A Killer Read

A Killer Read by Erika Chase

Book discussion groups can be more fun and interesting then you’d expect if you haven’t yet joined one. But I’ve never been to a book discussion as exciting as the first meeting of the Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straw Society. Reading specialist Lizzie Turner has organized the book group, which is meeting at the mansion of her friend Molly. Lizzie finds an intruder inside the mansion, who asks to use the phone to call a tow truck, but shortly afterwards, his body is found outside. Everyone in the book group is a suspect. The new police chief, Mark, grew up in Ashton Corners and shows special interest in Lizzie, who coordinates the book group’s sleuthing when not working at the local schools. The small town Alabama setting is appealing, and Lizzie, who sings, teaches reading, and works with young adults studying for the G.E.D. when not visiting her mother at a retirement home, is a fairly complex character. Ashton Corners is well worth visiting if you’re in the mood for a cozy contemporary mystery. A sequel has just been published; Read and Buried. Learn more at the author’s website.

Brenda

The Darling Dahlias and the Confederate Rose

The Darling Dahlias and the Confederate Rose by Susan Wittig Albert

This is a great time of year to read this book, set during a hot April in small town Alabama in the 1930s. The Dahlias are members of a garden club in Darling, now growing a victory garden to help during hard times and getting ready to plant a variety of hibiscus known as the confederate rose at the town cemetery. They also solve mysteries in their spare time; this time trying to clear Verna’s name when she is suspected of embezzlement, solving the puzzle of a cryptic message that is Miss Rogers’ only link to her family history, and figuring out why Angelina is overwrought and losing her hair. It’s a fascinating look at how our mothers or grandmothers may have lived. This is the third book in a series; here’s what I wrote last year about the previous book. If you are in the mood to read a light mystery with quirky characters in a setting very different from ours today, I suggest meeting the Darling Dahlias. Susan and her husband Bill also write other mystery series. Visit their website for more information.

Brenda

Affairs of Steak

Affairs of Steak, by Julie Hyzy

This is the newest entry in the White House Chef Mystery series by Hyzy. Olivia (Ollie) Paras is the White House executive chef, the first woman to hold that position. She is dedicated, hard-working, and has the strong ethics required of any White House employee.

The problem is that she is frequently in the wrong place at the wrong time and stumbles across things she shouldn’t, such as dead bodies.  And her curiosity sometimes gets the better of her.

These stories involve lots of insights into the doings at the White House and interesting tidbits about how the rather small kitchen staff prepares the meals for the First Family, as well as the details involved in planning the large events—state dinners and luncheons.

The White House sensitivity director, Peter Everett Sargeant, and Ollie, who have had clashes in the past, need to work together to prepare a lavish birthday party for the Secretary of State. Things go awry immediately, and the complications compound. The Secret Service is involved, as well as numerous other White House employees.

This book does not focus as closely on the First Family as the earlier ones do, but it is a fun read, clever, and Ollie is a fine, well-developed character. The rest of the kitchen staff is also well-drawn.

Hyzy includes some recipes in the back of the books also. Anyone for Pastry-Wrapped Asparagus Spears with Prosciutto?

The other books in the series are:

State of the Onion

Hail to the Chef

Eggsecutive Orders

Buffalo West Wing

Kay