It's

Cozy Food Friday

That means it's time to share a recipe from 

another great cozy mystery!

Today I'm featuring 

DEATH BY EGGNOG

by

Lee Hollis

from the 

EGGNOG MURDER 

anthology by authors

Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Barbara Ross

With the fireplace crackling, the tree twinkling, and the carols humming, few things in life are as picture perfect as Christmas in Maine—until murder dampens the holiday spirit. It must be something in the eggnog . . .
 
EGGNOG MURDER by LESLIE MEIER
When a gift-wrapped bottle of eggnog—allegedly from the Real Beard Santa Club—proves to be a killer concoction for a Tinker’s Cove local, all Lucy Stone wants for Christmas is to find the murdering mixologist who’s stirring up trouble.
 
DEATH BY EGGNOG by LEE HOLLIS
Food and cocktails columnist Hayley Powell has never cared much for Bar Harbor’s grouchy town librarian, Agatha Farnsworth. But after the Scroogy senior has a fatal—and suspicious—allergic reaction to supposedly non-dairy eggnog, it’s up to Hayley to ladle out some justice.
 
NOGGED OFF by BARBARA ROSS
Julia Snowden’s tenant Imogen Geinkes seems to be jinxed. First, her poorly named “Killer Eggnog” gives all her co-workers food poisoning at the holiday party, then her boyfriend’s body shows up in Julia’s moving truck as she’s headed back to Busman’s Harbor. Now Julia has to get moving to catch the cold-hearted culprit. 
 
Cozy up with a glass of eggnog and enjoy the spirit of murder and mystery in a Yuletide treat perfect for those winter holidays . . .

!!!GIVEAWAY!!!

Lee Hollis is giving four (4) lucky winners 

a signed hardcover copy of

EGGNOG MURDER

This giveaway is open Worldwide! 

You the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post.

About Lee Hollis

Holly Simason

Holly Simason is an award winning food and cocktails columnist who worked for the Mount Desert Islander newspaper in Bar Harbor, Maine for ten years.

While working at the paper, she won her first award for her column in 2010. It was at that point her brother Rick Copp saw an opportunity. He writes mysteries and she writes recipes. Combine the two for a new book series. They would write under a pen name comprised of their middle names “Lee” and “Hollis”. And the successful Hayley Powell Food & Cocktails Mystery series was born.

Holly now resides on the Crystal Coast in North Carolina where she continues to write the popular series with her brother. She is also busy creating and testing new recipes for a future Hayley Powell cookbook.

Holly continues to visit her home town of Bar Harbor every summer where the series is set to reconnect with friends and keep her Maine roots intact.

Any similarities between her and Hayley Powell are strictly coincidental.

Rick Copp

Rick Copp is a veteran TV and Film scriptwriter whose many credits include The Golden Girls, Wings, Teen Titans, The Brady Bunch Movie, Scooby Doo, Barbershop among many others. Currently he writes, produces and stars in the hit web series Where the Bears Are.

In 2003, he wrote his first comedic murder mystery The Actor’s Guide to Murder, which was followed by two sequels. He also penned a 2007 stand alone novel Fingerprints & Facelifts and a 2010 graphic novel Celebrity Zombie Killers. Once he read his sister’s food and cocktails column, he became an instant fan of her recipes and it was his editor at Kensington Publishing who first suggested a cozy mystery series with recipes featuring an intrepid food columnist with a nose for crime solving.

Rick bounces back and forth between LA where he continues to work on TV and film projects and Palm Springs, California where he writes the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery series.

MY REVIEW

I’ve heard good things come in small packages. In this particular case…Great things!

I’m a huge fan of the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mysteries. Not to go all Kathy Bates Misery or anything, but there is a chance I am this series biggest fan! So, when I got my hands on the EGGNOG MURDER anthology by authors Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Barbara Ross, of course I had to read DEATH BY EGGNOG by Lee Hollis first!

With DEATH BY EGGNOG being half the length (or less) than a whole book in this series, Lee Hollis still pens a cohesive tale from beginning to end with the same brilliance as a full length book. The story moved at a fast pace, but was in no way rushed, and still had all the mystery, hilarity, and intelligence that I have come to know and look forward to with each and every Hayley Powell book.

I was stumped as to who the killer was. The ending took me completely by surprise. I read the reveal with on the edge of my seat, opened mouth, and muttering Nah-uh over and over. Well done!

DEATH BY EGGNOG is a true tasty delight!

Today's recipe is from

DEATH OF A PUMPKIN CARVER

by Lee Hollis

HAYLEY'S PUMPKIN 

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Ingredients

1 stick of butter melted (½ cup)

¼ cup brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

6 tablespoons pumpkin puree

1 ½ cups flour

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

½ cup chocolate chips

Directions

In a bowl mix your melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar together. Whisk in the vanilla and pumpkin puree.

In a large bowl mix together your flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Pour your wet ingredients into your dry and mix together. This dough will be soft. Mix in your chocolate chips and cover and chill the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 days.

Line your baking sheets with parchment paper and remove dough from fridge. Take rounded tablespoons full of dough and make balls and place on cookie sheets. Lightly flatten with your hand. Bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes then remove from oven cool slightly and place on wire rack to finish cooling. 

Oh yeah. You can smell them, can't you?

You know you're going to bake some of your own!

~*~*~

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 

DEATH BY EGGNOG

from the

EGGNOG MURDER

anthology

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

Hayley wasn't sure she had heard right. She looked up from her desktop computer to see Island Times crime reporter Bruce Linney staring at her and waiting for an answer. 

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 

(Since this is the second

story in an anthology, 

the 56th page is actually 

page 188)

"You know, last night I had a dream that he came here and arrested me and I was carted off to jail and then convicted of first-degree murder and sent to a state prison and had to wear one of those unflattering orange jumpsuits like on that Netflix show." 

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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.

Lisa Ks Book Reviews blog is proud to bring to you

THE COZY TIMES

Special Edition

 

Today The Cozy Times is featuring the 

The Colwestern Chronicle

Arson and murder and the mob . . . oh my!

 

Check out this article from the Chronicle.

Arson or Accident?

Submitted by Staff Reporter Catherine Bruns

Hot off the presses! Last evening, fire raged through Sally’s Samples, a bakery located at 39 Elk Street. While details are sketchy, rumors abound from the local town gossip that proprietor Sally Muccio became upset over a nasty fortune cookie message and may have even started the blaze herself.

The shop is famous for their free, homemade fortune cookies that are given out with every purchase. Unfortunately, the specialty cookie shop is also known for a high murder rate. It seems accurate to say that Miss Muccio is a magnet for disaster when it comes to attracting killer crimes at her business location.

Sadly, the dead body of notorious mob member Bernardo Napoli was found in the back room of the bakery. Police Officer Brian Jenkins, one of the first to arrive at the crime scene, would not comment on this when contacted by phone. Straight from the cozy grapevine, we’ve heard that’s because he’s interested in more than just Miss Muccio’s chocolate chip cookies.

Meanwhile, the heat is on for Miss Muccio and head baker Josie Sullivan, as arson is suspected. Miss Muccio’s sister, Gianna, an attorney who lives over the shop and was also defending Mr. Napoli on racketeering charges, is reported as missing. The location has been shut down and the owner could not be reached for comment. An acquaintance of Miss Muccio’s explained that due to lack of retail space in town, the bakery will temporarily be run from her crazy parents’ home. We’ve heard that you can purchase cookies in one room and coffins in another, thanks to the new career path her father is “undertaking.”

Reporter’s Note: I’ve eaten baked goods from Sally’s Samples. While I agree that feisty Mrs. Sullivan is a whiz with her culinary skills (I wouldn’t dare say otherwise for fear she might hurt me), the unique fortune cookies and their messages seem to be the real draw. The one I read last week recommended that I write a book about her bakery. Seems like a crazy idea to me.

The staff of The Cozy Times wishes Sally's Samples all the best! 

A special thank you to Staff Reporter Catherine Bruns of 

The Colwestern Chronicle.

~*~*~*~

That's it for this week's edition of 

The Cozy Times

Special Edition 

I hope you enjoyed!

******************

To learn more about wonder Colwestern, and 

it's residents, read the 

Cookies & Chance Mystery series by author 

Catherine Bruns.

Today's Cozy Times was based on the happenings in book 3 of the Cookies & Chance Mysteries

BURNED TO A CRISP

Book Three

From USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bruns comes the next sinfully delicious Cookies & Chance Mystery...

Just when things appear to be going well for baker and sometime sleuth, Sally Muccio, life turns up the heat again.

It’s summertime, and the living is easy for the Muccio clan. Sal’s wedding to her beloved fiancé is rapidly approaching, Mom’s won a beauty contest, and sister Gianna is now a licensed public defender. But when the bakery Sal’s worked so hard for goes up in smoke—along with her dreams!—she’s not sure how much more she can stand. Even worse, the man found dead in the bakery’s back room is none other than Gianna’s latest client, Bernardo Napoli. 

The dough really hits the fan for Sal and Josie when they’re forced to temporarily relocate their bakery to the crazy Muccio home. Trouble is quickly stirred up as the best friend team must now contend with Sal’s father and his new mortuary business “undertakings,” a middle aged mother parading around customers in bikinis, and an Italian family hell bent on revenge. For Sal, several questions demand answers. Where has Gianna disappeared to? What role did she play in Bernardo’s death? What secret is Sal’s fiancé hiding from her? Sal is determined to find answers...before she gets burned once again! 

**Recipes Included!** 

Book One

Sally Muccio’s had her crosses to bear: a cheating ex-boyfriend, crazy Italian parents, and an unfaithful husband, just to name a few. After her divorce, she returns to her hometown to start a novelty cookie shop whose specialties include original fortune cookies, served with a sprinkle of foreshadowing. But there’s no warning when her ex-husband’s mistress drops dead on Sal's porch, and police confirm it’s a homicide. Determined to stop her life from becoming a recipe for disaster, Sal takes matters into her own hands. With two very different men vying for her affection, dead bodies piling up, and a reputation hanging by an apron string, Sal finds herself in a race against time to save both her business and life—before the last cookie crumbles. 

Book Two

USA Today Bestseller! 

Baker turned reluctant amateur sleuth, Sally Muccio’s, finally found the happiness that’s eluded her for years. She’s in love with a great guy, her bakery is thriving, and now she and her best friend Josie Sullivan are gearing up to appear on the popular reality baking show, Cookie Crusades. But a visit from Sal’s greedy ex-husband Colin, who's looking to cash in on the bakery’s dough, changes everything. Within a few hours Sal’s world—like the shop’s original fortune cookies—is broken apart when Colin turns up dead, and her boyfriend’s arrested for the crime. Now Sal’s mixing it up with vengeful ex-inlaws, a suspicious new employee, slippery baking competitors, and a greasy mobster who’ll stop at nothing to collect on Colin’s unpaid debt. Can Sal prove her man is innocent in time? Or is she about to get baked herself?

**Recipes Included!**

All three titles are available at Amazon in paperback and for Kindle. 

Note: There have been sales running on the Kindle copies, so head over quick to make sure you grab up a great deal! 

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.

It's here!

GET WITCH OR DIE TRYING

Book 3 in the Spies and Spells Mysteries

by Tonya Kappes

When a few women end up dead and the only thing they have in common is SKUL special agent 

Mick Jasper, he is immediately under investigation 

and stripped of his badge. SKUL hires Maggie Park 

not only because of her ability to 

blend in with society when undercover 

but her 

uncanny ability to know things she shouldn't. 

Little does the agency know that Maggie is a 

witch and has special powers she uses to her 

advantage to clear special agent Jasper's name 

and hopefully bring the real killer to justice before 

the killer figures out who she really is.

MY REVIEW

Another magically fun installment to the delightful Spies and Spells Mysteries!

There is always one thing you can count on . . . author Tonya Kappes is going to write an amazingly entertaining story. The proof is in GET WITCH OR DIE TRYING. This was such a perfect addition to the first two books in the Spies and Spells Mystery series.  

GET WITCH OR DIE TRYING is a fantastic mystery. Protagonist Maggie Parks is back and working double time to clear the name of her partner, Mick, when the bodies of women he knows start turning up dead. Of course, Maggie knows Mick had nothing to do it, but it’s a wild investigation all the same.

Not only will you be pulled in by the great mystery, you’ll also find that you will laugh yourself to tears! Honestly, I laughed so hard I sorted. (Yes, I snort when I laugh. But it has to be something really funny.)

If you’re looking for a fast moving, well written cozy mystery, you will find it in GET WITCH OR DIE TRYING. And if you like para-cozies, well, you will simply be in your glory! 

About Tonya

Tonya has written over 20 novels and 4 novellas, all of which have graced numerous bestseller lists including USA Today. Best known for stories charged with emotion and humor, and filled with flawed characters, her novels have garnered reader praise and glowing critical reviews. She lives with her husband and a teenage boy (her other three boys have spread their wings in college) and two very spoiled schnauzers in Kentucky.

Head over to Tonya's website for a chance to win a $5.00 Amazon Gift Card!

Just click on the link below. 

Tonya Kappes Giveaway!

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.