Ice cream.
As usual, those were the first words that popped into my head as soon as I woke up. As I lay in bed, still half-asleep, visions of chocolate almond chip and honey lavender and coconut macadamia nut danced in my head . . .
My name is Kate McKay and I guess it’s fair to say that I’m obsessed with ice cream. That’s why I decided to live out a lifelong dream by opening the Lickety Splits Ice Cream Shoppe in my home town of Wolfert’s Roost, located north of New York City in the wonderfully scenic Hudson Valley. That was after I returned to the place where I’d grown up to help take care of my grandmother, who pretty much raised me and my two older sisters after we lost both our parents.
Of course, following one’s true passion can be pretty demanding. Running my own shop means getting up earlier than I’d like to so I can head over to my shop and start whipping up that day’s special flavors. But it’s so much fun that I don’t mind at all.
I need a little help, of course. First thing every morning, I head straight to the coffee pot for what I consider the real Breakfast of Champions. (I’m thrilled that I’ve been able to translate my love of coffee into one of my favorite creations, Cappuccino Crunch ice cream. In fact, it’s been known to serve as breakfast, thanks to its irresistible combination of delectable, caffeine-laden coffee ice cream and enough nuts to provide a substantial hit of protein.)
While coffee is high on my list of Things I Could Never Do Without, even higher on that list is my lovely 18-year-old niece, Emma. She moved in with Grams and me right after she graduated from high school, wanting a year off to decide whether to pursue art, computers, or both.
After breakfast, I make a bee-line for Lickety Splits. Sometimes I stroll through the charming back streets of my beloved home town, breathing in the fresh early morning air while admiring all the quaint Victorian houses with their turrets and big porches and gingerbread trim, set against an awe-inspiring backdrop of drop dead views of the Hudson River. Other times I drive into town in my red pickup truck.
Once I’m at my shop, I go into a kind of trance. I shut out the rest of the world, focusing only on ice cream. What a luxury it is to be able to clear my mind of everything aside from fun ways to combine cream, sugar, and the most creative and amazing ingredients imaginable in order to come up with brand new flavors that my customers will love—or different twists on classics that will make digging into a cup or cone of even the usually-predictable chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry the most memorable ice cream experience someone has ever had.
I must admit, however, that sometimes the serenity that comes from totally immersing myself in ice cream fantasies is shaken up by a murder investigation. Yes, that’s something else I seem to become involved in more often than I ever would have dreamed. Since returning to Wolfert’s Roost, there has been one murder after another. And somehow, I always seem to be involved. When my arch enemy since kindergarten was murdered, for example, our local homicide detective came up with the crazy idea that I might have been the culprit simply because she and I had a bit of a—shall we say, disagreement—mere hours before the terrible event occurred.
Then there was the world-renowned fashion designer who hired me to serve up his favorite dessert, hot fudge sundaes, at a glamorous party with guests like a famous super model and the editor of the most influential fashion magazine in the universe. He, too, met with a surprising end. And since I found myself under suspicion once again, what else could I do but try to find the real killer?
One more distraction has been Jake Pratt, who in high school was the real-life Romeo to my Juliet. Even though that ended badly, he seems to be back in my life again, even though I’m still trying to sort out how I feel about that . . .
But all that’s another story for another day. I’ve just finished my second mug of joe, so it’s time to head over to Lickety Splits. First on the agenda is coming up with an inventive way of adding as many types of berries as possible into a new ice cream flavor I’ve been day dreaming about, a flavor that will transport anyone who eats it to a field of brilliant wildflowers and lush berry bushes on a warm sunny spring day . . .
Ah, ice cream. There’s nothing else like it in the entire world.
Giveaway: What’s your favorite memory that involves ice cream, either from childhood or adulthood? Write about it below for your chance to win a print copy of Hot Fudge Murder. U.S. entries only, please. The giveaway ends February 4, 2019. Good luck everyone!
You can read more about Kay in Hot Fudge Murder, the second book in the “Lickety Splits Ice Cream Shoppe” mystery series released January 29, 2019.
Just six weeks after the grand opening of Lickety Splits Ice Cream Shoppe, owner Kate McKay has been enlisted to whip up sundaes at the most decadent soiree in the Hudson Valley. If only Kate knew how deadly sticky her sweet deal will turn out . . .
Once Kate arrives at a glamorous gala hosted by world-famous fashion designer Omar DeVane, she’s instantly intimidated by the mogul’s luxurious mansion and the frosty personalities of his handlers. But the party completely loses its flavor when guests follow screams to a room that’s eerily empty—except for Omar’s freshly murdered body . . .
While the headline-grabbing crime brings a steady stream of journalists to the sleepy village of Wolfert’s Roost, Kate knows things won’t return to normal until Omar’s killer is brought to justice. And with the scandalous case driving customers away from Lickety Splits, she has no choice but to put down the ice cream scooper and expose the culprit on her own . . .
As Kate crashes high-profile photo shoots and mingles with fashion’s biggest influencers in search of clues, the puzzling truth about Omar’s fame and fortune rises to the surface—and with it, the key to his killer’s twisted motive. Kate will have to navigate the celebrity lifestyle to save her fledgling business, but her attempts to freeze cold-hearted criminals in their tracks could lead to a double scoop of deadly trouble . . .
Includes mouthwatering ice cream recipes from the Lickety Splits Ice Cream Shoppe!
Purchase Link
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About the author
Cynthia Baxter is the author of the Lickety Splits Ice Cream Shoppe Mystery Series, published by Kensington. The first book in the series is Murder with a Cherry on Top and the second is Hot Fudge Murder. Cynthia also wrote the Reigning Cats & Dogs Mystery Series, published by Bantam, which features veterinarian and amateur sleuth Jessica Popper and her menagerie of dogs, cats, a bird, and a chameleon. When she’s not writing or thinking about ice cream, Cynthia enjoys quilting and other crafts, traveling, playing the flute, and reading. She is a native of Long Island, New York.
All comments are welcomed.
I remember going to 31 Flavors as a child. I would stand on tiptoe and stare at all of the ice cream tubs, wondering how they thought of all those glorious, wonderful flavours! It seemed like an endless amount of ice cream and making a choice was almost impossible! It started my love of ice cream!
I haven’t read the first book, but I am going to find it. A mystery and ice cream is just too good to pass up!
When a I was growing up, we always had family get togethers at my grandmother’s house. She always made homemade ice cream. Her favorite flavor to make was peach. I can remember my grandfather turning the crank (no electric ice cream makers back then). The ice cream was the best!
I remember going to visit my great aunt and uncle when I was a small child. She would always fix us 7-Up ice cream floats every time we visited.
I remember a birthday party where my mom and dad hosted myself and my friends to a movie and then ice cream afterwards. We went to our favorite ice cream place and many of us ordered turtle sundaes. Of course this delicious sundae comes with Spanish peanuts along with chocolate and whip cream. One of my friends was taking a bite of her sundae and someone bumped her elbow. Sure enough not only did she get a face full of her sundae but also a peanut up her nose. It was a real giggle-fest.
When I was a kid my dad would take my younger brother and I for a walk at a local park and then we’d always go to a Dairy Queen for hot fudge sundaes.
We made ice cream in a hand cranked ice cream freezer when we were kids and it was so much fun. We took turns sitting on top of the ice cream maker while someone turned the handle. Fond memories.
My husband got a hand crank ice cream maker for college graduation. We used to make some wicked good ice cream.
Need to do it again.
We did not get a lot of sweet treats when I was growing up, and our family had to be quite frugal. On the odd occasions there was ice cream in the house, it was a generic brand of Neapolitan ice cream from the chain grocery store near our house. I was in middle school and was on an outing with a youth group when the adult driving us decided the day was just too hot and we should stop for a cold treat. My parents had given me a bit of spending money for the outing and I remember how thrilled I was that the group stopped at a Baskin-Robbins. I had a scoop of Dark Chocolate Raspberry Truffle ice cream and my world was never again the same.
I remember having root beers floats, while listening to the baseball game on the radio as I grew up. Both of my parents listened and I grew to be a huge baseball fan as well. I also remember loving orange sherbet as my favorite ice cream. Thanks for the chance to win!
This sounds like a fun book! Who wouldn’t love to own and run an ice cream store ?
I remember when I was a little girl, I was at my Grandmother’s house with my sister and cousins on my birthday and we had ice cream cones. I was walking around with mine and the ice cream fell out!I was so upset because my cousin told me that there wasn’t any more ice cream left! My Grandma took me inside and filled up my cone again. That stopped my tears and saved the day (plus cemented my grandma as the best person in my life!)
Growing up there was a mom and pop ice cream store. There small was as big as any extra large ice cream cone at any other place, that was the first time I had a twist cone and nothing has lived up to it.
In the summers when it was hot, my Dad used to take us to a small ice cream shop near the house for hot fudge sundaes. I still enjoy a good hot fudge sundae.
They used to have the best ice cream at the flea market when I was a kid. My dad would take me almost every weekend in the summer and get me a cup of my favorite, which was butter pecan. It’s still my favorite today.
My most memorable incident involving ice cream is when my mom had learned to drive and she’d gotten her first car. She took us to Dairy Queen and after eating our ice cream, she backed out of the parking spot and hit a car. I remember crying thinking they were going to take her to jail, no, they did not take her to jail. It’s funny now but sure wasn’t then, lol.
wfnren at aol dot com
A birthday party I attended that had a make your own sundae bar.
I loved getting ice cream with my kids when we went on vacations: East Coast, Disneyland, Santa Cruz, Denmark!
When I was a kid, every day during the summer my mom & dad would load my brother & I up and take us swimming at the creek a couple of miles from our house. After swimming for an hour or so, we’d load back up and head to the mom & pop store just up the road from the creek to grab an ice cream. My favorite was always the Nutty Buddy ice cream cones and if they were all sold out it was an orange sherbet pushup. Renee
My favorite memory involving ice cream was the 1st time I had an ice cream cone without drippings down my hand, after I was done…truly a proud moment!!
When I was a kid, my parents would sometimes set up a sundae bar for the neighborhood kids.
During the summers, when the 6 of us kids were little, my grandparents would churn homemade ice cream..my 5 siblings like chocolate, but I like vanilla and I love cherry! So my grandmother would make special cherry/vanilla ice cream just for me! Man was it ever so good! I’ve never been able to make it like she did, though I’ve tried for years and years.
I can remember my mom making home made vanilla ice cream in an an old wooden freezer, and I had to help put the ice in it ad turn the handle for “ages”. On the finished product we would pour Vermont maple syrup.
**** WINNER ****
Hot Fudge Murder is Kathy Fowler
Congratulations!