I wake to the music of Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” on my clock radio, and a dark, drizzly February Sunday in Seattle. Yes, I know no one uses clock radios anymore. They use an app on their cell phone to announce morning. But I’m also fully aware that my old cell phone is not capable of much more than a short text, and that’s with great reception. I’d replace it with something newer and fancier, but there’s a little thing called money that I don’t currently have enough of. So, clock radio it is…until I get my big break and get hired on at a real newspaper and be the star investigative reporter that I know I can be.

I swing my legs over the side of the bed and immediately stub my toe for the fortieth time on the box of lotions and gels my sister Jenna sent to me at Christmas time. Their scent, Fruity and Flirty, fit her, but not me. I’m more of an au natural girl—a couple swipes with deodorant and I was good to go. That might change when I get my big break, though.

A lot of things would change.

For one thing, I wouldn’t have to listen to the nasal undertones of Rodman, my Seattle Sun editor, giving me yet another dog park opening story or PTA meeting summary. I knew when I hired on that the Sun, a neighborhood weekly, would rarely give me the opportunity to scoop a story. But being a year shy of a Journalism degree, I took what I could get.

I don’t know it yet, but that’s about to change.

This obituary I’ve been assigned for a two-bit restaurant critic isn’t as simple as a heart attack. No, this guy frosted some chef’s flakes the wrong way and cooked his goose. Ha! I crack myself up. Anyway, someone got really steamed and poisoned him at the Space Needle’s annual Chocoholic Ball. But who would do such a thing? More importantly, would I be able to find the killer and make a name for myself…finally?

Read TOXIC TORTE to find out.

Toxic Torte, A Just Desserts Mystery Book 1
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: July 2024
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

Jess Harriet writes for the Seattle Sun, a weekly newsrag best known for its personal ads. When her latest assignment turns out to be yet another obituary, this time for caustic restaurant critic Perry Lowell, she seriously considers quitting. But before the memorial buffet is replenished, detectives appear. Perry didn’t die of a heart attack after all. He was murdered…with a toxic torte, likely served at the Valentine’s Day Chocoholic Ball. Jess seizes the opportunity to solve the murder and scoop the story, but she’ll have to outwit Cherrie Belle, fellow Sun Reporter by week, cheerleader by weekend; Tom, a college dating disaster who holds a flame for Jess and the elusive Chocoholic Ball guest list; and a cadre of unsavory chefs who invite her to a dinner she suspects is a recipe for danger.

About the author
I’m a storyteller at heart. After retiring from teaching reluctant and eager readers and writers, elementary school-age through college, I’ve refocused my energy and am spinning yarns once again. I have two novels slated for publication in 2024 through The Wild Rose Press: Corpse in the Craftsman Cottage, a cozy mystery with a female amateur sleuth duo and a backdrop of home flipping; and Toxic Torte, a cozy culinary featuring a sassy young newspaper reporter investigating the murder of a caustic restaurant critic. I also have two mid-grade readers available through Perfection Learning Corporation: The Truth Test and Recipe for a Rebel, and an edgy, Indie-published YA, The Lie. Additionally, I have over 100 publishing credits in short fiction, nonfiction and poetry, in publications as diverse as Vegetarian Journal, Seattle, Black Belt, NW Palate, Palm Springs Life, Bridal Connections and The Binnacle. I recently took first place in short fiction for “What It Takes to Scare a Man,” and poetry for “Hope is a Three-Toed Dragon” in a southern California writing contest. I earned an MA in Writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University and had the pleasure of learning from some of the best, most creative writers in the business. In my spare time, I braid rugs from upcycled materials, watch the javelinas dance through my back yard, hike with my husband, and swim with my beautiful grandchildren.