“Change is a good thing, right?”
I wasn’t quite sure how to respond when my BFF, Reba Mae Johnson, once posed the question. Sometimes change wasn’t either good or bad, it was just change. And I ought to know. Ask anyone in Brandywine Creek, Georgia, and they’ll tell you Piper Prescott was the Queen of Change. Not only had I divorced the low-down lying skunk I’d been married to for over twenty years, but I’d invested every last cent I had in a fledging business, Spice It Up!, in a building older than Methuselah. When it came to change, I could write a book.
But I wasn’t about to complain.. No way, no how. Life was good. Now that the murder of a local chef had been solved, peace and quiet reined once again in the small Southern town this Yankee had adopted as her home. At least, I thought it was peaceful and quiet..
The day had begun like any other: a morning jog with Casey, my rescue mutt of many breeds, coffee, shower, more coffee, a blueberry muffin, and then flipping the sign in my shop window from CLOSED to OPEN. Business was brisk. Thanks to the annual Barbecue Festival spices were practically flying off the shelves with cayenne pepper and chili powder leading the pack.
Later in the day though, things got really interesting when out-of-towners started to arrive for the festival. The first to appear were good ol’ boy Tex Mahoney, champion pitmaster, and dapper Wally Porter, certified master barbecue judge. They were followed by none other than Miss Va-Va-Voom herself, Barbara Bunker Quinlan, aka Barbie Q. Barbie, a hometown girl with an axe to grind, was about to launch a new show for barbecue aficionados, Some Like It Hot, on the Cooking Network. Added to the mix were locals, Becca Dapkins, clerk at the water department, and Maybelle Humphries, manager of the Chamber of Commerce. Each of the aforementioned had an agenda. I didn’t have to be clairvoyant to sense that competition for coveted first place between out-of-towners and locals would be fierce.
Things heated up higher than a red-hot charcoal briquette when my trusty canine and I stumbled upon Becca’s body under an azalea bush in the town square. No longer pretty in pink, Becca’ was deader ‘n a skunk. Seems Becca had been bludgeoned with a brisket. Sad way to meet your Maker and all because of a cheap cut of meat. Sadder still, Maybelle was Chief Wyatt McBride’s prime suspect. No one, not even a friend like me, could argue the fact that Maybelle had good reason to bean Becca with a brisket. What red-blooded woman wouldn’t be upset at a hussy for stealing her beau of thirteen years?
Problem was, I couldn’t reconcile the gentle Maybelle I’d known for years with such a vicious act. So I did what came naturally. I called my BFF and Reba Mae and I set out to find the real killer.
You can read more about Piper in Kill ‘Em With Cayenne, the second book in the “Spice Shop” mystery series, published by Minotaur. The first book in the series is Rosemary and Crime.
GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment by 6 p.m. eastern on December 23 for the chance to win a signed copy of KILL ‘EM WITH CAYENNE. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.
About the author
Gail Oust is often accused of flunking retirement. While working as a nurse/vascular technologist, she penned nine historical romances under the pseudonym of Elizabeth Turner. It wasn’t until she and her husband retired to South Carolina that inspiration struck for a mystery. Hearing the words “maybe it’s a dead body” while golfing fired her imagination for writing a cozy. Ever since then, she spends more time on a computer than at a golf course. Author of the Bunco Babe mysteries, she’s currently writing the Spice Shop Mysteries. Kill ‘em With Cayenne, the second in the series, was released in December 2014.
Dru I love the reviews you do and the new authors i have gotten to know through them. Thanks for your wonderful service.
I look forward to reading Gail’s latest mystery. Gail is dear friend that I have known since Providence School of Nursing many, many years ago. I admire her wonderful skill and research gifts with great stories.
Change keeps life interesting.
Wonderful, another new author to me! Can’t wait to read!
Sounds good , I love food cozies
This sounds like another series to add to my t-b-r list 🙂
looks great, thanks for the chance to win 🙂
I have read the Bunco Babe mysteries and will add this one to my books to read list.
Looks to be like a very good book. Thanks for the giveaway.
Would love to win, really enjoy your books!
Sounds like a great book. Thanks, Dru!!
Looking forward to trying this one!
Sounds like a spicy series .
This series sounds real interesting. Thanks for the ooffer.
Sounds like a great new cozy mystery.
Love to read this cozy. Thank you for the chance!
Sounds like a feisty lady. Should be a good read.
thanks.
Thank you for a chance to win a copy of Kill ‘Em With Cayenne.
This book sounds like a great read and a fun ” who done it. ” I would love to see how the story ends. Thank you, Dru, for another great giveaway!
So many books, so little time. This book sounds really good.
Sounds like great book! Can’t wait to find out who did it
I just put a copy on hold at the Gerritsen Beach branch of the library, but I’d really love to win a copy for myself.
Toss my hat into the contest ring please Dru.
Sounds great, I can’t wait to read it.
Another new author to me, thanks for bringing it to my attention, this sounds great. Thanks for the chance to win.
Brandywine Creek, Georgia huh? I live on Brandywine Drive! Is this an omen? Aw…probably not. Good morning Dru Ann! Thank you for an introduction to a new-to-me series. Sounds like a good one!
bludgeoned with a brisket
Reminds me of Roald Dahl’s Lamb to the Slaughter.
Bludgeoned with a brisket? Reminds me of an ancient Alfred Hitchcock TV show in which a pregnant woman kills her hubby with a frozen leg o’ lamb then cooks it and serves it to the police investigating the crime.
Another fun mystery. Since I started enjoying chilies more I’m really looking forward to it. Thanks for the chance to win.
Recently read Rosemary & Crime and LOVED IT!! Thanks for the chance to win book two!
I love the name of the book, and the setting for it. It sounds like a book I would enjoy reading. Thanks for having the giveaway.
Sounds like a good book!
Planning to get the first book this weekend, cant wait. Good luck all
Sounds like a Great book!
I look forward to reading this book. I hope I win a copy.
Sounds like a good book. Thanks for the chance to win.
Always love finding a new Cozy and author!
I haven’t started this series yet.
Love the concept of murder at the BBQ and spices–hot ones!!
Awesome
Sounds fun thank you for the chance to win
I’d like to try this series! Thanks, Dru Ann!
Thank you for sharing new books, authors and series with us. And thank you for the chance to win some of the books!
I would like to learn more about Piper – she sounds pretty feisty!
I enjoyed the first. Congrats on the second .
Love the Title…Please enter me…
Marilyn ewatvess@yahoo.com
great title; hope to get a chance to read it 🙂
I would love to read this new mystery! Good luck!
She had me at Barbie Q. Barbie, but I am fascinated by spices. OK I am a late bloomer but I really like to watch all those chef shows these days. Have to look for the first book in this series now.
This book sounds like it has some humor along with it’s murder—thant’s just the kind of mystery I like to read. Thanks for the contest.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
Love this title!!!
Thank you for the giveaway!!!
Sounds like a wonderful book! Thank you so much for the contest!
Please pick me. I love cosy mysteries.
Cozy mysteries!
Really enjoy this author and look forward to reading this book!!!
Read Rosemary & Crime and I’m definitely ready for book 2! Thanks for the giveaway chance.
Yum, a new culinary mystery series for me to devour! Thanks for the chance at the giveaway!
I read the first book in the series and it was a delightful read.
Can’t wait to continue this series
Looks like a good read
Haven’t read any of these. I like the book cover, though.
I bought the first Bunco Babe books in Gail’s first series as my girlfriend in Florida introduced us Northerners to the game of Bunco via the internet and Skype. I bought three game kits and had a big group of neighbors over to play on three teams. No one was enamored with the game but I loved it and also the series. I can’t wait to get the Spice Shop series; being a person who loves to cook, anything with the hint of food or food related talk gets me wanting that book. Would love to be in the mix for the possible winning of Kill ’em With Cayenne. Thanks so much..
This is a new series to me and it sounds great.
I Ioved the first & am looking forward to reading this.
Love the title!
I would love to win a new book!
Love the title.
contest is closed.