Eggs on Ice (A Cackleberry Club Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
8th in Series
Berkley (December 4, 2018)
Hardcover: 304 pages

Synopsis

Some say that casting crusty attorney Allen Sharpe as Scrooge in the Kindred Players production of “A Christmas Carol” is just playing to type. He’s not the most beloved man in town. In fact, you’d have a dickens of a time finding someone who liked him. Still it’s a shock when the Ghost of Christmas Past stabs him during the first rehearsal. Suzanne, co-owner of the Cackleberry Club café, Kindred’s favorite combination diner, craft store and bookshop, chases the murderer out of the building but loses him in the alley.

As the days pass the list of suspects grows longer. Is it the disgruntled partner? The former secretary whom Sharpe sexually harrassed? Or is it fellow owner of the Cackleberry Club, Toni’s almost ex-husband, Junior? The women of the Cackleberry Club are determined to find the killer before he can add another victim to his Christmas list.

An interview with Laura Childs, New York Times bestselling author of Eggs on Ice

Today I am blessed to have Laura Childs here answering the tough questions!  She even shares a recipe with us, so make note of it because it sounds delicious.

Tell us a little bit about Eggs on Ice, your newest mystery.

As the Kindred Players hold their dress rehearsal for A Christmas Carol, a ghost wafts onstage and murders the star of the show. Suzanne Dietz, co-owner of the Cackleberry Club, rushes after this spooky specter but loses him when he escapes into a snowstorm. Suzanne vows to solve this murder and ends up juggling multiple suspects, holiday tea parties, a second murder, and a devastating fire. True to character, she also maintains her good humor (yes, this book is funny!) and keeps her romance sizzling with the town doctor. In the tradition of all my previous cozy mysteries, I give my readers a solid culinary fix with lots of delicious details on breakfast egg entrees as well as menus for a couple of fancy holiday tea parties.

Laura, I know you always include recipes in your books. Which ones are in Eggs on Ice?

I put in some really fun, tasty recipes like Crabby Crab Cakes, Slow-Cooker Sweet-and-Sour Pork, Elvis French Toast, Pumpkin Breakfast Casserole, and Church Basement Funeral Bars.

Who does most of the cooking in your house? And with your busy writing schedule (three different mystery series), how do you find time to cook?

I do the cooking and there really isn’t any time. So I tend to do lots of baked chicken with vegetables as well as stews and chowders that can be tossed together early on and then simmered all day.

What are your favorite foods?

I love sushi. I could eat it morning, noon, and night. In fact, I did when my husband and I visited Japan for two weeks. Also, I adore all shellfish – oysters, lobster, crab, shrimp, etc. And I’m afraid I am a chocoholic.

You also write the Tea Shop Mysteries and New Orleans Scrapbooking Mysteries. Do you include cooking in those books as well?

Absolutely. The Tea Shop Mysteries are the perfect vehicle for tea party menus, scone recipes, and food events such as winery tastings, food trucks, and fancy parties. In fact, Theodosia, my protagonist, is always coming up with new tea blends, scone ideas, and savory lunches. The Scrapbooking Mysteries are set in New Orleans which is an incredibly foodie town. So we’re talking fried oysters, stuffed artichokes, etouffee, jambalaya, and beignets. And my characters are always popping in and out of restaurants such as Commander’s Palace, Antoines, and Brennan’s.

What book are you working on now?

I’m currently writing two books. Lavender Blue Murder is a Tea Shop Mystery with a 2020 release date and Cadmium Red Dead is a New Orleans Scrapbooking Mystery with a 2021 release date. (Yes, I tend to work waaay ahead of schedule.)

Do you have a favorite recipe to share with us?

I thought you’d never ask. Here’s the top secret recipe for Church Basement Bars, those chewy, crunchy dessert bars that everybody loves!

Church Basement Funeral Bars
a bonus recipe from Eggs on Ice

1/3 cup melted butter
1 ½ cups graham crackers, crushed
1 cup coconut flakes
1 cup dates, cut up
1 cup candied cherries, cut up
1 cup candied pineapple, cut up
1 cup pecans
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In bowl, combine melted butter with the graham cracker crumbs. Pat crumb mixture into a 9 x 13 inch pan. Then press each ingredient, in a single layer, on top of the crumbs, starting with the coconut flakes. Then press on the dates, then cherries, then pineapple, then pecans. Cover the entire dessert with the sweetened condensed milk. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Yields 15 to 18 bars.

About the Author

Laura Childs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries, Scrapbook Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. In her previous life she was CEO/Creative Director of her own marketing firm and authored several screenplays. She is married to a professor of Chinese art history, loves to travel, rides horses, enjoys fund raising for various non-profits, and has two Chinese Shar-Pei dogs.

Laura specializes in cozy mysteries that have the pace of a thriller (a thrillzy!) Her three series are:

The Tea Shop Mysteries – set in the historic district of Charleston and featuring Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop. Theodosia is a savvy entrepreneur, and pet mom to service dog Earl Grey. She’s also an intelligent, focused amateur sleuth who doesn’t rely on coincidences or inept police work to solve crimes. This charming series is highly atmospheric and rife with the history and mystery that is Charleston.

The Scrapbooking Mysteries – a slightly edgier series that take place in New Orleans. The main character, Carmela, owns Memory Mine scrapbooking shop in the French Quarter and is forever getting into trouble with her friend, Ava, who owns the Juju Voodoo shop. New Orleans’ spooky above-ground cemeteries, jazz clubs, bayous, and Mardi Gras madness make their presence known here!

The Cackleberry Club Mysteries – set in Kindred, a fictional town in the Midwest. In a rehabbed Spur station, Suzanne, Toni, and Petra, three semi-desperate, forty-plus women have launched the Cackleberry Club. Eggs are the morning specialty here and this cozy cafe even offers a book nook and yarn shop. Business is good but murder could lead to the cafe’s undoing! This series offers recipes, knitting, cake decorating, and a dash of spirituality.

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