STRANGLED EGGS AND HAM

Strangled Eggs and Ham (A Country Store Mystery) 

by Maddie Day

 

About the Book


Strangled Eggs and Ham (A Country Store Mystery)
Cozy Mystery 6th in Series
Kensington (June 25, 2019)
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-10: 1496711254
ISBN-13: 978-1496711250
Digital ASIN: B07HW1D15K

Robbie Jordan’s rustic country store is growing in popularity. But when a dead body appears, it turns out that Robbie’s home-style cooking attracts hungry customers—and murder!
While Robbie scrambles through breakfast orders for her expanding clientele at Pans ‘N Pancakes, tempers run as high as the sticky August heat in South Lick, Indiana. Real-estate developer Fiona Closs plans to build a towering luxury resort at one of the most scenic hilltops in Brown County, and not everyone can see the sunny side of the imposing proposition—including Robbie’s furious Aunt Adele, who doesn’t waste a minute concocting protests and road blockades. When tensions boil over and a vocal protester is silenced forever at the resort site, Robbie ditches the griddle to catch the killer. But if slashed tires are any indication, she’ll need to crack this case before her own aunt gets served something deadly next . . .
Includes Recipes for You to Try!


 FROM CHAPTER 1

I plopped down on the towel. Stroking through Lake Lemon’s cool water had made me forget the controversy brewing in town, at least for a while.
Lou Perlman hit the towel next to mine, her tank suit agleam with water. “That was the best, Robbie. You can’t beat an August swim.” She stretched out on her back with her hands clasped behind her head. She closed her eyes, bliss etched on her face, her skin nut brown with the tan of a dedicated sun lover. We’d been hanging out as friends for about a year. I shared a love of bicycling with the Indiana University graduate student, and we supported each other as friends.
“Isn’t it way hotter than usual this year?” I was already steaming from the sun and the humidity typical to southern Indiana.
“Definitely.”
Riddle Point Beach was surprisingly empty this late afternoon. An older couple sat in collapsible chairs, reading, and one young mother played with a toddler at the water’s edge, but otherwise we had the place to ourselves. I massaged my sore knee, a casualty of a spill I’d taken a few days ago on my bike. I scanned the perimeter of the lake and spied a great blue heron standing in a shallow marshy area to my right. Its long neck was hunched in, and the narrow, pointed beak waited patiently for an unsuspecting fish or frog. A movement to my left caught my attention.
“Speaking of hot,” I said.
I watched as Gregory DeGraaf parked his bicycle next to Lou’s and locked it to a bike stand at the edge of the parking lot. He slipped out of his bike shoes and socks, grabbed a towel out of a pannier slung over the back of the bike, and strolled toward us.
“Afternoon, Lou, Robbie.”
Lou’s eyes flew open.
“Mind if I join you?” The lawyer, a guest in one of my bed and breakfast rooms, was a dark charmer of forty. Black, curly hair, smile lines around his eyes, and a lean, trim build were an attractive combination, but it was his deep, resonant voice and the longest eyelashes I’d ever seen that clinched the deal.
I knew Lou felt the same. I was already in a relationship.
She wasn’t.
She smiled up at him and patted the sand on her other side. “Hey, Gregory. Pull up a beach and sit down.” She curled up to sit, wrapping her arms around her knees.
“I’m going to cool off first. Back in a flash.” He dropped his towel and jogged into the water still wearing his biking togs. The bright yellow shirt clung to his torso, and the black stretch shorts showed off his muscled backside to great advantage.
“Mmm,” Lou murmured. “Want.”
I laughed. I had hosted a gathering of Lou’s cycling club at my country store restaurant on Saturday, and they’d invited the Indianapolis Bike Club that Gregory and my other upstairs guests were with. Lou had clearly fallen for Gregory at first glance. And why not?
He didn’t wear a wedding band. They shared a love of biking. They were both intelligent—you had to be to earn a law degree, and Lou was nearing completion of her doctorate in sociology—and most important, there was a spark between them. The Indy
group had left on Sunday night, with new guests filling one of my three rooms. Gregory had extended his stay.

While even southern Indiana is not considered by anyone to be the "deep south," this wonderful series has its share of quirky characters and quaint phrases.
Relatives are generally both a bone of contention as well as a source of warmth and comfort. If you like small town. close knit communities and raw, southern grit and humor, this is a book for you!
At under thirty, Robbie Jordan can't be compared to Mrs. Fletcher of Cabot Cove fame, although she is quickly catching up to her in mysteries to solve and dead bodies discovered. When she bought a quiet little store selling vintage pots and pans and upgraded it to a gathering place for breakfast, lunch and gossip, she had no idea how involved she and her store would be in ALL the activity happening in and around South Lick.
How dangerous can it be to invite a few people to stay upstairs in rented rooms and offer breakfast? A few tourists, some parents who drop their kids off for college, nice people, I am sure. They aren't going to get involved in town business or scandals, are they?
Robbie had no clue what was in store for her when she relocated to a quiet midwestern community to be close to her aunt Adele. 

Be sure to start this book after a full breakfast. Your stomach will be aching to try all the delicious food you encounter mentioned along the way. Fortunately there are recipes included at the end.
Along the way to figuring out all the discord surrounding new development on a picturesque hilly area, other secrets will be revealed, along with some red herrings.

The author does a wonderful job of keeping us entertained as she builds the tension towards an action packed ending.



About the Author


Maddie Day is a talented amateur chef and holds a Ph.D. in linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-nominated author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and three cats in Massachusetts.
As Edith Maxwell, she writes the Local Foods Mysteries (Kensington Publishing) and the Quaker Midwife Mysteries (Midnight Ink).
You can find all Maddie’s/Edith’s identities at www.edithmaxwell.com. She blogs every weekday with the other Wicked Cozy Authors at wickedcozyauthors.com. Look for her as Edith M. Maxwell and Maddie Day on Facebook and @edithmaxwell and @maddiedayauthor on Twitter.
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