Murder Served Neat (A Cocktails and Catering Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Texas
Crooked Lane Books (February 21, 2023)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages

Synopsis

Reporter-turned-mixologist Samantha Warren has already thwarted one murder. Now, her world is shaken—definitely not stirred—once again as another killing throws her world into chaos.

Samantha is mixing up traditional cocktails at the German Texan Lodge’s Fourth of July festival—a gig she was roped into by her mother. But amidst the bratwurst and brass bands, trouble is brewing. Lodge loyalties are divided over a proposal to build a private, country-club-style tennis center on the lodge grounds. Her mom’s best friend Patty Davis is vehemently opposed to the plan. Society matron Angela Clawson is all for it. At the festival, they’re seen in a heated argument—and hours later, Angela is found dead, killed by one of the ceremonial shovels intended for the groundbreaking.

Samantha’s mother begs her to help clear her best friend’s name, but can she handle another murder case or will the whole investigation go bottoms up?

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Recipe

At the beginning of Murder Served Neat, Samantha Warren is trying to attract new customers for her Cocktails & Catering business by serving a special Fourth-of-July-themed cocktail at the German Texan Lodge’s Fourth of July Festival. But amid the brisket and brass bands, trouble is brewing as a fight between two feuding lodge members spills out into the public and results in murder.

Samantha’s Sparkler Cocktail

2 oz white aged rum

½ oz Blue Curacao

Handful of mint leaves

1 oz lime juice

¼ oz simple syrup

5 dashes Angostura Bitters

5 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters

Crushed ice

Add Blue Curacao to the bottom of a tall, skinny Collins glass.

Fill glass with crushed ice.

In shaker filled with ice, shake together rum, lime juice, mint leaves and simple syrup until well blended.

Gently pour mixture over the crushed ice, being careful to avoid mixing layers.

Dash 5 dashes of each Angostura and Peychauds bitters on top.

Garnish with a mint sprig.

About the Author

Michelle Hillen Klump began her writing career as a newspaper reporter, traveling the back roads of central Texas and Arkansas, reporting on everything from natural disasters to crime and corruption. She’s interviewed former presidents, covered a midnight manhunt through the Ozark Mountains, and learned the finer points of how to break a car window from a looter while covering a hurricane. Now, she uses her experiences as fodder for fiction, writing a cozy mystery series about a former reporter turned craft cocktail caterer.

Michelle lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and young daughter. When she’s not writing or working her day job, she enjoys gardening, reading, exploring Houston’s neighborhoods, hiking and biking, and creating craft cocktails for friends and family.

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