Murder in Her Stocking (A Granny Reid Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Kensington (October 30, 2018)
Hardcover: 304 pages

Synopsis

As the Moonlight Magnolia Agency revisits old memories on Christmas Eve, Granny Reid takes the reins back thirty years to the 1980s—back when she went by Stella, everyone’s hair was bigger, and sweaters were colorful disasters. But murder never went out of style . . .

Christmas has arrived in sleepy McGill, Georgia, but holiday cheer can’t keep temperamental Stella Reid from swinging a rolling pin at anyone who crosses her bad side—and this season, there are plenty. First an anonymous grinch vandalizes a celebrated nativity display. Far worse, the scandalous Prissy Carr is found dead in an alley behind a tavern. With police puzzled over the murder, Stella decides to stir the local gossip pot for clues on the culprit’s identity . . .

Turns out Prissy held a prominent spot on the naughty list, and suspects pile up like presents on Christmas morning. Unfortunately, the more progress Stella makes, the more fears she must confront. With a neighbor in peril and the futures of her beloved grandchildren at risk, Stella must somehow set everything straight and bring a cunning criminal to justice before December 25th . . .

Guest Post

The Frosting on the Cake by G. A. McKevett

Like many professional storytellers, I was raised in an environment rich with the sharing of family lore. Not all of it was sparkling or even repeatable in polite company, but it was entertaining, nevertheless.

One of the more prolific yarn spinners in my immediate circle was my father. Sunday afternoons, over an early dinner, he would tell and re-tell his life stories, many of which centered around the time he spent as a soldier in WWII.

“Squeaky and the Coconut Cake” was one of my personal favorites, and I’d like to share it with you now.

My father was a marine, stationed for a while in the Philippines, in a tent camp in the jungle. When the war finally ended, he returned home to southern Missouri, to his newly-widowed mother and younger sisters.

He brought with him a tiny monkey he had adopted, known as Squeaky, named after the little sounds he continually made whether he was happy and contented or wanting something—usually a food treat. He was so small that my father could tuck him into the front pocket of his shirt and button the flap, where Squeaky often took naps, close to the warmth of his “dad’s” chest.

The first Sunday after Dad’s return, my Grandma Cora Bell insisted that her non-church-attending son go to services with her and his sisters. Reluctantly, he did.

In celebration of his safe return from the war, Grandma had baked one of her delicious, moist, made from scratch, coconut cakes. It was a thing of beauty, which she placed in the center of the table before the family left. Everyone was looking forward to enjoying a generous slice of it, along with a pot of fresh, hot coffee, when they returned. But, alas, it was not to be.

While they were gone, the highly intelligent and ever-resourceful Squeaky, angry that he had been left behind, managed to escape from his cage.

The family returned to carnage.

They walked into the kitchen to find the usually immaculate room in chaos. Not only were flour and sugar bags torn open and their contents scattered, utensils pulled from cupboards and lying on the floor, and some dishes broken…but every single surface, both horizontal and vertical, in the entire room was covered with a thin coat of white stickiness.

Yes, coconut frosting. (My father would later say that he even scrubbed it off the top of the refrigerator and from the insides of the cupboard doors.)

It didn’t take long to find Squeaky. He was a gleeful little fellow. Sitting in the middle of the mangled cake. Casually licking coconut frosting from between his toes.

About the Author

G.A. McKevett is the author of the acclaimed Savannah Reid mystery series. Also writing under the name Sonja Massie, she has authored over 60 books ranging from cozy mysteries to historical romances, to nonfiction works on the history of Ireland. Her earthy humor and fast-paced plots delight her fans, while critics applaud her offbeat characterizations and incisive observations on human nature. Irish by ancestry, she has lived in Toronto, Ireland, and Los Angeles, but now resides in New York.

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