I don’t know what I ever did to Karma, but that witch sure has it in for me. Twenty-four hours ago I was a fairly content twenty-five-year-old, working toward my dream of a career in advertising, sort of, with a steady boyfriend I was expecting to propose in the near future, and a sublet apartment in New York City that might have been small, but at least I didn’t have to wait in line for the bathroom. And then, Karma, in the guise of my meddling family, stepped in and ripped the rug right out from under me.

Not that it was unusual for businesses to pass down from one generation to the next, especially in families on Eastern Long Island where it was the norm, but they usually went to the descendants with the most education, the most ambition, and the most (or at least some) interest. But, nope. Not in my family.

In the Delaney clan, the family business, at least the most unsuccessful one, went to the black sheep of the family. Namely, me. With a degree in marketing I hadn’t yet found much use for—unless you counted enticing customers into braving the lunch special at the small dive in New York City where I was a waitress up until about twelve hours ago—I was still clinging to hope. Until Marie decided to return from Europe and wanted to live in her apartment, then Carl dumped me, and my family decided I’d be the best choice to take over Jimmie’s, my eccentric uncle’s mom-and-pop ice cream shop.

Which might not have been so bad if Jimmie’s was located in, say, South Hampton or Montauk, where a cute little old-fashioned malt shop might be considered quaint or even trendy. No, Jimmie’s sat on Main Street in Watchogue, a two-mile long town on the south shore of Eastern Long Island where nothing of note had happened since Thomas Jefferson once spent a night at the local inn some two-hundred plus years ago.

So, now, here I am, trying to turn a failing business that had become more of a hobby for Uncle Jimmie into a successful café I will be content to run for possibly the rest of my life. But do things go easy? Nope. Of course not, because karma hates me. On day one, who walks in but Luca Martinelli, whom I dated all through high school, right up until senior prom when I’d gone to powder my nose and returned to find him lip-locked with Heather Teague, cheerleader extraordinaire. Heather was everything I wasn’t—skinny, beautiful, popular, outgoing, sneaky, mean and always jealous Luca was dating me. And on day two—I find Heather dead in the basement. Now my days are spent trying to figure out who could have killed Heather (and I’m 100% sure it wasn’t me and like 99ish % sure it wasn’t Luca). Unfortunately, we seem to be the two main suspects.

Murder A La Mode, A Coffee & Cream Café Mystery Book #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: August 2023
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

From author Lena Gregory comes a delicious new series that will warm your heart and leave you guessing until the very end…

When twenty-five-year-old Danika Delaney, black sheep of the Delaney clan, returns home to Long Island to take over Jimmie’s, her eccentric uncle’s old fashioned malt shop on eastern Long Island, she’s not exactly thrilled. But things start to look up when her uncle tells her she can do whatever she’d like with the shop, and it seems she might realize her dream of a small trendy café. That is, until she discovers the body of her ex-boyfriend’s estranged wife in a melted puddle of rocky road in the malt shop basement. With her two sidekicks, her sister and a good childhood friend, in tow, Dani searches for–or stumbles upon—one clue after another. But as she narrows down the suspect list, she realizes if she’s not careful she may end up in a puddle of her own…

About the author
Lena Gregory grew up in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, but she recently traded in cold, damp, gray winters for the warmth and sunshine of central Florida, where she now lives with her husband, three kids, son-in-law, and four dogs. Her hobbies include spending time with family, reading, and walking. Her love for writing developed when her youngest son was born and didn’t sleep through the night. She works full time as a writer and a freelance editor and is a member of Sisters in Crime.

All comments are welcomed.