Crazy. I must be crazy.

It’s the only way to explain how I got into my current predicament.

Things weren’t always this complicated. I had a husband, a well-paying job as an investment banker, and a cozy house in a quiet Richmond, Virginia neighborhood. But when said husband ran off with an understudy for the local production of Nunsense, thus ending our marriage, I reassessed my life.

Having just turned forty-one and feeling that time was running out, I decided to pursue my lifelong dream of opening a literary café and catering business. For the uninitiated, running a literary themed eatery means that in addition to offering an on-premises lending library so patrons can read while they eat, my menus and food offerings are inspired by books and authors. (How about a Secret Garden themed tea for your daughter’s birthday? Or a bowl of Danielle Steele Cut Oats to start your morning?)

So, I quit my job, sold my house, moved to a small town north of Richmond called Hobson Glen, and sunk every penny I had into the launch of Cookin’ the Books Café and Catering. The move to Hobson Glen went surprisingly well. I found a former bakery with an upstairs apartment to serve as my and the café’s home and I had the good fortune of securing the Hobson Glen Library Annual Gala Fundraiser – the social event of the year! – as my first official catering “gig.”

At least, at the time, I thought it was good fortune.

Little did I know that Binnie Broderick, executive director of the library, would choke to death during the fundraiser dinner and wind up with her face planted firmly in her plate of The Prime Rib of Miss Jane Brody.

The coroner’s verdict? Arsenic poisoning.

As you can imagine, it didn’t take long before the local papers were mentioning my name in conjunction with the crime. After all, Binnie was the woman who hired me to cater the fundraiser and it was my food she was eating when she died. And everyone knew that Binnie Broderick could be completely and utterly impossible.

It soon dawned on me that my café might close before it even opened. I mean, regardless of how delicious my Zelda Fitzgerald sandwich might be (fried chicken cutlet, sweet pickle slices, and pimiento cheese on a buttermilk biscuit), no one’s going to order it from a possible murderer.

Rather than sit back and watch my business venture go up in smoke, I chose to generate some positive publicity by going out into the neighbourhood to distribute baked goods and sandwiches. Through these deliveries, I’ve learned that nearly everyone in this town had a reason to want Binnie Broderick dead. From the Mayor, to the eccentric elderly woman who wanders town with a parrot – excuse me, conure – on her shoulder, to the library staff, and even my new baker and assistant, Celestine Rufus. (*Note to self: next time, hire through an agency.)

So now, in addition to cultivating restaurant clientele, I’m trying to solve a murder and put both my business and personal reputation in the clear.

See what I mean? Crazy.

Of course, not everything is bleak. My good college friends, Mary Jo Okensholt – a stay-at-home mom who’s trying to figure out her next move now that her kids are nearly grown – and Julian Jefferson Davis – the local TV weatherman whose claim to fame is being wiped out by a snow plow outside the Edgar Allen Poe Museum (The YouTube video has almost one million views!) – have been doing whatever they can to help me save my business. Although I got off on the wrong foot with him, the local sheriff, Clemson Reade, doesn’t seem to have me on the suspect short list, nor does he appear to mind me disseminating baked goods in exchange for information. And my new landlord, Schuyler Thompson, is a total babe. (Is it ok to call him a babe? The last time I had a date, Lindsey Lohan was still making Disney films.)

How will things turn out? I have no idea. I just hope someone tracks down the killer so life in Hobson Glen can go back to normal, my café can open, and I can get back to perfecting my Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ham breakfast sandwich.

You can read more about Tish in Cookin’ The Books, the first book in the NEW “Tish Tarragon” cozy mystery series, released March 1, 2019.

Literary caterer Letitia ‘Tish’ Tarragon fights to save her reputation and catch a killer when a murder occurs during a fundraising dinner for the local library.

Letitia ‘Tish’ Tarragon has just moved to Hobson Glen and opened a new restaurant and catering business, Cookin’ the Books Cafe. So when her new landlord, Schulyer Thompson, recommends her to Binnie Broderick, the executive director of the local library, Tish is delighted. Binnie needs a last-minute caterer to create a literary inspired three-course dinner for the library’s annual fundraiser, one of the highlights of Hobson Glen’s social season. But there’s a problem: Binnie Broderick is a notoriously difficult woman to please. And when she chokes to death from arsenic poisoning after dousing her main course in hot sauce, Tish suddenly finds herself fighting to save her business – and her reputation. It seems that very few of Hobson Glen’s residents escaped Binnie’s disapproval. But who would want her dead, and why?

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Meet the author
Author of the critically acclaimed Marjorie McClelland Mysteries, Amy Patricia Meade is a native of Long Island, NY where she cut her teeth on classic films and books featuring Nancy Drew and Encyclopedia Brown.

After stints as an Operations Manager for a document imaging company, catalog copywriter, and a freelance technical writer, Amy left the bright lights of New York city and headed north to pursue her creative writing career amidst the idyllic beauty of Vermont’s Green Mountains.

Now residing in Bristol, England Amy spends her time writing mysteries with a humorous or historical bent. When not writing – which is rare these days – Amy enjoys traveling, testing out new recipes, classic films, and exploring her new home.

Amy is a member of Sisters in Crime and The Crime Writers Association.

For more information, visit Amy at amypatriciameade.com.

All comments are welcomed.