Strawberry Basil Smash @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: I like to make one special cocktail when new books come out, and my friend Steven Callahan is often my accomplice. This summer, I had two books to celebrate--THE INGREDIENTS OF HAPPINESS and A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS. Since John and I had strawberries in the garden and basil in a pot when we were cooking this up, Steve suggested this drink. I was dubious about the whiskey part of it, and thought we might want to replace that with rum. We never got to that step because everyone (even the non-whiskey drinkers) agreed the whiskey drink was very tasty.

Ingredients

Good quality scotch whiskey, 1 oz per drink

Basil-flavored simple syrup, 1/2 oz per drink

Fresh strawberries

Club soda

Basil

Lemon

To make the simple syrup, measure 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup water and heat this to boiling. Turn the stove off and drop three or four basil leaves into the pan. Let this cool.

For one drink, muddle 3 to 5 strawberries. Add the whiskey, the simple syrup, a squeeze of lemon, and ice, and stir. Strain the drink into a cocktail glass, top off with club soda, and garnish with strawberries and basil, if desired. You could also skip the straining step if you like the idea of the extra strawberries.

#13 in the Key West food critic mystery series, Coming August 8th!

Food critic Hayley Snow and her pal Miss Gloria are overjoyed to welcome Violet and Bettina Booth, aka the Scottish Scone Sisters, to Key West. The sisters will host The UK Bakes!—Key West Edition. But the same day they arrive, the bed-and-breakfast the sisters are staying in gets torched.

The contest begins the next morning featuring three local bakers. One is the inn owner’s wife, Rayna, who is not only the most talented chef of the group but now a person of interest in the fire. The next night, a dogwalker discovers a body near the bed-and-breakfast. The victim appears to be Rayna’s husband, and the murder weapon points directly to the Scottish Scone Sisters.

But the show must go on. In between filming sessions, the three elderly ladies and Hayley must search for clues to the brutal murder in order to find out who wants to force them out of the kitchen. But as they draw closer to the answer, the threats from a murderer grow closer too. Are they now in danger of getting baked off?

"Food lore, island delights, and mystery provide something for everyone."

—Kirkus Reviews

“But how many new ways can an author concoct for the protagonist to find a dead body? I needn’t have worried – and neither should fans. This Key West murder mystery has twists, turns – and cake.” –Cathy Salustri, The Gabber

Order the book wherever books are sold! 

And I almost forgot to mention that A DISH TO DIE FOR is out in paperback today!