Darci Hannah: Today I’m celebrating the launch of the 7th book in my Beacon Bakeshop mystery series, MURDER AT THE CAMPFIRE COOKOUT! Every time I get the opportunity to write another Beacon Bakeshop mystery, I feel like I’m visiting my best friends. Seven books ago, Lindsey Bakewell and her lovable Newfoundland dog, Wellington, popped onto the page when I began to write my first Beacon Bakeshop mystery, MURDER AT THE BEACON BAKESHOP. That was six years ago, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know Lindsey, her best friend Kennedy Kapoor, her hunky boyfriend, Rory Campbell, and Officer Tuck McAllister, Beacon Harbor’s hottest man in uniform, through all their adventures and misadventures in the charming lakeside village of Beacon Harbor, Michigan. When I started writing this book, I was told that my publisher was going to end the series with Campfire Cookout, simply because these books are published in the mass market format, and bookstores no longer wish to carry mass market books. The argument was made that if bookstores no longer carry these books, sales will go down, and that’s not good news for any author! If you’re a fan of this series, you might have heard the news as well. The Beacon Bakeshop mystery series is ending!
Naturally, I was devastated by the thought of ending my beloved series. However, just as I was told it was prudent to end the series with #7, I was also asked to relaunch the series with the same characters, same setting, but a slightly new hook so that it could be printed in a more bookstore-friendly format. Now, I don’t pretend to know all the ins and outs of the publishing industry, and I was slightly confused by what they were asking me to do. Yet after a long conversation with my agent, it suddenly dawned on me that the adventures in Beacon Harbor were not going away. They are simply being repackaged and given a slightly new focus in order to weather the fickle nature of the book industry. It was great news indeed!
I am so delighted to share this last Beacon Bakeshop mystery with you. I’ve always known that I wanted to bring Lindsey and her friends on a camping trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for the adventure of a lifetime, and this was the perfect opportunity to do just that. The setting in Campfire Cookout is as stunning as it is isolating, and the ladies from Beacon Harbor are way out of their element in this mystery. However, even characters in a book need to be pushed outside their comfort zone in order to grow and do a little soul-searching. Like a good tale told around a campfire, this book is a little spookier than the others in the series, but if you push through to the end, you just might get a little hint at what’s in store for Lindsey and her friends in books to come. I hope you enjoy MURDER AT THE CAMPFIRE COOKOUT as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it!
Here's one of my favorite recipes from the book.
Scrumptious S’mores Cookie Bars
Prep time: 15 minutes. Cook Time: 25 minutes. Makes 16 bars.
Ingredients:
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips
Small jar (7.5 oz) marshmallow cream
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line and 9 x 9 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a small mixing bowl whisk together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and brown sugar, about 2 minutes, then add the egg and vanilla, mixing until creamy. Gently incorporate the flour mixture into the butter mixture until a soft dough forms. Gently press half the dough into the prepared pan.
Using a spoon, dollop enough of the marshmallow cream to cover the bottom crust. Use as much as you need, then gently spread it until smooth. Next, sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the marshmallow cream.
On a piece of parchment paper, roll out the remaining dough to about 1/8 inch thick, and to roughly the size of the pan. You can use your hands for this, or a rolling pin. You might need to spray your hands or the rolling pin with non-stick cooking spray to keep the dough from sticking. Using a knife, cut dough into 2-inch squares and lay them as best as you can on top of the chocolate chip layer. There will be space between them, but that’s okay. You want a little marshmallow and chocolate poking out.
Print your copy here!
I’m giving away a copy of MURDER AT THE CAMPFIRE COOKOUT to one lucky winner.
Please tell me in the comments below if you’ve ever been camping. If so, what’s your favorite thing to make on a campout?
*Don’t forget to include your email in your comment.
**Continental U.S. only please!
Darci Hannah is the bestselling author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, the Food & Spirits Mystery Series, the Very Cherry Mystery Series, and two works of historical fiction, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, and The Angel of Blythe Hall. Darci grew up in the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan with her husband and two dogs. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. Passionate about family, dogs, food, baking, history, books, lighthouses, laughter, good conversations, coffee, and the paranormal, Darci feels especially blessed to have found a way to combine her interests in the stories she writes. It brings her great joy to be able to share them with you.
Connect with Darci at www.darcihannah.com
Instagram: @authordarcihannah
Facebook: @Author Darci Hannah
Murder at the Campfire Cookout
By Darci Hannah
Book #7 in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series
When Lindsey Bakewell leaves behind her lighthouse bakeshop, her boyfriend, Rory, and her Newfoundland dog, Wellington, for a glamping trip with her mother in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the bears leave them alone—but a killer doesn’t. . .
Converting the old Beacon Point lighthouse into a bakery is as adventurous as Lindsey cares to get. Her mother, Ellie, a former 80s fashion model, likes her creature comforts even more—until she sees a business opportunity for her Beacon Harbor fashion boutique when she’s invited by the Mitten Kittens Glamping Club on a woodsy getaway.
Far from roughing it, the ladies will be warm and cozy in chic vintage campers. Ellie insists Lindsey come along to win the campfire cookout contest. Campfire cooking has come a long way from bacon and beans. Soon Lindsey is making pizza, berry cobbler, and gooey Carmelita camping bars.
But the festive spirit is soon dampened when a body is found in Ellie’s camper. It seems like an accidental death until everyone’s tires are slashed and it’s clear the glampsite has become a crime scene. With no cell service to call for help, it’s up to Lindsey to smoke out the killer around the campfire . . .
Because no one is out of the woods yet.
A Spirited Supper at Dundoon Castle
By Darci Hannah
Book #2 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series
When chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride got a role on the reality show Food & Spirits, she thought “spirits” meant cocktails. Instead, she’s cooking up dinners meant to tempt the departed to appear. And to her surprise, she’s discovered abilities to connect with the beyond—and crack murder cases . . .
Now that Bunny’s entrées come with a side of the Other Side, it comes in handy to have a grandma who’s friendly with the elderly owners of a haunted Scottish castle. During Bunny’s childhood she heard all about Dundoon’s bloody history and the “ghostly piper” who roamed the grounds—and soon she’ll be visiting the ancient place with her ghost hunter and psychic co-stars. The annual bagpipe competition in the late piper’s honor will make for some good footage as well.
After Bunny serves a feast fit for a 17th century king, including lamb chops with plenty of fresh herbs, she heads outdoors for the ghost hunt. But in the dark, dense fog, someone fatally plunges from the clifftop over the loch. The sound that follows is a mournful, otherworldly bagpipe . . . and once the body of another perished piper is retrieved, Bunny is determined to solve this Highlands homicide—and prevent a killer from getting off scot-free . . .
A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor
By Darci Hannah
Book #1 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series
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https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496747457/a-fatal-feast-at-bramsford-manor/
While filming at a haunted English manor, chef Bunny MacBride’s big break on her first reality TV show may be cut short by an unscripted murder in Darci Hannah’s new Food & Spirits cozy mystery series . . .
It isn’t how chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride imagined her own cooking show unfolding. But, if preparing historic meals with a modern flair is what it takes to get her cooking on the air, she can deliver, even if her dinner guest is a ghost. That’s the premise of the new reality TV show Food & Spirits, where Chef Bunny teams up with ghost hunter Brett Bloom and psychic medium Giff McGrady to visit haunted locales around the world and tempt lingering spirits back to the table with a beloved meal. For their first episode, the Food & Spirits team sets off to investigate Bramsford Manor, a historic house turned famously haunted hotel, in picturesque Hampshire, England. The sprawling estate is said to be home to the Mistletoe Bride, a young woman who died in the 18th century, the victim of a tragic accident on her Christmas wedding night.
Bunny leaves the spectral search to the pros and focuses on the feast, creating a traditional English holiday wedding dinner, complete with a gorgeous prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, and rustic apple tarts. But Bunny’s task is made more difficult when someone steals a boning knife from her custom kit. Alas, when the blade finally turns up again—in the chest of an all-too-human dinner guest—Bunny’s woes only grow as she is named a lead suspect in the case! Now, with a haunted house full of living residents, staff, and crew, Bunny will need the help of Brett, Giff, and her clairvoyant Grandma Mac, to solve this murder before the manor gains another ghost!
It's a shame your publisher wants end this series because paperback are no longer available. Why don't they switch to trade back or publish as hardback? Sounds like they just want to end the series and are just using that as an excuse.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to look into buying the other books.
Becky Prazak
rjprazak6@gmail.com