BOOK FAIR AND FOUL

Book 4 in the Ashton Corners 

Book Club Mystery series

By Erika Chase

For the mystery book lovers of Ashton Corners,
burial plots tell the most intriguing stories.

The members of the Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straws Society are all chipping in as Molly Mathews, now owner of the bookstore the Book Nook, prepares the first annual Mystery Book Fair. While gossip circulates about the guest authors, club member Lizzie Turner is unpleasantly surprised to see a certain book publicist make an appearance. It seems Lizzie has a history with Ashley Dixon—a chapter of her life she’d rather leave closed.

But when someone gives Ashley a death sentence, Lizzie becomes the prime suspect in a murder mystery she can’t put down. Now Lizzie and her fellow book buffs have to read between the lines of the publicist’s past and catch the real killer before Lizzie is written off for good.

This is another great addition to the Ashton Corners Book Club Mystery series!

BOOK FAIR AND FOUL is book 4 is the delightful series. When I read the first in this series, A KILLER READ, I knew this was a series I was going to follow enjoy.

This was a well written and enjoyable story. I’m a visual person, so when I read a book and I can picture clearly everything the author is describing, it truly enhances the story for me. There wasn’t one scene in this book that I didn’t feel like I was a part of.

I have fallen in love the characters in this series all over again, and if Ashton Corners really existed, I’d be packing my bags and moving. The first thing I’d do is look up the folks of the Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straws Society and begging them to let me join their group. Along with my comment above about being able to visualize the scenes I’m reading, I also can’t enjoy a book if I can’t connect at least a few the characters. More likely than not, I will give up on a book if I can’t make that connection. With the Ashton Corners Book Club Mysteries, Ms. Chase has created an entire cast that I enjoy knowing and learning more about.

As for the mystery aspect of this book, it is very well done. The author leads you down many paths of “it could be…”.  There were several suspects in the murder of book publicist, Ashley Dixon, and I was sure I had it figured out. However, who did it and why they did it really took me by surprise.

This is another wonderful cozy (traditional) mystery series for readers just starting the genre, and diehard cozy readers alike. This is also a great transitional series for young readers moving up to the next reading level. 

BOOK FAIR AND FOUL

is available at your local bookstore

or online book seller.

Barnes and Noble

Amazon

Book Depository

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

Please follow my blog by 

clicking on the link in the 

upper right hand corner of this page.

It's

Cozy Food Friday!

That means it's time to share a recipe from 

another great cozy mystery!

The Cozy Chicks are back!

Every Friday in October I'll feature a recipe from 

THE COZY CHICKS KITCHEN

A Killer Collection of Recipes by the 

Bestselling Authors of the Cozy Chicks Blog 

SECOND EDITION

This fantastic cookbook contains recipes from cozy mystery favorites, 

Ellery Adams / J.B. Stanley

Lorraine Bartlett / L.L. Bartlett/ Lorna Barrett

Deb Baker / Hannah Reed

Kate Collins

Mary Kennedy

Mary Jane Maffini/Victoria Abbott

Maggie Sefton

and

Leann Sweeney

Lisa's Note: Author Duffy Brown is also a Cozy Chick and will be featured on Cozy Food Friday, however, she is not in The Cozy Chick's Kitchen. 

You can follow The Cozy Chicks blog here...

www.cozychicksblog

Today's featured recipe is from 

Ellery Adams

author of the Book Retreat Mystery series, Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery series, and the Books By The Bay Mystery series. 

Ellery has also penned series under the names Lucy Arlington (The first three Novel Idea Mysteries with Sylvia May), J. B. Stanley and Jennifer Stanley. 

On to the recipe!

ELLERY'S WARM CHICKEN SALAD

Laurel Hobbs, the over-scheduled working mom in the BOOKS BY THE BAY MYSTERIES, doesn't have much time to spend in the kitchen. She tries to fix quick, easy meals that are good for her family and this is one of their favorites. Serve on toast, a nice croissant, or on a bed of fresh greens.

Ingredients

3 cups cooked chicken, cubed

1 cup green seedless grapes halved (Lisa's Note: The only photos I could find have purple                                                                                            grapes)

1 cup sliced celery (optional)

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons onion, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees

Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except for the grated cheese and the breadcrumbs

Spoon mixture into the baking dish

Mix the cheese and breadcrumbs together and sprinkle them over the chicken mixture

Bake in the preheated oven until warm and the cheese is melted, approximately 20 minutes. 

Yield: 4 servings

Please note that all food photos are from Google Images. Your version may vary in appearance.

I can hear you all yumming now! ;-)

You can find THE COZY CHICKS KITCHEN and other great books written by the wonderful authors at your local bookstore or online at

Barnes and Noble 

 Amazon

Welcome to our kitchen! The kitchen is the heart of the home. This sense of warmth and companionship is what The Cozy Chicks try to invoke in our novels. And now, our cookbook will allow you to enter the heart of our cozy mystery worlds—the stories of our characters, of their authors, told through food. For a short while, our heroines have taken a break from crime solving to don aprons and wield spatulas and wooden spoons. And they’d like nothing more than to spend some time with you. THE COZY CHICKS KITCHEN is chock full of mouthwatering gems. Everything is here: main dishes, desserts, salads, soups, drinks, and did I mention desserts? Don’t miss this fabulous collection. I’ve got both the ebook version and a hardcopy. Get yours today! --Julie Hyzy, New York Times bestselling author of the White House Chef and Manor House mysteries The Cozy Chicks Are Bestselling Authors: Ellery Adams / J.B. Stanley, Deb Baker / Hannah Reed, Lorna Barrett / Lorraine Bartlett, Kate Collins, Mary Kennedy, Mary Jane Maffini/Victoria Abbott,  Maggie Sefton, Leann Sweeney

Keep reading to check out my installments of 

Book Beginnings on Fridays

and

The Friday 56

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

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

Keeping my Ellery Adams theme going...

I'm featuring PIES AND PREJUDICE

Book 1 in A Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery series

My Book Beginnings for this week

Ella Mae LeFaye Kitteridge slammed a ball of dough onto the countertop, sending a snowstorm of flour into the air. With angry fingers, she worked pinches of flour into the moist dough and the flattened it with her palm, her hazel eyes flashing a dangerous crocodile green. 

"And then what happened?" asked a tiny woman sitting on a stool at a safe distance. She had eyes and hair the color of wet tree bark and always smelled of strawberries. 

Smoothing a film of flour onto the surface of a scarred wooden rolling pin, Ella Mae paused in her work. "After class, I stopped by Whole Foods and bought organic lamb and eggplant so ripe I could still smell the sunshine on it's skin. All the way home, my mind was already in the kitchen, humming as I slid Moroccan lamb pie into the oven, the pecans and maple syrup waiting to be made into dessert, Chewy gnawing on a bone instead of my new leather gloves."

"But you never made it to the kitchen. . . ." the pixielike woman prompted and bit into a red licorice twist, her expression a mixture of avid curiosity and genuine worry. 

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.

Continuing with PIES AND PREJUDICE theme

My Friday 56

"Gum? You used those pockets to conceal your cigarettes back in high school," Adelaide teased. 

"And other things," Sissy added with an enigmatic wink. 

When the going gets tough, Ella Mae LaFaye bakes pies. So when she catches her husband cheating in New York, she heads back home to Havenwood, Georgia, where she can drown her sorrows in fresh fruit filling and flakey crust. But her pies aren't just delicious. They're having magical effects on the people who eat them--and the public is hungry for more.

Discovering her hidden talent for enchantment, Ella Mae makes her own wish come true by opening the Charmed Pie Shoppe. But with her old nemesis Loralyn Gaynor making trouble, and her old crush Hugh Dylan making nice, she has more than pie on her plate. and when Loralyn's fiancé is found dead--killed with Ella Mae's rolling pin--it'll take all her sweet magic to clear her name.

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

You can follow my blog by 

clicking on the link in the 

upper right hand corner of this page.

Continue reading for the answer to the 

Wednesday Whodunit!

?????????????????????????????????

Answer to Whodunit Wednesday

The Commercial Break Break-In

 SOLUTION

   "You don't have to get snippy," Sherman said. His feelings were hurt, but not enough to keep him from showing off. "First off, this was an inside job. When Trent stepped on the ladder, it crunched through the snow, proving it had never supported any weight."

   Amelia Warner gasped. "You're saying it was one of us? Let me tell you, Mr. Sherman Holmes . . ."

   Sherman scurried behind Trent, as if looking for protection. And then, in a split second, he pulled the revolver from the guard's holster.

   Sherman trained the gun on the startled guard. "It couldn't have been someone from inside the house because there were o snowy footprints leading to the door. So, whoever put up the ladder didn't come out of the house or go back into it. If you'll all check Mr. Trent's coat pockets, I believe you'll find the jewelry and cash."

   "Me?" Trent bristled. "I'm the one who discovered the ladder."

   "After you planted it there. While we thought you were so bravely searching the upstairs rooms, you were actually robbing them,"

I was so proud of myself. I knew I had this one right! 

Ummm...but I didn't. :-(

Did you?

Check back next week for another 

Wednesday Whodunit! 

It's

Whodunit Wednesday & Thursday

(Running this one for two days since I'm late getting it posted)

Do you like to solve mysteries?

Do you love to win prizes?

If you said yes to both questions,

you're in the right place! 

It's easy.

Read the following story and if you think you know

Whodunit, enter your answer into 

the Rafflecopter form below.

One lucky winner will win a

Surprise!

This giveaway is normally brought 

to you by me alone.  

However, this week, author 

CAROLYN HART 

has been kind enough to donate a signed book as the prize!

(That title will remain a surprise)

In honor of Carolyn donating today's prize, I have added another option for winning on Rafflecopter. 

You MUST answer at least the first question in order to use the "Like Carolyn Hart's Facebook page" option. 

Carolyn's newest title GHOST WANTED

is now available for pre-order

This giveaway is open to the US and Canada

Sound fun?

Well then, get reading!

THE COMMERCIAL BREAK BREAK-IN

   An inch of snow fell that evening, turning to crusty sleet that hardened and made everything beautiful and treacherous. When the skies cleared, Sherman went for stroll. 

   "What ho, Trent! A quiet night, eh?" Sherman waved to the uniformed guard hired to patrol the neighborhood. 

   "A little too quiet." Tom Trent was naturally suspicious and pessimistic, good traits for a neighborhood security guard. At the moment, he was scanning his flashlight beam across the suburban landscape. "Uh-oh." His light stopped on the side of the Warner family's home. 

   Sherman saw what he meant. The ladder that Bill Warner had used last fall to paint the house was now propped up against it, leading up to a second-story window. The flashlight beam scanned the rest of the house. Lights were on downstairs but not upstairs. The family had undoubtedly come home before the snowfall, since there were no footprints going up the walkway. But there were other footprints, a single set leading to the dry space under the eaves where the ladder was usually stored. The same prints led to where the ladder now stood, then retreated back to the sidewalk. 

   Trent checked out the ladder, stepping on the first rung and causing the wooden feet to crunch into the hardened snow. Without a word, the guard crossed to the front door, drew his revolver, and knocked. Sherman followed. 

   Amelia Warner answered the door. "Tom. Sherman. What's wrong?" 

   "Possible break-in," Trent replied, then asked a few questions. Amelia, Bill, and Frank, a visiting friend, had been home for about three hours. For the past hour, no one had gone upstairs. And no one had propped the ladder up against the house. 

   "Stay here," Trent ordered everyone. Then he tiptoed up the stairs and vanished around the corner. Two minutes later, he called out. "It all clear. Come on up."

   When Sherman, the Warners, and their house guest entered the master bedroom, they found the remains of a robbery. Drawers lay open; closets were in shambles. Bill and Amelia raced to check their valuables. Bill's wallet was gone. So were the rings and earrings from Amelia's jewelry box. 

   No one, it seems, had heard anything. "We were watching TV," Bill Warner said. "I went down to the basement during a commercial. I was looking for an old school yearbook to Frank. I couldn't find it." 

   "I went to the kitchen for snacks and drinks," Amelia reported. "I think I went twice, during two commercial breaks."

   "And I used the bathroom," said Frank. "Someone must have noticed the lights off upstairs and seen the ladder and just taken the opportunity. It wouldn't take long to grab the valuables. People always neglect to lock upstairs windows."

Amelia turned to Sherman. "You're always bragging about your great-great-grandfather. Why don't you put that genetic brilliance to a little use?" 

Who burgled the bedroom?

Bonus entry: 

How did Sherman solve the case?

The Whodunit Wednesday solution will be posted on tomorrow's blog after the Throwback Thursday feature.

Please, leave your guesses 

through Rafflecopter only. 

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