Wednesday, September 2, 2009

I want S'more! An excerpt from STUCK ON MURDER

Congratulations to Kaye Barley of North Carolina,
last week’s winner of our $25 gift card to
Williams-Sonoma! Don't despair if you didn't win!
We still have some gift certificates to give away.
Send us an email or leave a comment (advice is
always welcome although not always heeded) and
you could be this week's winner.






Now in a bid for shameless self-promotion,
I have to give myself a shout out because after months of anticipation,
my decoupage mystery novel STUCK ON MURDER, under my
alternate pen name Lucy Lawrence, is out in stores! Let me assure you,
it's pretty big day in my house!

In the tradition of Mystery Lover's Kitchen, food must be involved
in all big life moments, otherwise what's the point? So while I
entice you to read my novel with a short excerpt from the
book, I will accompany it with pictures of the recipe my character
Brenna Miller has created, namely S'mores Casserole!

STUCK ON MURDER
by Lucy Lawrence
Berkley Prime Crime
Sept 2009


Brenna had not done any baking since the

previous weekend when she had felt the need for

a batch of butterscotch squares, which had sorely

depleted her flour supply. She scrounged the

cupboards in her kitchenette for a quick idea but

could only come up with teddy bear shaped graham

crackers, several squares of bittersweet chocolate

and a bag of mini-marshmallows. What was she

supposed to do with all this? Then it hit her, a

S'mores casserole! Could she soften Nate with that?

She’d have to give it a go.












She greased a small casserole dish, made

layers, like a lasagna, of teddy bears, marshmallows,

and chopped up chocolate. Then she broiled it until

the marshmallows on top turned golden brown.

She glanced through the window by her front door,

and saw that Nate’s lights were still on. His was

the largest cabin and it sat directly across the inlet

from hers. It was only eight-thirty, so she figured it

wasn’t too late to go visit him.


She set the dish on her porch railing while she

locked her front door. Then, using her red-checked

potholder mittens, she carried the dish with both hands

as she followed the well-worn path along the water’s

edge that led to Nate’s house.


She could hear the signs of early spring.

Crickets and tree frogs sang their nightly symphony

and the chilly evening air made a fine mist rise from

the hot dish in her hands.


She climbed the three steps to Nate’s porch and knocked on the front door with the toe of her shoe. Instantly, there was a dog explosion on the other side

of the door as Hank, Nate’s golden retriever, went into a frenzy of barking.


Brenna moved to stand in front of the window, so that Hank would see her and settle down, but was distracted by her own disheveled reflection and frowned. Her hair had come out of the band at the nape of her neck

and was now hanging in her face, making her look

unkempt as if she’d spent a hard day scrubbing

toilets. Fabulous...


For more information on any of our books, please check out: http://berkleysignetmysteries.com/
Happy reading and eating!!!
Jenn (aka Lucy)

Jenn McKinlay SPRNKLE WITH MURDER -- March 2010
(aka Lucy Lawrence -- STUCK ON MURDER -- Sept 2009)
For more recipes and information visit:
http://www.jennmckinlay.com/




12 comments:

  1. You had me at teddy bear grahams! This is genuis! Must go get the ingredients tomorrow!

    By the way, I'm a book reviewer friend of Elizabeth's, and I would love to review your new book. My blog is at http://sharonsgardenofbookreviews.blogspot.com

    Let me know if you're interested!
    Sharon
    sharonc76308@yahoo.com

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  2. Jenn, this is wonderful! I can't wait to read your new book. Congratulations on its release!

    Elizabeth/Riley
    Mystery Writing is Murder

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  3. Congratulations Jenn!! Stuck on Murder sounds like a lot of fun! Love the casserole idea, too. Can't wait to pick up a copy of your new book. Woo-hoo... Book release days are *always* exciting!

    Congrats!
    Julie

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  4. Yeah, Jenn/Lucy! Stuck on Murder reads great! What a lovely casserole for busy moms! Yum!

    Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks all! And thanks for the review
    offer, Sharon. I'll email you directly!
    Jenn

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  6. Congratulations, Jenn/Lucy! Your excerpt makes me want to read it!

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  7. Congrats on the new book! Yay!!

    I'm betting my kids would love this for an after school snack. Casseroles aren't high on their list of favorite things, but this one could change their minds!

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  8. Oh, Jenn, this excerpt is adorable -- love, love, love the S'mores casserole, and now I cannot wait to read more about Brenna and Nate in STUCK ON MURDER! Congratulations on your brand spankin' new mystery release!

    ~Cleo
    Coffeehouse Mystery.com

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  9. How cute! And resourceful. I like the resourceful part most of all.

    I'm about to attempt a decoupage project for the first time. Maybe I'll make the s'mores first to give me...uh...inspiration?

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  10. Gonna try this for sure. I love looking for new ways to have s'mores. Check this out and let me know what you think: http://susanswritinglife.blogspot.com/2009/07/please-sir-i-want-smores.html.

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  11. Can't wait to get your book, Jenn; I've already added it to my "must buy" list! I did a bit of decoupage way back when, and always enjoyed it.

    This entire web site makes me want to spend the rest of my life doing only two things: reading, eating, reading, eating, reading. eating...

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  12. Susan-

    I haven't thought of marshmallow topping in years. That's genius. When I was a kid we used
    to have Fluffer-nutter sandwiches. Peanutbutter and fluff. I had no idea Smuckers was on board with the fluff. Thanks for the info!

    -Jenn

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