was well plotted and solid. I found myself getting more and more wrapped up in the story. I felt as though I was a part of these characters, helping them search for the answers. It was also very fun. There were some real laugh out loud moments for me.

Author Leslie Matthews Stansfield has an amazing gift for storytelling. As I mentioned above, I can’t wait to read the first book, MR. TEA & THE TRAVELING TEACUP, and I’m really looking forward to a third book in this series as well!

Congratulations to Cozy Cat Press (the publishers) for yet another outstanding author in their lineup of talented writers! 

Learn more about the author

Leslie on Facebook

Leslie on GoodReads

Leslie On Amazon

As always, please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by 

clicking on the link in the 

upper right hand corner of this page.

GOOD LUCK!

Note: Twitter users using the Twitter entries and the 

"I don't have a Twitter account" entry, will be disqualified. Thanks

a Rafflecopter giveaway