WHAT INSPIRED THE SPICE SHOP MYSTERIES? by @LeslieBudewitz #Giveaway #SpotlightSunday

LESLIE BUDEWITZ: Welcome, once again, to Spotlight Sunday, where one member of the fabulous Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen crew takes center stage to share a little about her writing life and journey. Today, it’s my turn.

Peppermint Barked, the 6th Spice Shop Mystery set in Seattle’s famed Pike Place Market, will be out this Tuesday, July 19.* I know, it’s hotter than a peppermint mocha in many places right now, so let’s beat the heat by pretending it’s December—just in time for Christmas in the Market. And to help with that, my recipe for this Tuesday, my share day, is Double Chocolate Peppermint Barked–no oven required, and totally delish any time of year!

Readers tell me they love visiting Seattle on the page, and feel like they’ve been to the Market with me after reading my books—whether for the first time, or revisiting old haunts. So how did the series get started?

I fell in love with the Market as a college freshman, not long after the voters saved it from destruction, and made it my mission in life to eat my way through it. It’s constantly changing, so I’ll never be done! Imagine a wide-eyed Montana girl who loved to eat but didn’t know a lot about spices or really good food—and plop her into a food lovers’ paradise! 

As a student and then as a young lawyer working downtown, I ate and shopped my way through the Market weekly. The food is fresh, local, wild, and wonderful. Creative and colorful, funky and flavorful. I also adore the vibrance and energy of the place, from the street corner musicians to the flying fish to the artisans who run the craft stalls, and the ever-changing mix of merchants in the “stores with doors.” It’s a treat to imagine the place from the inside—thanks in part to the merchants and vendors who’ve shared their stories with me—and share it with readers.

Pages from my Market sketchbook

How did that come about? I took a round-about route to writing, going to law school and practicing first in Seattle and then back home in Montana. In 2011, Berkley Prime Crime (part of Penguin Random House) bought my Food Lovers’ Village series, set in fictional Jewel Bay, Montana, based on the small NW Montana community where Mr. Right and I live. That next year, even before Death al Dente, first in the series came out, I started thinking about adding a second series. I can still picture us walking down Eastlake Avenue in Seattle, heading for breakfast, when I told my honey it had to be an urban cozy, set in Seattle. Where? What kind of shop? The heart of the urban cozy is the “community within the community.” Clearly, it had to be the Market. 

Why a spice shop? From the busy corner of First and Pike, step into the world of the Market, onto the cobbled streets of 1907, between the Economy Market on the left and the Corner and Sanitary (no horses allowed!) Markets on the right. Stop for a slice of pizza at DeLaurenti’s, then browse the news stand while you eat—eyes only until your hands are clean. (Sadly, the news stand closed in 2019, but this is my memory we’re stepping into and there, it’s alive and well.) Walk down the aisle past the flying fish to Market Spice. Pour yourself a sample cup of the orange and clove infused tea—hot in winter, iced in summer—and drink in the sights and smells, the jewel tones of the turmeric and cumin and paprika. Let the names of the teas and spices sink in. (These days, you can also shop at the fabulous World Spice Merchants on Western just below the main Market.) Sip while you browse, then go in search of dessert—a Nanaimo bar from a long-closed deli or a sablé from Le Panier, the French bakery. Listen to the buskers and vendors and customers. 

Flower Row 

Pause to smell the roses and peonies and other sweet-smelling flowers. Then head Down Under, the Market’s lower levels, for your groceries, books, and treasures like bracelets and scarves from India. Wander through the artisan tables in the Main Arcade and go home with a Hmong quilted pillow or a tiny satchel perfect for your wallet and keys. (No cell phones then!) Let your eyes dance happily through it all.

That’s why. Because I love the place and I was sure you would, too. 

Market Stalls

What about Pepper? Oh, she’s fiery one, isn’t she? A city girl, unlike me. Law firm staffer who lost her job when the giant firm where she worked imploded in scandal. I based that on a real-life incident that happened after I left the city. When I heard about it, I wasn’t worried about the lawyers. They would land on their feet. But what about the legal assistants and secretaries, the librarians and HR people? I wanted to follow one of them as she remade her life.

That led me to a recurrent theme in the series: the search for identity. I’ve long said it’s a woman’s journey, the heroine’s journey as compared to the classic hero’s journey. Not, I always hastened to say, that men don’t occasionally struggle with their sense of themselves as well. With Peppermint Barked, I decided to explore that male journey of identity through Matt, one of Pepper’s employees, her boyfriend Nate, and her pal Vinny, the wine merchant, as well as a few other characters. It was eye-opening.  A mystery should always be fun, but more than that, it should give readers a glimpse into a world they don’t know. Into lives they haven’t lived and people they haven’t known. And it should be a world where justice prevails, where right is rewarded, and where the food is always fresh and spicy. 

Thank you for taking the trip with me. 

Aren't those books beautiful? To see more about the Spice Shop books and read excerpts, pop over to my website. While you’re there, check out my Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries—five novels and a short story collection—and the stand-alone suspense I write as Alicia Beckman. 

It wouldn't be Christmas---even in July---without presents, right? So I'm giving THREE lucky winners their choice of Spice Shop Mysteries. Start at the beginning with Assault & Pepper or catch up with one you've missed. Talk to me in the comments about Seattle, markets you know and love, your favorite characters in my books, your favorite spice, or Christmas! (Be sure to leave your email address. US and Canada only. Mr. Kitten will pick the winner Wed, July 20.)   

PEPPERMINT BARKED: A Spice Shop Mystery (coming July 19, 2022 from Seventh St. Books*)

From the cover: 

A Dickens of a Christmas turns deadly…

As the holiday season lights up Seattle’s famed Pike Place Market, Pepper Reece’s beloved Spice Shop is brimming with cinnamon, nutmeg, and shoppers eager to stuff their stockings. Add to the mix a tasty staff competition—a peppermint bark-off—along with Victorian costumes for this year’s Dickensian Christmas theme, and Pepper almost forgets to be nervous about meeting her fisherman boyfriend’s brother for the first time.

But when a young woman working in her friend Vinny’s wine shop is brutally assaulted, costumed revelers and holiday cheer are the last things on Pepper’s mind. Who would want to hurt Beth? Or were they looking for Vinny instead?

The vicious attack upsets everyone at Pike Place, but none more than Pepper’s own employee, Matt Kemp. At first, Pepper is baffled by his reaction, but his clandestine connection to Beth could hold the key to the assailant’s motive. Or perhaps it’s Vinny’s ex-wife who knows more than she’s letting on . . . and what about the mysterious top-hatted man with whom Pepper saw Beth arguing that morning?

As the secrets of the market come to light, long-held grudges, family ties, and hidden plans only further obscure the truth. Is it a ghost of the past rattling its chains, or a contemporary Scrooge with more earthly motives? As Pepper chases down a killer, someone is chasing her, and in the end, the storied market itself may hold the final, deadly clue.

A cozy holiday mystery full of culinary delights and a rich cast of characters, the sixth installment in the Spice Shop Mystery series will keep you turning the page . . . and reaching for another piece of peppermint bark. 

*The audio book will be out in late Aug or September. 

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries and the Spice Shop Mysteries, and the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories. Death al Dente, the first Food Lovers' Village Mystery, won Best First Novel in 2013, following her 2011 win in Best Nonfiction. Her first historical short story, "All God's Sparrows," won the 2018 Agatha Award for Best Short Story. Peppermint Barked, her 6th Spice Shop mystery, will appear in July 2022, and Blind Faith, her second standalone suspense novel (written as Alicia Beckman), will release in October 2022. 

A past president of Sisters in Crime and a current board member of Mystery Writers of America, she lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.

Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.