I consider myself lucky to live in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia. It’s wonderfully quaint, with historic homes lining the brick sidewalks. Some buildings still have gas flames flickering in outdoor lanterns. In addition to being charming, Old Town is well known for being dog-friendly. My mixed breed hound, Daisy, and I stroll the streets daily admiring the architecture.

There’s always something fascinating going on in Old Town. Right now, the annual Pie Contest is coming up. My friend, Bernie Frei, is in charge this year, and he has asked me to manage the pie eating contests.

Our friend, Natasha, who has her own local TV show about all things domestic and aspires to be the Martha of the South, has raised a big stink because Bernie did not invite her to be a judge. Honestly, I think that’s Bernie’s call. There is also the little fact that Natasha was responsible for a near disaster at last year’s pie contest, so she was pretty much banned from entering a pie this year.

It’s difficult when friends are fighting, but I’ve tried to stay out of it. I’m plenty busy with work. I’m an event planner, which means I organize events for large corporations and organizations. Plus, being so close to Washington, DC, I arrange a lot of galas and parties for political types. That means I often get home in the wee hours, and I tend to rise later than a lot of people.

My best friend and across-the-street neighbor, Nina Reid Norwood, and our local beat cop, Officer Wong, and I took a pie baking class yesterday morning. Nina made fun of me because I bake all the time, but pie pastry is tricky and the instructor bakes such beautiful pies. He can even shape the dough into flowers!

But last night, when I was walking Daisy, a disheveled woman almost ran into us. She probably didn’t even see us on the sidewalk because she darted through bushes. We were suddenly face-to-face! I’m a little concerned because she looked an awful lot like Patsy Lee Presley. I’m sure you’ve heard of her because she has the top rated cooking show on TV. She’s going to be the big draw and special guest judge at the pie contest, so it’s possible that she’s already in town.

But if she is, I have a bad feeling that something is very wrong in her life . . .

You can read more about Sophie in The Diva Sweetens the Pie, the 12th book in the “Domestic Diva” cozy mystery series, coming April 30, 2019.

In New York Times bestselling author Krista Davis’s new Domestic Diva mystery, Old Town’s annual Pie Festival crumbles into chaos after a celebrity judge is murdered, leaving it up to entertaining maven and sometime-sleuth Sophie Winston to dole out justice . . .

Nothing heats up Old Town quite like the annual Pie Festival, and this year is no exception, especially since Sophie’s professional rival, Natasha Smith, is barred from participating. Sophie, meanwhile, has been asked to oversee the pie eating contest. But the drama really rolls out when celebrity judge, Patsy Lee Presley, host of television’s most popular cooking show, bites the crust during the competition, and Sophie’s friends are suspected of the crime.

As the folks of Old Town dish, the tough truth about Patsy’s meteoric rise to domestic stardom begins to leak. It turns out that Patsy’s sweet exterior hid a secret sour side, which alienated many of her closest allies, including a jilted ex-husband, a bitter ex-mentor, and a jaded ex-best friend. With the festival falling apart, and her friends in danger of being boxed up for murder, Sophie must cobble together the clues and stop a flakey fiend from serving up any more deadly desserts.

Includes delicious recipes and entertaining tips!

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About the author
Krista Davis writes three mystery series. The Diva Sweetens the Pie is the 12th book in the Domestic Diva Mystery series about a group of friends in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. Krista also writes the Pen & Ink Mysteries, featuring Florrie Fox, who manages a bookstore by day and draws coloring books at night.

If dogs and cats are your thing, you might enjoy Krista’s Paws & Claws Mysteries with Trixie the Jack Russell who has a nose for trouble (or more precisely—dead people) and Twinkletoes, the long-haired calico cat. The animals don’t speak in Krista’s books, but they do know how to follow the scent of murder.

To learn more about Krista, visit her website at kristadavis.com. You can also find her on social media on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, on Pinterest as well as blogging on mysteryloverskitchen.com and killercharacters.com.

All comments are welcomed.