French Toast a la Santa Fe - A Guest Post, Review, & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Agnes Nelson to Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Agnes on the pages of FRENCH TOAST A LA SANTA FE by Suzanne Stauffer. This book is the second in the Courier Mystery series and was released last week.

How do you do? I’m very pleased to meet you. My name is Agnes Nelson and I’m a friend of Prudence Bates’. She’s asked me to say a few words about our three-day Detour together, as she’s already been interviewed twice, but she warned me not to give away too much. It’s a rather difficult challenge, but one I think I can meet. I am, after all, a retired teacher from a girls’ school in the Adelaide area, so I’m used to meeting challenges. Adelaid is the capital of the state of South Australia. Unlike you in the U.S. with your fifty states, we only have six. But you don’t want to hear about Australia. You want to know about French Toast a la Santa Fe and our Detour.

While on the Detour, I purchased numerous picture postcards to remind me of my adventure. I will use some of those to illustrate my story, so that you can enjoy the sights with me.

I learned about the Detours entirely by accident. I happened to walk past a travel agents’ office in Adelaide and my eye was caught by a large poster advertising the Indian Detours. I was immediately drawn to it. It was so mysterious and so exotic. I seemed to remember something about “Santa Fe,” but couldn’t bring the memory to mind. Did it have anything to do with that steam train puffing away in the background? Was that large vehicle a HarveyCar? What did that strange birdlike figure symbolize? What was that building – or was it a city – in the background? Who was that figure wrapped in a blanket in the foreground, and what did those poles signify? Why was there a pot sitting on the mound next to the figure? I will confess that the orange mountain rising in the background did rather remind me of our Ayers Rock, but what was that other flat topped hill farther away? 

Of course, the travel agent provided answers to many of my questions and the brochure that they gave me answered the rest of them. As soon as I had read it, I signed up for the three-day Detour and booked passage on a ship bound for the United States. I wasn’t able to afford first class, but even we second-class passengers enjoyed comfortable private cabins, and even though we shared a lavatory and bathroom, they were maintained to the highest standards. We ate the same food as the first class passengers. The primary difference being that we ate at communal tables.

I spent much of my day in the well-appointed library – I had never had enough time to read for pleasure when I was teaching – and taking exercise on the promenade deck. I attended the concerts and dances some evenings, but only for the music and the companionship.

About a month later, though it seemed much less, I was boarding the Santa Fe railroad in Los Angeles for the Las Vegas, New Mexico, and very shortly after that, I climbed into a HarveyCar and the adventure began.

The first place that we stopped was the Pecos Ruins (Suzanne : they are now a National Historic Park https://www.nps.gov/peco/index.htm]). Spectacular! Just as the brochure described them. We have nothing like this in Australia. So ancient. So enigmatic. I could sense the spirits of the place, but there were far too many Detourists roaming the area for me to make contact. A rather significant event occurred to ... well, I promised not to say too much, so you’ll have to read the book to find out what and to whom and what the outcome was. 

We visited several pueblos over the three days, including Tesuque, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, and Isleta. I was fascinated by the multi-story buildings, which I immediately recognized from the brochure, and the plazas with their hornos and kivas. If only I had been allowed to descend the ladder into a kiva, I know I could have made contact. Just walking past them, I could feel the psychic energy. But it was prohibited.

We also explored the Puyé Cliff Dwellings [Suzanne : now a National Historic Landmark https://puyecliffdwellings.com/] near Santa Clara. As ancient as the Pecos Ruins are, those at Puyé are older still. While there, where I had a most unexpected experience. I’m sorry that I can’t tell you more about it. It’s all in the book – or what I could remember of it is. 

In the church of San Augustin de Isleta, which we visited on our last day, I finally made contact with a spirit. I can’t tell you much about it, not only because I promised not to include – I think the word is “spoilers” – but also because I don’t really remember very much about it. I was not consciously aware during most of the event. I do remember the beginning when ... oh, dear! I do hope that I haven’t said too much. 

I hope that the images in these postcards have not only inspired you to read FRENCH TOAST A LA SANTA FE but to come on out here to New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment, and see the places for yourself! And be sure to subscribed to Suzanne’s Substack newsletter, Amuse-Bouche (https://smstauffer.substack.com/) for prequels and sequels and other short stories. 

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Review

FRENCH TOAST A LA SANTA FE by Suzanne Stauffer

The Second Couriers Mystery

 

In preparation for becoming a courier for the Harvey Company's Southwest Indian Detours Prudence Bates joins a three day tour from Las Vegas, New Mexico to Albuquerque. Her tourmates include a retired Australian schoolteacher, two giggly young ladies from Chicago, a businessman with his wife and two widowed sisters, two young Germans, and a flapper. Petty pilferings, encounters from beyond, and a dead body mar the informative trip. Everyone is getting along so well, so who could be behind the problems with the tour? While penning posts to her mother and thinking about a lost love Prudence will try to deduce what's really going on.

 

In the second Couriers Mystery Prudence continues on her quest to become a courier with the Southwest Indian Detours. Finally on a tour, she's part of the tourist group, but with the keen insight and knowledge of someone who intends to be a guide. I enjoy seeing her grow and learning about this intriguing company. I also enjoy learning about the various sites they visit. Her tourmates make an interesting bunch from the Germans with a secret, the crabby widow, and more. People are more than they seem, for better or worse. It was fun seeing old friends from the first book as well and loved how everything came full circle. While Jerry wasn't in this book, per se, his presence was felt and I'm curious to see what happens in the future.

 

As much as I enjoyed FRENCH TOAST A LA SANTA FE I must admit, there's not much of a mystery here. Yes, there were missing items, but no one was even sure if they were really stolen and no one investigated anything. There was also a dead body, but again, Prudence barely got a glimpse and while she had some ideas, she never investigated. That's not to say something mysterious wasn't going on, it's just that we never really saw any investigating. Prudence also got the wrong end of the stick more than once when she tried to figure out what was going on. So if you're a who-dun-it purist, you may find this book more of a travelogue and less likely to be your cup of tea. That being said, if you like an engaging story with fascinating historical travel bits, FRENCH TOAST A LA SANTA FE certainly hits the spot!

 

With puzzling goings on FRENCH TOAST A LA SANTA FE takes readers on an engaging trip back in time with a historic tour company in this delightful story.

 

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 French Toast a la Santa Fe by Suzanne Stauffer

About French Toast a la Santa Fe

French Toast a la Santa Fe
Historical Culinary Cozy Mystery 2nd in the Series
Setting - New Mexico
Publisher: ‎ Artemesia Publishing, LLC
Publication Date: ‎ October 13, 2026
Print Length: ‎ 230 pages

In 1929 New Mexico, Prudence Bates joins ten other Detourists, their Courier, and driver, on the three-day Fred Harvey Indian Detour from Las Vegas through Santa Fe and to Albuquerque.

During the trip small, valuable items belonging to the Detourists begin disappearing, and a retired Australian school teacher falls into a kiva. Or was she pushed? Prudence begins to suspect that someone is trying to kill her fellow traveler and wonders where the flapper from Kansas City disappears to at every stop. Or is La Llorona haunting the Detour? And what secrets are the two German men hiding? Prudence is determined to solve the mysteries and uncover the truth.

About Suzanne Stauffer

 

After 20 years as a librarian and 20 as a professor of library science and library historian, Suzanne Stauffer has moved on to a third career as a mystery novelist. She currently lives in Albuquerque with her Australian husband and brown and white spotted rat terrier dogter, Treme. Her debut novel, Fried Chicken Castañeda (Artemesia Publishing, May 2025), won the CIPA EVVY Bronze Medal in Mystery/Crime/Detection and the New Mexico Book Award for Cozy Mystery.  

Author Links: 

Blog https://couriersseries1926.blogspot.com/  

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/couriers1926/  

Substack Newsletter Amuse-Bouche https://smstauffer.substack.com/