Leave a comment below for a chance to win a print copy of STAGING IS MURDER.
Next time
you want to coerce someone into spilling their secrets, serve an English-style
tea and include scones like the ones served at the Orangery, the teashop frequented
by Laura and her sources.
English Butterscotch Tea Scones
4 cups
all-purpose flour
1
teaspoon baking soda
2
teaspoons baking powder
½
teaspoon salt
½ cup
granulated sugar
1 stick cold
unsalted butter (4 ounces) cut into small pieces
1 cup butterscotch
chips (or cinnamon chips, currants, or raisins)
1 egg
1 ½ cups
buttermilk (Or substitute 1 ½ cups milk with 2 tablespoons white vinegar. Allow
to sit for ten minutes before adding to other ingredients.)
Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in butter until the mixture is the size of small pebbles.
Add chips, (or currants or raisins) to dry mixture and stir to coat well. Set aside.
Beat egg and buttermilk together and add to dry ingredients.
Stir to combine all ingredients. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly.
Roll dough until it is 1 inch thick or press with floured fingertips.
Cut rounds with a lightly floured cutter or a juice glass and place on a greased baking sheet or one lined with parchment paper.
Brush lightly with milk or cream and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until scones are lightly browned.
Allow to
cool. Slice in half and spread with butter or whipped cream and jam. Enjoy!
What would you serve to loosen a source’s
lips?
Leave a comment below, with your email address, for a chance to win a print copy of Staging
is Murder. (U.S. and Canadian addresses; winner will be announced on Tues, May 21.)
Staging is Murder
Laura Bishop just nabbed her first decorating
commission—staging for sale a 19th century mansion that hasn’t been
updated for decades. But when a body falls from a laundry chute and lands at
Laura’s feet, removing flowered wallpaper becomes the least of her duties. To clear her young assistant of the
murder and save her fledgling business, Laura’s determined to find the killer.
Turns out it’s not as easy as renovating a manor home, especially with two
handsome men complicating her mission: the police detective assigned to the
case and the real estate agent trying to save the manse from foreclosure. Worse still, the meddling of a
horoscope-guided friend, a determined grandmother, and the local funeral
director could get them all killed before Laura props the first pillow.
Grace
Topping is a recovering technical writer and IT project manager, accustomed to
writing lean, boring documents. Let loose to write fiction, she is now creating
murder mysteries and killing off characters who remind her of some of the
people she dealt with during her career. Fictional revenge is sweet. She’s
using her experience helping friends stage their homes as inspiration for her
Laura Bishop mystery series. The first book in the series, Staging is Murder, is about a woman starting a new career midlife
as a home stager. Grace is the current vice president of the Chesapeake Chapter
of Sisters in Crime, and a member of the SINC Guppies and Mystery Writers of
America. She lives with her husband in Northern Virginia.
