Alene made a pot of coffee, started a pancake batter, and texted her boyfriend, who called back within moments. He felt marginally improved, he said, and it was still just a cold. His daughter had come home late again, and he hadn’t slept well. Alene scraped bean paste from a vanilla pod and told him about how her uncle, the same one who’d been beaten the previous evening in the park, had driven the getaway car for a bank robbery thirty years before.

“I’ve heard a million stories about the robbery, but last night was the first time I’d ever seen one of my uncle’s co-conspirators,” she said. “And that guy at the park in the wheelchair was supposedly the ringleader.”

“Why did you agree to meet Cal’s brother in the park at night?” Frank asked. “That’s never a good idea. Haven’t you ever watched a crime film?”

She measured the dry ingredients and stirred them in a large glass bowl. “It was more like late afternoon, Frank, and we’re talking about old men in their seventies. Also, I told you that Jocelyn was coming along to help the kids and me accompany my dad to see his brother. We certainly didn’t expect Uncle Finn to get attacked.”

“It must have been horrifying,” Frank said.

“Yeah, it was.” Alene shuddered as she added wet ingredients to the flour mixture. Sometimes all she needed was a little empathy. “My dad thought the old guy got out of prison early because of the pandemic or the fact that he can barely walk. I couldn’t believe he attacked my uncle. My dad also said Finn must have done something to deserve it.”

Frank said, “It’s not okay to beat someone with a weapon of any kind, Alene.”

“I know,” said Alene.

“The guy with the cane is still out there,” said Frank. “You need to be vigilant until we pick him up.”

“If I see someone following me in a wheelchair,” Alene said with a giggle, “I’ll run faster.”

“I’m not joking,” he said.

CHARRED
Series: A Whipped and Sipped Mystery, Book 3
Genre: Cozy Culinary Mystery
Release: May 2026
Format: Print, Digital
Amazon | Barnes & Noble – Print | Barnes & Noble – Nook

Murder is on the menu—served warm with muffins and lattes.

At the Whipped and Sipped Café, Alene Baron knows how to handle a kitchen fire—but this blaze may burn far beyond her control.

When a suspicious fire draws Alene, her loyal friend Kacey, and Kacey’s boyfriend Kofi to a charred property in search of salvaged wood, they expect nothing more than a little trespassing and a lot of soot. Instead, whispers of arson swirl through their tight-knit community—and before long, a body turns up amid the ashes.

Kofi fears the police will come knocking. Kacey fears someone saw them. And Alene is caught in the middle, torn between protecting the people she loves and telling the truth to her partner, homicide detective Frank Shaw. Because in this town, secrets don’t stay buried. They smolder.

As suspicion spreads and tensions rise, Alene must sift through half-truths, family loyalties, and long-simmering grudges to uncover what really happened the night of the fire. With her café bustling, her children and father offering heartfelt (if sometimes chaotic) support, and a community on edge, she’ll need every ounce of patience—and every recipe in her arsenal—to keep things from going up in flames.

Rich with mouthwatering dishes, sharp dialogue, and emotional depth, Charred serves up a mystery that’s both frightful and fun—complete with a twist that will leave readers deliciously stunned.

About the author
G.P. Gottlieb is the author of the Whipped & Sipped Mysteries (Battered, Smothered, and Charred, Anamcara Press). She is on the Sisters in Crime Chicagoland board, a member of Blackbird Writers, and has interviewed over 275 authors as host for New Books in Literature, a podcast channel on the New Books Network.