Val Deniston is the sleuth in the “Five-Ingredient” mysteries. One of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions. So, let’s get to know Val.
What is your full name?
Valentine Deniston. You can probably guess that I was born on February 14th. Everyone calls me Val.
How old are you?
Early thirties. I get to say that for a few more years.
What is your profession?
Food. I’m flexible about what I do within that broad profession. When I lived in New York, I worked as a cookbook publicist. Since moving in with my grandfather two years ago, I’ve lived in a tourist town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and managed a café at an athletic club. I also moonlight as a caterer for small dinner parties.
Do you have a significant other?
Maybe. We met less than two months ago, so we’re still deciding whether we’re significant to each other.
What is their name and profession?
Bram Muir ran startup tech companies in Silicon Valley. After selling his most recent venture, he came east to help his mother with her startup—a bookstore in the town where she grew up.
Do you have any children?
Not yet.
Do you have any siblings?
My older brother lives in California with his wife and two children.
Are your parents nearby?
When my father retired from the Navy, my parents settled in Florida. They keep a boat there and sail to the Bahamas for four months a year.
Who is your best friend?
Bethany O’Shay, a first-grade teacher. She gives me a hand at the café during the summer and on weekends. She’s in her twenties and lots of fun. Occasionally, she ropes me into doing wacky things, like searching for a buried body at night with the cadaver dog she borrowed. She also helped me cater a lavish meal on a yacht in the Chesapeake Bay, a re-creation of the last dinner on the Titanic. The meal went well until disaster struck.
Do you have any pets?
I don’t, but Bethany has Muffin, a cocker spaniel who’s been part of our team when we spied on or shadowed suspects. Granddad has a sort-of pet, a guard dog that doesn’t need to be walked or fed. His barking motion detector, Robo-Fido, has scared away a burglar and a potential arsonist, to name a few of his triumphs.
What town do you live in?
Bayport, Maryland, on a river that feeds into the Chesapeake Bay.
Do you live in a small town or a big city?
Our town, founded three hundred years ago, has a few thousand permanent residents and as many visitors during our long tourist season. Sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake, Bayport attracts history buffs, antique lovers, birders, boaters, anglers, and retirees. Fair warning if you’re thinking of visiting: for a town of our size, we have a higher-than-average body count.
Type of dwelling and do you own or rent?
I live with Granddad in his Queen Anne Victorian house, where he’s lived most of his life. The house was built in the 19th century and is large enough for both of us to have our privacy. When I was growing up, I spent every summer in the house with him and Grandma. One reason I moved here was to help him get out of the doldrums after she died. The other reason was to help me get out of my funk after my career crashed and my fiancé cheated on me.
What is your favorite spot in your home?
The kitchen. That’s where Grandma taught me to cook. Now Granddad and I spend a lot of time there together. We both feel her spirit most strongly in that room.
Favorite meal and dessert?
I’m going to plug a Maryland specialty, steamed hard-shell crabs with Old Bay Seasoning. You can get crab elsewhere, but Chesapeake Bay blue crab is unique and absolutely the best. I also like crab cakes and sautéed soft shell crabs. Crabs go well with corn on the cob. For dessert, I like pie the best. My favorites are apple, pecan, and Key lime.
Do you have any hobbies?
I could use more hobbies and maybe some day I’ll have the leisure to pursue them. These days I spend my downtime watching classic movies with Granddad, playing tennis, and biking on our flat country roads—no mountain bikes needed here.
What is your favorite vacation spot?
For a long time, I’ve wanted to take a vacation in Europe. I was supposed to honeymoon in Greece, but breaking my engagement put an end to that. In the last few years, my vacations have been closer to home. We’re less than a two-hour drive to the Atlantic Ocean beaches. Summer wouldn’t be complete without trips to the beach.
What music do you listen to?
When I’m working at the café, I can’t escape the energetic exercise music that’s piped all over the athletic club. As a change from the constant bass and beat of it, I enjoy classical music.
Do you have a favorite book?
Pride and Prejudice. Don’t we all want to meet Mr. Darcy, or at least the Colin Firth version of him?
What is your idea of a really fun time?
A dinner with family or friends that I didn’t cook and don’t have to clean up afterwards.
If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
*** My Life as a Book Character ***
Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
Amateur. I work with Granddad, also an amateur, though he’ll tell you otherwise because he’s taken an online course on Investigation, calls himself a Senior Sleuth, and has a business card to prove it.
In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
Typically I’m at the athletic club from seven to two, serving breakfast and lunch, before turning the café over to my assistant manager. The rest of the day varies. I might prepare food for a catering gig, test recipes for my cookbook, or visit murder suspects.
Gingerdead Man is the seventh book in the “Five-Ingredient” cozy mystery series, released September 29, 2020.
When Santa is sleighed by a poison gingerbread cookie at a holiday party, Val Deniston’s reputation is on the line.
This holiday season Bayport, Maryland, is a dead ringer for Victorian London. Val and her grandfather are taking part in the Dickens of a Holiday festival. Val is hosting a private tea party serving the festival’s costumed volunteers, who range from Dickens divas like Madame Defarge and Miss Havisham to Ebenezer Scrooge and old St. Nick himself.
But one costumed reveler may have gotten the holidays mixed up. The winner of the creepiest outfit, robed in black with a gift bag covering the head—okay, Ghost of Christmas Present, Val gets it—hands out gingerbread men with white icing skeleton bones. This year’s sour Santa has none of the big fellow’s mirth but plenty of his appetite, and it’s no secret Santa loves cookies. But when the man in red turns blue, Val and Granddad have a cookie-cutter killer to catch before the New Year . . .
Includes delicious five-ingredient recipes!
About the author
Maya (Mary Ann) Corrigan combines her passion for food and detective stories in her Five-Ingredient Mysteries: By Cook or by Crook, Scam Chowder, Final Fondue, The Tell-Tale Tarte, S’more Murders, Crypt Suzette, and Gingerdead Man. The series features a café manager and her live-wire grandfather, the Codger Cook, who solve murders in a historic town near the Chesapeake Bay. Each book has five suspects, five clues, and Granddad’s five-ingredient recipes.
Before writing crime fiction, Maya taught American literature, writing, and detective fiction at Georgetown University and Northern Virginia Community College. She enjoys theater, travel, trivia, cooking, and crosswords.
Visit mayacorrigan.com for more about her books, recipes, and mystery history.
All comments are welcomed.
Val thanks you for interviewing her, and I thank you too, Dru Ann!
I have some thses books from my library and not current update with series.
Mary Ann, a wonderful read! Started my weekend with this 7th book and enjoyed it thoroughly!!! Very nice interview.