If anyone had told me on my thirty-first birthday that a year later I’d be living with my grandfather in his ramshackle Victorian near the Chesapeake Bay, I’d have just laughed. Why would a woman with a drop-dead gorgeous fiancé and a dream job as a cookbook publicist leave Manhattan for a town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore? Impossible to imagine . . . until the fiancé and the job both went sour in a single weekend.
But I don’t want to talk about that. I have a new life in a historic town filled with tourists and retirees. They come here from Washington and Baltimore for boating, birding, fishing, antiquing, and hunting. They also come for the clean air with a salty tinge, the peaceful vistas over the water, and the local food—a fresh catch from the bay and the bounty from nearby farms.
Speaking of food . . . Besides catering to my crusty grandfather, I run the Cool Down Café at the Bayport Racket and Fitness Club. Stop by sometime. The café’s open for breakfast and lunch, serving homemade granola and biscotti, smoothies, salads, and sandwiches. I also make cookies and pies to replenish the calories that the exercise junkies have just worked off. The food is fresh and the conversation lively.
On a typical day, after I close the café, I work on my long-planned cookbook. My recipes use many fewer ingredients than celebrity chefs require for their gourmet creations. The average person can whip up any of my recipes in less time than it takes to watch a TV cooking show. But this wasn’t a typical day. I didn’t get to spend hours in the kitchen where my grandmother taught me to cook and where I feel closest to her in spirit.
When I first moved here, I figured Bayport would be deadly dull. Well, as of today, I’m half-right. Deadly, yes. Dull, no. This morning I found a body, a club member and café patron murdered with a bizarre and yet strangely apt weapon. I’d wager my second-best copper pan that no one else has ever been killed like that. Not even the writers of Castle have hit on this wacky way to dispose of someone. The murder method points clearly to a killer from the racket and fitness club, probably one of my café patrons.
Bethany, who helps me out in the café, told me I should solve the crime. She said, “The police here direct traffic and keep the tourists happy. What do they know about murder? Nobody ever gets murdered here. You lived in New York, and they have murders there all the time.” I hated to disillusion her, but during my ten years in the city, I never saw a dead body.
By nightfall, I was beginning to think Bethany was right. The police were focusing their investigation on the wrong person, a woman I’d go out on a limb to prove innocent. Also someone tried to kill me and make it look like an accident. Everyone told me I was paranoid, including the police. Then there’s the guy who showed up in town the day before the murder and came back today. I kinda like him even though my grandfather doesn’t trust him and says he looks like a hit man.
This wasn’t a typical day for Granddad either. Usually he watches old movies. Today he decided for the first time in 77 years to bake a cake and nearly collapsed from inhaling the smoke in the oven. His sudden urge to cook strikes me as suspicious. Maybe tomorrow I’ll solve that mystery and figure out who murdered someone with a . . . Sorry. Gotta go. The chief suspect is at my door.
You can read more about Val in By Cook or By Crook, the first book in the new Five-Ingredient Mystery Series, published by Kensington.
GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment by 6 p.m. eastern on November 11 for the chance to win a copy of BY COOK OR BY CROOK. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.
Meet the author
Maya Corrigan lives near Washington, D.C., within easy driving distance of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the setting for 
her Five-Ingredient Mystery series. She has taught courses in writing, detective fiction, and American literature at Georgetown University and NOVA community college. A winner of the 2013 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in unpublished Mystery and Suspense, she has short stories published under her full name of Mary Ann Corrigan. Her website features trivia and quizzes on mysteries.
Oh I would love to have this
This sounds like a good book that has a recipe for a good murder! Would love to read it.
What a great blog post! It sounds like a fun, intriguing series set in a picturesque area with lots of great options for characters and plots. I look forward to this!
Thank you, Maureen, Mary and Wanda. I hope you enjoy the book.
–Maya
Don’t leave me hanging, Maya. Who did it?
The clues are in the book! –Maya
Hmmm…interesting.
Looks like a fun new series. Congrats
Thank you, bookwoman and Kaye. –Maya
Okay, now I have to read this to find out what the weapon was!
Great website, Maya.
Thank you for visiting my website, Sally, and for your kind words about it.
–Maya
Interesting and fun
I love cozies with recipes 🙂
Sounds like a good read.
Nancy, Gram, and Amy, Thank you for commenting.–Maya
What a unique concept, Maya! I look forward to reading it.
This one like quite interesting.
I love finding new series to try. Thanks for the heads up.
Linda,Yifat, and Kuzlin, Thank you for your comments. –Maya
“You lived in New York, and they have murders there all the time.” Bethany’s words made me chuckle. Sounds like a great cozy.
Lauigl [at] carolina [dot] rr [dot] com
Cozy and recipe! Double your pleasure, as the commercial said.
I would love to read this! Thanks!
Thanks for Cozynookbks, Victoria, and Terri for commenting. I hope you enjoy the book. –Maya
I love that at the age of 77, her granddad’s learning to cook. There’s hope for me.
My father was in his 80s when he took over the cooking. He was the inspiration for Val’s Granddad in the book.
I love the theme of food in cozies; thank you for the chance to win 🙂
What a fun new series. I look forward to reading this book.
I am looking forward to this one!
Lisa, Pamela, Sara, and Ann–Thank you for reading and commenting on the post.–Maya
Val and Maya both have a lot on their plates.
I love food cozies , Can’t wait to read this
Would love to read this! Thank you!
Ann, Debbie, and Carol, thank you for visiting the blog and posting a comment. –Maya
I’m excited about this new series after seeing it on Goodreads. I’d love to win!
Thanks for checking it out on Goodreads and positing. –Maya
I’m guessing Grandpa is trying to bake a birthday cake for someone special.
Good guess. I’m not saying if it’s right or not. Thanks for posting. –Maya
Looks klike a good book!
Uuuuh. Sounds like a fun book. Just getting back to cozies after an intense romace era of several years and books like the Jack Reacher series. NEED books to fill my void.
Sounds like a fabulous cozy.
Leni, Connie, and Rita, Thank you all for positing. Welcome back to the cozy fold, Connie. —Maya
You have my attention. Now I want to know all the details.
Another culinary mystery to add to my ever-growing never-ending TBR pile.
I look forward to reading this book – even if I don’t win it!
LIbby, Danielle, and Karen, Thank you for your comments. –Maya
Sounds like fun. Put it on my list.
Thanks, Dru and Val/Maya. Looks like lots of us are looking forward to reading this one! 🙂
Thanks for the chance to win
Patricia, Mary Lou, and Wanda, I appreciate your comments. Thanks.
–Maya
What a great sounding book
Your debut book has been on my wishlist for awhile now. Looking forward to reading it!
Yay!! A new series! I’ll definitely give this one a try even if I don’t win a copy. Sounds great! Thanks for the chance to win.
Becky, Sandy, and Linda, Thank you all for your comments and the kind words. –Maya
Love to read the 1st in a new series!
Being let in on the first book in a new series is always great. Val sounds like a typical gen-X person with so many irons in the fire. Reading this would appeal to me in so many ways since I am a wife, daughter, mother and daughter-in-law and dealing with not just my life but others as well.
sounds like a good one. Will definitely add it to me TBR pile. Thanks for the contest give-away.
Any young sleuth that lives with her grandfather has to be OK. I’ll look forward to reading this book.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
This book sounds very good. Would love to win. Thank you. Candace7399@aol.com
Can’t wait to read this!
Sounds like a fun read.
sounds like an interesting read. Thanks for chance.
Very intriguing and unique. Thanks.
Sounds like a fun new series. Looking forward to reading this.
Enjoyed meeting Val, this looks like a fun new series. And I sure could use five ingredient recipes!
Looks like a great cozy mystery.
xzjh04@ gmail.com
Looks like a great start to new series & definitely on I want to read!
Thank you for a chance to win a copy of By Cook or By Crook. I have this book on my To Buy list.
Don’t answer the door.
would love to win looks like a good read
On my Must Read list: which is being given out when asked for holiday gift suggestions.
I LOVE THIS SERIES!!!!!
Very excited about this one!
Thank you to everyone who left a comment and to Dru Ann for inviting me to post on this great blog. Still a few days to go in the giveaway. –Maya
This looks and sounds like a book that I will definitely want to get. Would love to win it, but if not, I hope to have it on my list and order as soon as I can. When your Amazon bill is as much as your grocery bill, is there something wrong with me?? And I am a good eater too. 🙂 Nothing wrong, just love books. Cynthia
Love a good cozy mystery. Thanks for the giveaway!
I’d be thrilled to win By Cook or Crook 🙂 Ty for a chance to win !
Oh I want to win this
Love cozy mysteries and reading new (at least to me) authors!
This looks like a fun book.
This sounds so good!
I would love to win. I love a series with a food theme. Thanks for the chance.
I love the cover, and the book sounds wonderful. Looking forward to reading it.
Sounds like a great read, would love to win a copy.
Thanks Maya for interacting with my readers.
Contest is closed.