Please welcome today's guest Elle Brooke White. She has a delightful new series debuting in April!
I have a new whimsical
mystery series debuting on April 7th that I’m excited to tell you
about. It’s called the Finn Family Farm Mysteries and the first installment is
titled DEAD ON THE VINE. Here’s the scoop:
Reluctant
farmer Charlotte Finn needs the help of the livestock to sleuth a mysterious
death.
Charlotte Finn never wanted to inherit the family's produce farm--much less plow a heap of money into it. Her plan is to hammer a great big FOR SALE sign into the farm's fallow furrows--but Charlotte's sunny hopes of a quick sale succumb to a killing frost when she finds a dead body entwined supine in the tomato vines. The poor man, it seems, was run through...with a pitchfork?
Now, Charlotte is stuck with running the farm in the midst of a murder investigation. Charlotte's knowledge of farming is smaller than her bank balance, so she relies on caretakers Joe and Alice Wong and their farmhands. Can she trust them? She doesn't know them. There's also farmer Samuel Brown, who still carries a childhood grudge. But the case gets personal when Charlotte learns that the victim might have been her own kin--and seeds of suspicion grow into a fertile field of suspects.
Charlotte turns to the farm's baby pig to help root out the killer. Soon, the goats, geese, and horse join in, but will Charlotte harvest a murderer--or buy the farm?
Charlotte Finn never wanted to inherit the family's produce farm--much less plow a heap of money into it. Her plan is to hammer a great big FOR SALE sign into the farm's fallow furrows--but Charlotte's sunny hopes of a quick sale succumb to a killing frost when she finds a dead body entwined supine in the tomato vines. The poor man, it seems, was run through...with a pitchfork?
Now, Charlotte is stuck with running the farm in the midst of a murder investigation. Charlotte's knowledge of farming is smaller than her bank balance, so she relies on caretakers Joe and Alice Wong and their farmhands. Can she trust them? She doesn't know them. There's also farmer Samuel Brown, who still carries a childhood grudge. But the case gets personal when Charlotte learns that the victim might have been her own kin--and seeds of suspicion grow into a fertile field of suspects.
Charlotte turns to the farm's baby pig to help root out the killer. Soon, the goats, geese, and horse join in, but will Charlotte harvest a murderer--or buy the farm?
Can’t
wait to find out? You can pre-order the book on Amazon today!
The Finn Family Farm
Mysteries are set in the rich and verdant land in the Santa Barbara Mountains
of California where nature is respected and revered. For today’s recipe it
seemed most organic to go with something that is tomato based. This is a great
summer refresher but if you are lucky enough to have access to tomatoes year
round. Perhaps from a hot house?
Green Tomato Gazpacho
Serves 6
3 ounces
of French bread, crusts cut off (about a handful)
1½ cups
of water
¼ cup
chopped shallots
1
teaspoon chopped garlic
2
tablespoons grapeseed oil
1
tablespoon sherry vinegar
½
teaspoon salt
½
teaspoon sriracha sauce (Optional)
2 large
cucumbers, peeled, seeded and chopped (I use a melon baller for the seeds)
2 large
green tomatoes, chopped (I remove the seeds to avoid any bitter taste)
3
tablespoons crème fraiche
1
tablespoon chopped fresh chives
¼
pumpkin seeds
This is
all about the prep work, once this is done your blender or food processor does
the rest.
Tear
bread into pieces and place in a bowl with the water and let it soak for 5
minutes.
Add
bread mixture, shallots, garlic, oil, vinegar, salt, sriracha, cucumbers and
tomatoes into food processor and blend until smooth.
Whisk
chives and crème fraiche and divide among the 6 bowls of soup. Garnish with
pumpkin seeds, (flavored or plain).
About
The Author
Elle Brooke White is the
author of the new series, The Finn Family
Farm Mysteries, coming April 7, 2020.
Born
in Shaker Heights, Ohio Elle became a world traveler at a young age when her
family moved to Europe. She grew up in Paris, Brussels and London until
returning to the U.S. to attend Vassar College.
She
then moved to New York City with the hopes of becoming a renowned actress but
took a job in advertising, as Elle says, “just until”.
Success
followed in the ad world where she worked on both coasts. Elle started an
interactive agency in the ‘90s creating web sites, apps and social media.
During a home remodel Elle was forced to go through old files and
discovered that she had been a writer her entire life. She found plays,
articles, scripts and book ideas. It was time for her to return to "a
world of pure imagination".
Elle lives in Southern California with her famous diving dog, Bardot.
Together they often take a spur of the moment drive to Santa Barbara to visit
the farms, wineries and enjoy traditional local fare. Elle has a deep passion
for California’s history and a great respect for its natural beauty. She also
has an uncanny habit of giving a name to every living creature she meets,
regardless of their species, color or number of legs.
You can follow Elle Brooke White on Facebook.
GIVEAWAY
To celebrate my new series, I'm offering a giveaway of an advanced,
signed copy of DEAD ON THE VINE.
Leave a comment and your email to enter.
Winner will be notified by 1/27/2020
