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A Peach of a Murder
A Fresh Baked Mystery #1

by Livia J Washburn



      When her husband, Kenny, died, Phyllis Newsome, a retired school teacher, decided to share her large house with three other school teachers instead of selling it. With a recent vacancy, she rented the room to Dan Fletcher, a retired coach, adding zest to the atmosphere.

Phyllis is a contestant in the annual Peach Festival cooking contest. With her spicy peach cobbler made with Parker County, Texas peaches she hopes to win the blue ribbon. She is in competition with one of her boarders, Carolyn Wilburger who has won in previous years. They both jealously guard their recipes.(Both recipes are included at the end of the book).

While sampling the entries one of the judges, Donnie Boatwright, drops dead. An autopsy indicates that he was poisoned by peach pits. Phyllis's son, Mike, as a member of the Parker County Sheriff's Department, is investigating the death. Suspicion points to Carolyn, whose daughter had in the past been harassed by Donnie. There follows a series of other murders with links to the past. Phyllis takes time out from her culinary endeavors to try to find the true murderer.

This is as much a culinary adventure as a mystery. The recipes for the two top contenders for the prize are included and sound delicious. The rivalry for the prize and the narrative of the making of the special peach recipes is well documented. You can almost smell the peach fragrance. The search for the serial murderer takes the reader through the past relations of the victims with a surprising conclusion.

This story reminds me of the popular TV series, The Golden Girls: the same cast of characters, the same rivalries, and the same snappy dialogue. The only exception in this case is the addition of a man to the cast.

A pleasant start to a new cozy series with fresh culinary fields to explore...

The Book

Signet
Oct 3, 2006
Paperback
0451219740
Mystery
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
NOTE:

The Reviewer

Barbara Buhrer
Reviewed 2006
NOTE:
© 2006 MyShelf.com