Baking and revenge

 Readers often ask, "Which book is your personal favorite?" I Usually beat around the bush, explaining that choosing a favorite book from my library is akin to picking my favorite variety of apple. I like the tartness of the Granny Smith apple as much as I enjoy the brooding darkness of the Pine County mysteries. And I enjoy the zesty crispness of a Honeycrisp apple as much as I enjoy the banter between the lead characters in Fletcher mystery series. But let's face it, authors do have favorites. Writing a Whistling Pines mystery is like eating fresh apple pie; warm, sweet, with a bit of spice. And Whistling Bake Off is all that. 

My sister-in-law is a fan of the Whistling Pines cozy series. In an email she suggested the premise of a Whistling Pines cookbook fundraiser. A note to my consultant crew yielded a pile of cookbook recipe suggestions along with some interesting plot twists. But assembling a cookbook itself isn't a mystery. Brian Johnson, my tuba-playing, Whistling Pines consultant threw out the thought that some recipes are closely guarded secrets. His wife has a beet pickle recipe she won't even share with their children, and most chefs have a recipe they keep a closely guarded secret. If they're willing to prepare it on television, they premeasure the ingredients so the audience can see what goes into the mixer, even if the spice mixture and exact measurements aren't shared.

With those tidbits in mind, I started typing. 

Two Harbors is buzzing when a former resident, now a world-famous culinary expert, announces his return home to broadcast a live cooking show, featuring ethnic recipes prepared by local cooks. Everyone knows that the secret pie recipe from the now defunct Oscar's Restaurant will be a feature, but will the recipe's owner share it on national television? That question is left unanswered when the recipe's owner is found dead, with hundreds of recipes strewn on her kitchen floor. 

Other recipes are chosen for the television show, but as the broadcast nears, the celebrity host's checkered past becomes the new topic of the Whistling Pines rumor mill. One resident advises Peter, my recreation director/protagonist, that the host will likely be poisoned, shot, or blown up by people he wronged before his Hollywood departure. Knowing that the senior citizens of Whistling Pines tend to twist and exaggerate things, Peter isn't particularly concerned. He advises the police chief of the possible threat, and they're closely watching the crowd gathered for the television broadcast.

Not wanting to throw out a spoiler, let me say that the broadcast doesn't go entirely as planned. But what about the murdered baker? Hmm, does her death have anything to do with the cooking show, or is the motive for her murder related to something else entirely? Read Whistling Bake Off to find out. It might be the sweetest Whistling Pines mystery yet.

Check out my books, including Whistling Bake Off, at the BWL Publishing website https://www.bookswelove.net