"A Crime of Passion Fruit" by Ellie Alexander

GUEST POST and GIVEAWAY

A Crime of Passion Fruit
(A Bakeshop Mystery Book 6)

by Ellie Alexander

A Crime of Passion Fruit is the first book in the Bakeshop Mystery series by Ellie Alexander. Also available: Meet Your Baker, A Batter of Life and Death, On Thin Icing, Caught Bread Handed, and Fudge and Jury.

A Crime of Passion Fruit is currently on tour with Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours. The tour stops here today for a guest post by the author, an excerpt, and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.

Description

Torte - everybody’s favorite small-town family bakeshop - is headed for the high seas, where murder is about to make a splash ...

Jules Capshaw is trying to keep her cool as Torte gets set to make its transformation from quaint, local confectionary café to royal pastry palace. Meanwhile, Jules’s estranged husband Carlos is making a desperate plea for her to come aboard his cruise ship and dazzle everyone with her signature sweets. She may be skeptical about returning to her former nautical life with Carlos but Jules can’t resist an all-expense-paid trip, either. If only she knew that a dead body would find its way onto the itinerary.

Now, instead of enjoying tropical drinks on deck between whipping up batches of sea-salted chocolates and flambéing fresh pineapple slices in the kitchen, Jules is plunged into dangerous waters. Her investigation leaves her with more questions than answers: Why can’t anyone on board identify the young woman? And how can she help Carlos keep passengers at ease with a killer in their midst? Jules feels like she’s ready to jump ship. Can she solve this case without getting in too deep?

Excerpt

Click below to read an excerpt.

Praise for the Book

"A warm and inviting atmosphere, friendly and likable main characters, and a nasty murder mystery to solve!" ~ Fresh Fiction

"A perfect mix for fans of Jenn McKinlay, Leslie Budewitz, or Jessica Beck." ~ Library Journal

"A Crime of Passion Fruit was a fantastic, fast paced story that had me flying through the pages. Not only was it a compelling mystery that had more twists than waves in the ocean, it was a feel good cozy that made me smile (and shed a few tears). To top it all off, stomach growling recipes that you are going to want to make soon as you close the book!" ~ Lisa Ks Book Reviews

"This book is well plotted and the characters are well developed. The author provides enough background information that each book in this series can be read as a standalone. Ms. Alexander’s descriptions of the cruise ship and sea, and food and beverages available to the passengers are descriptive and vivid [...] I recommend A Crime of Passion Fruit to anyone who enjoys reading well-crafted cozy mysteries." ~ RO G'ma

"I've always enjoyed this series and A Crime of Passion Fruit is an excellent addition to the cozy mystery family. [...] It was interesting to read about the inner workings of the kitchens on the ship and the intriguing mystery made it even more enjoyable." ~ Between the Pages

Guest Post by the Author

An Introduction to the Bakeshop Mysteries

Thanks so much for having me on as a guest today. I’m thrilled to get a chance to introduce readers to the Bakeshop Mysteries. The series is set in Ashland, Oregon, which is a real town in the southernmost corner of Oregon. Ashland is best known for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Theater lovers of all kinds visit Ashland during the season (which runs from February through October) to catch a production of Hamlet or The Merry Wives of Windsor under the stars. What makes Ashland even more unique is that the entire town is themed like an old Elizabethan village. Every shop and storefront in the downtown plaza is designed in Tudor style with turrets, wood carvings, and Shakespearean-inspired names like Oberon’s Tavern.

Setting fictional murders in a real location is equally fun and challenging. Every time I visit Ashland, residents like to remind me that their town is quite safe and has not seen a murder in decades. I really enjoy getting to weave in real world details about the inner-workings of a major theater company, touches of life in a small town, and of course, since my protagonist (Jules) is a pastry chef, lots of delectable sweet and savory treats. I spend hours and hours interviewing pastry chefs and hanging out behind the scenes in busy kitchens. I’m definitely someone who has to write what I know. Getting a chance to watch a sous chef cut out dainty hand-pressed cookies or painstakingly pipe buttercream onto a cake really breathes life into the books. Plus, sometimes if I’m lucky I get to taste their magnificent creations.

I also spend a lot of time in my home kitchen testing recipes. Every book in the series includes original recipes. I joke that I’m not sure if I’m going to run out of recipes of ways to kill people off first. Usually I start with a very rough draft of the manuscript, mainly to rough out the plot. Once I have a first draft complete, I let the book marinate so to speak, and I get to work in my kitchen. Actually kneading bread dough, listening to the sound of butter browning on the stove, and soaking in the scent of cinnamon scones baking in the oven helps me layer in the food writing when I go back to the second and third drafts.

In the sixth book, A Crime of Passion Fruit, Jules is taking a brief hiatus from her Shakespeare hometown and returning to the boutique cruise ship where she spent a decade working as a pastry chef. Her life at sea was quite magical. She saw dozens of ports of call and sample cuisine from all over the world while sailing the globe. However, once she returned to Ashland and put down firm roots at her family bakeshop, Torte, she hasn’t looked back. That changes when her estranged husband calls and begs her to come fill in for a week when the ship’s pastry chef leaves in a huff. Jules is initially excited to be back on crystal blue waters and eager to try her hand at new tropical recipes. However, much like in Ashland, she stumbles upon a body floating in the pool and suddenly finds herself immersed in a murder investigation.

I hope you’ll give it a read and test out one of Jules’s summer Caribbean cookies. If nothing else you should have something sweet to accompany your read.

Happy reading and baking!

About the Author

Ellie Alexander is a Pacific Northwest native who spends ample time testing pastry recipes in her home kitchen or at one of the many famed coffeehouses nearby. When she’s not coated in flour, you’ll find her outside exploring hiking trails and trying to burn off calories consumed in the name of research.

Giveaway

Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win an Ellie Alexander prize package (US only).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Links

Add to Goodreads

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

IndieBound

iTunes

Kobo

Amazon US author page

Amazon UK author page

Facebook

Goodreads

Instagram

Newsletter

Pinterest

Twitter @BakeshopMystery

Website

"Treble at the Jam Fest" by Leslie Budewitz

GUEST POST and GIVEAWAY

Treble at the Jam Fest
(Food Lovers' Village Mysteries Book 4)

by Leslie Budewitz

Treble at the Jam Fest is the fourth book in the Food Lovers' Village Mysteries by Leslie Budewitz. Also available: Death al Dente, Crime Rib, and Butter Off Dead.

  

Treble at the Jam Fest is currently on tour with Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours. The tour stops here today for a guest post by the author, an excerpt, and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.

Description

Erin Murphy, manager of Murphy’s Mercantile (aka the Merc), is tuning up for Jewel Bay’s annual Jazz Festival. Between keeping the Merc’s shelves stocked with Montana’s tastiest local fare and hosting the festival’s kick-off concert, Erin has her hands full.

Discord erupts when jazz guitarist Gerry Martin is found dead on the rocks above the Jewel River. The one-time international sensation had fallen out of sync with festival organizers, students, and performers. Was his death an accident - or did someone even the score?

Despite the warning signs to not get involved, Erin investigates. And when the killer attacks, she orchestrates her efforts into one last crescendo, hoping to avoid a deadly finale.

Excerpt

Click below to read an excerpt.

Praise for the Book

"Settle in for a cozy read but be prepared to want to read the next book to find out what happens next." ~ Laura’s Interests

"I truly enjoy the creativity the author shows in developing festivals for the town. I especially liked the Jazz Festival theme used for this book since it’s one of my favorite types of music to listen to while reading and enjoying a glass of wine." ~ Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder

"They are a family of strong women with their own thoughts and opinions. It was interesting to watch their family dynamics weave into the rest of the story." ~ A Cozy Experience

"I stayed up more than a little past my bedtime because I just had to finish the book and find out whodunit!" ~ I Wish I Lived In a Library

"Sweet and tart, just like a good strawberry-rhubarb jam, Treble at the Jam Fest is perfect for longtime fans of the series as well as newcomers who aren’t yet sure what to expect." ~ Reading is My SuperPower

Guest Post by the Author

Researching the truth

“It’s fiction, you just make stuff up, right?” readers sometimes say.

No, not really. Because truth matters. I can hardly say otherwise - after all, I’m a lawyer who wrote a book aimed at helping writers get the legal details right in their stories. And frankly, the truth - the odd, the weird, the gut-wrenching, heart-rending, improbable, magnificent truth of life, is what makes it so interesting.

But I’m a novelist, not a historian. And novelists use fiction - made-up stories - to get at the emotional truth of life. To help ourselves and our readers understand this wild, chaotic world a little better. Through the people on the page, we can imagine how we would respond, what we would do, how we would feel. If we’re doing fiction write - er, right - our readers come away entertained, relaxed, and a little more deeply connected to the experience of being human.

None of that happens if we don’t portray a world that’s real enough for our readers to enter easily. It’s a paradox that writers of science fiction and fantasy confront every day: Though they are creating worlds that do not exist, they must provide enough detail that readers can identify with the story people and places, creating a relationship of trust so that readers believe them when they describe the hierarchy of sensate interconnection on the 4th planet in the Carnuvian galaxy of the Dionysian solar system. (And no, I don’t know what that means, either.)

But it’s just as true in the more recognizable worlds like the village in NW Montana where my Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries take place. Besides, research is fun.

So when I started planning Treble at the Jam Fest, the 4th in the series (June 8, 2017, Midnight Ink), it wasn’t enough to imagine the spot where the victim died. (Not a spoiler, I promise!) Mr. Right and I took along our favorite trail. Here? No, too many trees, not enough rocks. Here? Maybe. What about here? Ah, just right. (The trail was busy that sunny day, and we had to keep our voices low as we plotted. We still giggle about it.)

The Jewel Bay Jazz Festival - the “jam fest” of the title - is based on a guitar festival held close by. Mr. Right is a student, attending workshops with amazing artists from around the world by day, and all week, we revel in music at the evening concert, along with 600 of our closest friends under a giant tent in a pasture at the local guest ranch. (You can visit the ranch in Crime Rib, 2nd in the series.) So though I changed the music to jazz, moved the concerts into the village, and rescheduled it, I called on my memories and observations of sights, sounds, tastes, and talk.

Phrases like “sound check” and “green room”. What kind of guitar would young phee-nom Gabby Drake play? A Gibson L-200, like Emmylou Harris plays, a smaller version of the famous J-200. And what kind of cash could the estranged wife of a student get for that 1964 Gibson ES 330 of his, one of the finest hollow-bodies ever made? He never plays it, anyway.

Every character has a backstory. Some come from worlds where I’m a stranger. What roles did Gabby’s mother sing in the chorus of the Metropolitan Opera? What kind of financial scam ruined her father? Would his fingerprints be in the system? What were they eating that looked so good when Erin, my main character, spotted them in the Irish pub in Pondera with the owner of a local art gallery? (Pon-duh-RAY, in case your research hasn’t taken you that far.)

I draw maps. I sketch out floor plans of the Merc and Le Panier, the French bakery next door, and of Erin’s cabin and the Orchard, the house where she grew up. I tear pages from catalogs with outfits she and her mother, Fresca, might wear. What about Erin’s blue bag and her red boots? Lou Mary, the new sales clerk, loves big, bold jewelry. Hmm, like what? (I’ve tacked a few of those images on my Pinterest board for the series - take a peek.)

Of course, the best part of research is the food. My characters are as obsessed with it as I am, and each book includes recipes so you can create the festival food and other dishes at home. I promise you, every recipe is thoroughly tested in my own kitchen, and if it doesn’t get two thumbs up, it never sees the page. (And if you love food and mystery, too, please drop by Mystery Lovers' Kitchen, where I’m one of 9 authors cooking up crime and recipes.)

Because fiction, like truth, lives in the details.

About the Author

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries and the Spice Shop Mysteries and the first author to win Agatha Awards for both fiction and nonfiction. She lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat Ruff, a cover model and avid bird-watcher.

Giveaway

Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win one of two print copies of Treble at the Jam Fest by Leslie Budewitz (US only).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Links

Add to Goodreads

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Amazon US author page

Amazon UK author page

Blog

Facebook

Goodreads

Newsletter

Pinterest

Twitter @LeslieBudewitz

Website

"Feliz Navidead" by Ann Myers

EXCERPT and GIVEAWAY

Feliz Navidead
(Santa Fe Café Mystery Book 3)

by Ann Myers

Feliz Navidead is the third book in the Santa Fe Café Mystery series by Ann Myers. Also available: Bread of the Dead and Cinco de Mayhem.

Feliz Navidead is currently on tour with Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours. The tour stops here today for an excerpt and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.

Description

Holly, jolly, and downright deadly - the third Santa Fe Café Mystery unwraps surprises both naughty and nice ... It’s the most picturesque time of the year in Santa Fe, and Chef Rita Lafitte of Tres Amigas Café hopes the twinkling lights and tasty holiday treats will charm her visiting mom. Rita is also planning fun activities, such as watching her teenage daughter, Celia, perform in an outdoor Christmas play.

What she doesn’t plan for is murder.

Rita discovers a dead actor during the premier performance but vows to keep clear of the case. Sleuthing would upset her mom. Besides, there’s already a prime suspect, caught red-handed in his bloodied Santa suit. However, when the accused Santa’s wife begs for assistance - and points out that Celia and other performers could be in danger - Rita can’t say no. With the help of her elderly boss, Flori, and her coterie of rogue knitters, Rita strives to salvage her mother’s vacation, unmask a murderer, and stop this festive season from turning even more fatal.

Excerpt

Chapter 1

Mom stopped mid-stroll, thumping one hand to her chest, gripping a hip-high adobe wall with the other. “I need to catch my breath, Rita,” she declared, rather accusatorily.

I murmured, “Of course,” and issued my best good-daughter sympathetic smile. I did, truly, sympathize. At seven thousand feet above sea level, Santa Fe, New Mexico, can literally take your breath away, and my mother had flown in only a few hours earlier from the midwestern lowlands. Adjusting to high altitudes takes time. About a week, the experts say, although I’ve called Santa Fe home for over three years and still blame the paltry oxygen when I pant through my morning jog and puff under overladen burrito platters at Tres Amigas Cafe, where I’m a chef and co-amiga. I’ve even postulated that the thin air makes my thighs look larger. Lack of atmospheric compression, that unscientifically tested theory goes. The more likely culprit is my steady diet of cheesy chiles rellenos, blue corn waffles, green chile cheeseburgers, and other New Mexican delicacies.

Mom took deep breaths beside me. I wasn’t too worried. If Mom was at risk of anything, it was overacting. I strongly suspected she was making a point, something she likes to do indirectly and with drama. Things Mom doesn’t like? High altitudes, dry climates, hot chiles, and disturbance of her holiday routine. I knew she wasn’t thrilled to spend Christmas away from home. My goal was to win her over, and lucky for me, I had Santa Fe’s holiday charm on my side.

I leaned against the wall, enjoying the warmth of solar-heated adobe on my back. A group of carolers strolled by, harmonizing a bilingual version of “Feliz Navidad.” String lights and pine boughs decorated the porticos along Palace Avenue, and pinon smoke perfumed the air. To my eyes, the self-proclaimed “City Different” looked as pretty as a Christmas card. Once Mom got over the initial shock of leaving her comfort zone, she’d come around. I hoped . . .

Mom reached for a water bottle in her dual-holstered hip pack. “Hydration,” she said, repeating a caution she’d first raised nearly two decades ago, when I embarked for culinary school in Denver and its mere mile-high elevation. In between sips, she reminded me that proper water intake was the key to fending off altitude-induced illnesses ranging from headaches to poor judgment.

She tilted her chin up and assessed me through narrowed eyes. “You’re not drinking enough, Rita. I can tell. Your cheeks look dry. Your hands too. And your hair…” Mom made tsk-tsk sounds. “Perhaps a trim would keep it from getting so staticky. You do look awfully cute when it’s short.”

I patted my shoulder-length locks, recently cut into loose layers that emphasized my natural staticky waves. I could use a drink. A tart margarita on the rocks with extra salt would do. My mouth watered. Behave, I chastised myself. It wasn’t even two in the afternoon, way too early for tequila. Plus, I loved my mother and her cute silver-flecked pixie cut. Most of all, I was delighted that she’d come to visit me and my teenage daughter, Celia. It was nice of Mom. No, more than nice. The visit bordered on maternal sacrifice.

As far as I knew, my mother, Mrs. Helen Baker Lafitte, aged sixty-eight and three quarters, of Bucks Grove, Illinois, had never left home for Christmas before, nor had she wanted to. Mom is a retired high school librarian, a woman of card-catalog order and strict traditions, otherwise known as doing the same thing year after year. Under usual circumstances, Mom keeps our “heirloom” artificial Christmas tree perpetually decorated and stored in the garage until the day after Thanksgiving, when she takes it out, dusts it off, and installs it to the left of the living-room fireplace. She places electric candles in each front window, hangs a wreath on the door, and wraps the holly bush in tasteful, nonflashing white lights. All of her holiday cards are mailed by the twelfth of December.

Food traditions are similarly strict. The Christmas Day lunch begins promptly at noon and is typically attended by my Aunt Sue, Uncle Dave, Aunt Karen, and younger sister Kathy and her family. Kathy’s husband, Dwayne, watches sports in the den, while their three kids hover between completely exhausted and totally wired from their morning gift frenzy. My mother and aunts whip up a feast of roasted turkey and stuffing, scalloped potatoes, sweet potato casserole with mini-marshmallows, Tater Tot hot dish, amazing monkey bread, Aunt Sue’s famous (or infamous) Jell-O surprise featuring celery and cheese cubes, and my favorite dish: pie, usually apple, mincemeat, and/or pumpkin. It’s a lovely meal, which I truly miss when I can’t attend. However, I also love Santa Fe and want to make my own traditions here.

“That’s one benefit for your sister,” Mom said, polishing off her second water bottle. I swore I heard her stomach slosh. “The beach is at sea level.”

“Yep, that’s the beach for you,” I replied in the perky tone I vowed to maintain for the rest of Mom’s visit. “Kath and the kids must be loving it. What a treat! A holiday to remember!”

“I warned Kathy about jellyfish,” Mom said darkly. “Rip currents, sharks, sand, mosquitoes. . . . It simply doesn’t seem right to be somewhere so tropical for Christmas, but Dwayne went and got that package deal.” Mom’s tone suggested Dwayne had purchased a family-sized case of hives.

I gave Mom another sympathetic smile, along with the extra water bottle she’d stashed in my purse. Of course she was out of sorts. Once the kids learned that they’d get to open their presents early and go to Disney World and the beach, Mom and the holiday hot dish hadn’t stood a chance. I, meanwhile, saw my chance to get Mom to Santa Fe.

I employed some of the guilt she usually ladled on me, telling her truthfully that Celia and I couldn’t get away this year between my work and Celia’s extracurricular activities. Mom, the master of loving manipulation, countered with how much my Illinois relatives would miss us. I was also single, she needlessly pointed out, implying that I could easily uproot. Furthermore, I lived in a casita, a home with tiny in its very name. She wouldn’t want to put me out, she said. Mom then played her wild card, namely Albert Ridgeland, my junior prom date. Wouldn’t you know, Mom had said. She’d recently run into Albert and he was divorced just like me, and with his own successful dental clinic and a mostly full head of hair and he sure would love to catch up.

Mom might be indirect, but she’s never subtle. Ever since my divorce from Manny Martin, a policeman with soap-opera good looks and accompanying philandering tendencies, Mom’s been after me to move back “home.” She sends me clippings of employment ads and monitors eligible bachelors. Peeved that Mom had dragged a divorced dentist into the debate, I went for the guilt jugular, reminding Mom that she was retired yet hadn’t visited in nearly two years. My tactic worked, possibly too well. Mom was staying for nearly three weeks—to get her money’s worth out of the flight—and I’d feel terrible if she didn’t have a good time.

I looked over and saw Mom eyeing a brown paper lunch sack perched a few feet down the adobe wall. The bag was open at the top and slightly singed on the sides. I could guess the contents. A votive candle nestled in sand.

Mom stepped over to peek inside. “It’s a wonder this entire state doesn’t burn down,” she declared. “Remember when your middle school band director, Mr. Ludwig, put on that world Christmas festival in the gymnasium? He almost set the bleachers on fire with one of these . . .” She paused. “What do you call them?”

“A farolito,” I said, proud to show off my local knowledge. “Some people call them luminarias, but Santa Feans are very particular about terminology. Here, luminaria refers to small bonfires. Farolitos are the candles in paper bags. There are electric farolitos too. You’ll see a lot of those along the rooflines of hotels and businesses. They’re pretty but nothing compared to the real ones on Christmas Eve. You’ll love it, Mom. You’ve never seen anything like it.”

Mom shuddered, likely imagining Santa Fe bursting into a spontaneous inferno rather than aglow with thousands of flickering lights. I decided not to tell her about the amazing three-dimensional paper lanterns I’d once seen soaring above the adobe city, lifted by the energy of the candles burning inside them. I needed to work on Mom before I exposed her to flying flames or peppers for breakfast.

Mom was rooting around in her hip pack. “I thought I had a granola bar. This time change and the lack of air are making me light-headed. You need to keep eating too, Rita.”

Eating, I always had covered. I also had a better idea than a squished fanny-pack snack. “It’s the holidays, Mom. Let’s get some pie.”

[Want more? Click below to read a longer excerpt.]

Praise for the Book

"Another delectable cozy mystery from author Ann Myers, whose third book in this series about Santa Fe chef and amateur sleuth Rita Lafitte is her best yet. Mouth-watering descriptions of spicy Southwestern fare served up at the Tres Amigas cafe where Rita works combine with a devilish plot surrounding a murder at the Christmas pageant [...] and you have a holiday filled with laughter and mayhem. And murder!" ~ Carol Cacchione

"This cozy mystery was a delight to read. It has all the elements I require for a satisfying novel. [...] I recommend this novel to those who enjoy a cozy mystery with quirky characters, an informative and entertaining setting, and an issue to think about. I suggest you only read this novel on a full stomach as the food described is mouth watering." ~ Joan N.

"I love this series. I hope that it continues." ~ Loulou

"Having lived in New Mexico, her books bring back fond memories. The author does a good job of describing traditions and customs of the area - plus she tells an outstanding story." ~ oshaal

"The author and series. Great read!" ~ dana

About the Author

Ann Myers writes the Santa Fe Café Mystery series. The first book in the series, Bread of the Dead (2015), introduced café chef and reluctant amateur sleuth, Rita Lafitte. Rita and her friends stir up more trouble in Cinco de Mayhem (March 2016) and Feliz Navidead (October 2016). Ann lives with her husband and extra-large house cat in southern Colorado, where she enjoys cooking, crafts, and cozy mysteries.

Giveaway

Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win one of five print copies of Bread of the Dead AND Cinco de Mayhem by Ann Myers (US only).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Links

Add to Goodreads

Amazon US

Amazon UK

BAM

Barnes & Noble

HarperCollins

IndieBound

Kobo

Amazon US author page

Amazon UK author page

Facebook

Goodreads

Pinterest

Website