Hey, guys. My name’s Jason Wong. I’m Robbie Jordan’s high school buddy. I seriously hadn’t seen her since we graduated from Chumash High in Santa Barbara ten years ago, so I was super chuffed to see her again at our reunion. We’d been on math team together back then, but we’d had fun, too. I could see how excited Rob was to be back in the land of sunshine, the Pacific ocean, and really, really good Mexi-Cali food with avocados in nearly every dish. She doesn’t get any of that in Indiana.

On a normal day I’m working as the cybercrime expert for the SBPD, which is pretty much a perfect fit for my inner (and lifelong, to be honest) geek. When Rob asked me for help contacting the county Sheriff’s pathologist about her mom’s death a few years ago, I put her in touch with Mel, that is, Melinda Washington.

It was pretty shocking when another dude died, a friend of Robbie’s mom, during the week when Rob was in Santa Barbara. But I got to see my old friend’s new investigative skills in action, so that was cool. She got pretty freaked out when she thought somebody was following her at the mission. I made her a stir fry dinner I learned from my Chinese grandma and calmed her down. A glass of wine helped, of course.

I got to see Robbie be awesome under stress. I hope you’ll also think our author’s story is awesome.


Giveaway: Leave a comment below for your chance to win one (1) print copy of Strangled Eggs and Ham, limited to U.S. residents. Giveaway ends June 21, 2020. Good luck everyone!


Nacho Average Murder is the seventh book in the “Country Store” cozy mystery series, coming June 30, 2020.

Robbie Jordan is temporarily leaving Pans ’N Pancakes, her country store in South Lick, Indiana, to visit Santa Barbara, California—where wildfire smoke tinges the air, but a more immediate danger may lie in wait . . .

While looking forward to her high school reunion back in California, Robbie Jordan’s anticipation is complicated by memories of her mother’s untimely death. At first, she has fun hanging out with her old classmates and reuniting with the local flavors—avocados, citrus, fish, and spicy Cali-Mex dishes. But when she gets wind of rumors that her mother, an environmental activist, may not have died of natural causes, Robbie enlists old friends to clear the smoke surrounding the mystery. But what she finds could make it hard to get back to Indiana alive . . .

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About the author
Agatha Award-winning author Edith Maxwell writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries and multi-published short crime fiction. As Maddie Day she pens the Country Store Mysteries and the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries. With twenty-one books in print and more in production, Maxwell lives north of Boston, where she writes, gardens, and cooks. Find her at EdithMaxwell.com and as @MaddieDayAuthor on social media.

All comments are welcomed.