Crypt Suzette - A Guest Post & Giveaway

I'm happy to let Bethany O’Shay take over Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Val on the pages of the Five-Ingredient Mystery series by Maya Corrigan. Crypt Suzette is the sixth book in the series and is being released today!

Hi! My name is Bethany O’Shay. I’ve been friends with Val Deniston ever since she moved to Bayport on Maryland’s Eastern Shore almost two years ago. I’m a first-grade teacher, and Val manages a café at the athletic club, where we both play tennis. She also caters small parties and solves murders. I sometimes help her with both of those.

Her most recent gig was catering the grand opening party at Bayport’s new bookshop, Title Wave. The party took place during the town’s Spooktacular weekend right before Halloween. I kept the children occupied making boo-nanas and creating jack o’lantern faces on tangerines. Val served her delicious sweets to the adults—crypt Suzettes and mummy hand pies. A costume contest was part of the festivities. The contestants dressed as characters from books, as did all of us who assisted at the shop’s grand opening. Not surprisingly, Val came dressed as Nancy Drew. The morning after the party, one of the contestants was found dead in what looked like an accident . . . to everyone except Val and her grandfather.

Val manages to solve perplexing mysteries, but her romantic life is as empty as a graveyard at midnight. One reason she moved here was that her fiancé in New York cheated on her. As a result, she avoids commitments. At the Title Wave’s opening party, I tried to interest her in the bookshop owner’s son, Bram. She was dead set against him, and not just because he dressed as Count Dracula. I told her she was haunted by the ghosts of boyfriends past.

Speaking of haunted, Val and I have gone to some eerie places while she was tracking down killers. A year ago we got lost in a haunted corn maze with a murderer on the loose (Final Fondue). Then in January, around the time of Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday, we crept around a nearby “House of Usher” to look for body buried there (The Tell-Tale Tarte). I confess that I was responsible for dragging Val to those locales, with help from Val’s granddad, who is a hoot. I talked her into going to the Bayport Haunted House on Halloween this year. Then, darn it, I came down with a terrible cold, and Val had to go there without me. To find out how that turned out, you’ll need to read Crypt Suzette.

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Crypt Suzette (A Five-Ingredient Mystery) by Maya Corrigan

About the Book

Crypt Suzette (A Five-Ingredient Mystery) 

Cozy Mystery 6th in Series  

Kensington (August 27, 2019)  

Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages 

Val Deniston is catering the debut of Bayport’s newest bookstore—but the death of a customer is about to draw her into a real-life murder mystery …

Suzette Cripps has been occupying a spare bedroom at Val’s granddad’s house while she takes classes in this Maryland Eastern Shore town—but she’s always seemed a little secretive and fearful, and any talk about her past is a closed book.

After winning the costume contest at the Halloween-themed bookstore party, Suzette is mowed down by a hit-and-run driver—and Val and her grandfather start to wonder whether it was really an accident or if someone was after Suzette. Granddad is a little distracted by his new enterprise as a ghost-buster, but as Val talks to Suzette’s coworkers and fellow creative writing students, she grows more convinced that the dead woman’s demons weren’t imaginary—and that she needs to rip the mask off a killer …

Includes delicious five-ingredient recipes!

About Maya Corrigan

Maya Corrigan blends her love of food and detective stories in her Five-Ingredient Mystery series set in a fictional historic town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The first book in the series, By Cook or by Crook, was published in 2014.

Before taking up a life of crime (on the page), she taught university courses in writing, detective fiction, American literature, and drama. She won the 2013 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Unpublished Mainstream Mystery / Suspense. Her short stories, written under the name of Mary Ann Corrigan, have been published in anthologies.

When not reading and writing, she enjoys theater, tennis, trivia, cooking, and crosswords. Her website features trivia about food and mysteries.

Author Links:
WebPage: mayacorrigan.com  
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maya-CorriganBooks/305167769636032  

Purchase Links Amazon B&N Kobo Google Play

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Research for S’more Murders - A Guest Post & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Maya Corrigan to the blog today. Maya writes the Five-Ingredient Mystery series. S’more Murders is the fifth book in the series and was released this week.

 

Research for S’more Murders

By Maya Corrigan

As a mystery writer, I’ve had to do unusual research to get the details right. I’ve gone to creepy places like haunted corn mazes and Poe’s tomb at dusk. I’ve also acted out the scenes in my book in order to get the details right—the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feel of a crime. For By Cook or by Crook, the first of my Five-Ingredient Mysteries, I whittled the handle of an antique tennis racket to turn it into a murder weapon and then I set it on fire. For the second book, Scam Chowder, I tried to slip poison into a dinner guest’s soup while pouring his wine. Fortunately for my victim, I used salt as a replacement for arsenic. In researching the next book, Final Fondue, I played the victim instead of the murderer. While I ate chocolate fondue, the killer crept up behind me . . . and hands closed around my throat. For my latest book, S’more Murders, I was “pushed” into a car trunk. Like my main character, I am claustrophobic, so I knew exactly what she went through when she was shoved into and trapped in a trunk.  

S’more Murders also required an elaborate and time-consuming rehearsal for the dinner scene. In the book my main character, café manager and sleuth Val Deniston, can’t pass up a cool catering gig on a yacht. She agrees to make a ten-course meal for eight aboard a yacht, recreating the last dinner the first-class guests ate on the Titanic. As Val and her grandfather serve the meal, the guests engage in a murder mystery role-playing game called Death on the Titanic. The game ends abruptly when someone goes overboard during a squall.

To write the book, I needed to research the Titanic. I read nonfiction and watched the blockbuster movie. I frequently consulted Last Dinner on the Titanic by Rick Archbold and Dana McCauley. It contains details about the menus on the ship, table settings, and recipes useful for those who want to hold their own Titanic memorial dinner, which many people did in 2012, on the 100^th anniversary of the ship’s sinking.

But I needed to go further in my research. I couldn’t write the book without doing what Val does—serve a ten-course meal to eights guests as they play a whodunit mystery game. I downloaded a Titanic murder mystery dinner party game. Then I coaxed family members into assuming roles as Titanic guests, eating their last meal and solving a murder that took place on the ship. We had enough males to play the roles but we were short one female, so I had to assume a role in the game too.

In the game I downloaded, unlike most murder mystery role-playing games, no one knows whodunit—not the host, not even the person whodunit. So everyone is both a suspect and a sleuth. We each had a character sketch and a booklet with a script. The night of the dinner party, most of us were dressed to kill 1912-style: cocktail frocks, gowns, fur, elaborate hats, tuxedo, dinner jackets, and a captain’s uniform. We had wine with Titanic labels on the bottles and clues to peruse, including a telegram, a birth certificate, and a medical examiner’s report. Over the dessert course, we each announced the person we believed had committed the murder. And none of us figured it out! We all had fun, though, and I had the experience I needed to write the dinner scene in S’more Murders.

The murder mystery game in the book is nothing like the game I downloaded. The victim, suspects, and crime are different. The game in the book is designed for nefarious purposes rather than fun. If you would like to hold a fun Titanic dinner party with a murder investigation, I recommend the Titanic Murder Mystery Dinner Party Game by Printable Mystery Games. It contains instructions and recipes for the dinner, as well as all game parts, invitations, and wine labels to print. It’s possible to play the game during a less elaborate dinner, four courses instead of the ten courses Val and I made. At least my guests got to eat all the courses. Val only served five courses before a storm and a killer struck, putting an end to the meal, the mystery game, and one of its players.   

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S'more Murders (A Five-Ingredient Mystery) by Maya Corrigan

About the Book

S'more Murders (A Five-Ingredient Mystery)  

Cozy Mystery 5th in Series 

Kensington (July 31, 2018) 

Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages

Managing a fitness club café and collaborating on a cookbook with her grandfather are Val Deniston’s usual specialties, but she’s about to set sail into nearby Chesapeake Bay—straight into a murder case . . .

Since catering themed events is a good way to make extra cash, Val agrees to board the Titanic—or at least cater a re-creation of the doomed journey on a yacht. The owner of the yacht, who collects memorabilia related to the disaster, wants Val to serve the last meal the Titanic passengers ate . . . while his guests play a murder-mystery game. But it is the final feast for one passenger who disappears from the ship. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

Now Val has to reel in a killer before s’more murders go down . . .

Includes delicious five-ingredient recipes!

About the Author

Maya Corrigan blends her love of food and detective stories in her Five-Ingredient Mystery series set in a fictional historic town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The first book in the series, By Cook or by Crook, was published in 2014. It was followed by Scam Chowder in 2015, Final Fondue in 2016, and The Tell-Tale Tarte in 2017.

Before taking up a life of crime (on the page), she taught university courses in writing, detective fiction, American literature, and drama. She won the 2013 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Unpublished Mainstream Mystery / Suspense. Her short stories, written under the name of Mary Ann Corrigan, have been published in anthologies. When not reading and writing, she enjoys theater, tennis, trivia, cooking, and crosswords. Her website features trivia about food and mysteries.  

Author Links:
WebPage: mayacorrigan.com  
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maya-CorriganBooks/305167769636032

Purchase Links:  Amazon – B&N Kobo Google Play BookBub

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The Tell-Tale Tarte - Spotlight

On this cold January day in WNY I'd like to shine a spotlight on The Tell-Tale Tarte by Maya Corrigan. This book is the fourth in the Five-Ingredient Mystery series.

From the back cover:

It's a cold January in the Chesapeake Bay area, but Cool Down Cafe manager Val Deniston has plenty to sweat over-like catering a book club event, testing recipes for her Granddad's cookbook, and catching the author of a deadly tale of murder.

The last thing Val needs in her life is an unsolved murder, especially when the victim, an actor famed for impersonating Edgar Allan Poe, happens to be dressed exactly like her Granddad. To keep an eye on Granddad, whose latest job takes him to the home of Rick Usher, a local author inspired by Poe, Val gets herself hired as a cook in Rick's House of Usher. When she discovers the actor wasn't the only one doing an impersonation, separating the innocent from the murderous becomes a real-life horror story. But Val must decipher a killer's M.O. sooner rather than later. . . or she can forget about finding poetic justice.

Includes 6 delicious five-ingredient recipes!

A Final Fondue Interview & Giveaway

I'm happy to welcome Maya Corrigan to the blog today. Maya writes the Five-Ingredient Mysteries series. Final Fondue, the third book in the series, was released June 28th.

Kathy: When I was a little kid I remember my mother always getting out the fondue pot when entertaining, at least for adult occasions. Were fondue pots a special thing when you were growing up?

MC: Though my mother never served fondue at home, it was popular when I was a teenager. I got married in my early 20s and received a fondue pot as a wedding gift, as did many others who married at that time. One pot wasn’t enough to hold a fondue party. I bought a second one so that I could serve different types of fondue. When fondue was no longer popular, my pots went to a thrift shop. I lived to regret that move. While writing Final Fondue, I bought a vintage pot similar to the one I received as a wedding gift so that I could try out recipes.


Kathy: In Final Fondue Val helps her grandfather perfect his chocolate fondue. My mom usually made a cheese fondue. Do you have a preference? Or a special fondue recipe?

MC: I’m partial to chocolate fondue. Final Fondue includes two recipes for dessert fondue: First Fondue (the Swiss Toblerone milk chocolate recipe that started the chocolate fondue craze) and Fast Fondue (my updated dark chocolate fondue made in a microwave, no special fondue pot required).


Kathy: Do you currently break out the fondue pot for parties?

MC: My book launch party for Final Fondue will feature cheese and chocolate fondue. I also plan to serve my grandsons fondue when they visit because they love dipping their food in sauces.


Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?

MC: I enjoyed reading the classic mysteries of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and Ngaio Marsh, as well as the pioneers of the modern cozy, like Carolyn Hart, Joan Hess, Dorothy Cannell, and Nancy Pickard.


Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

MC: The Art of Deceit, my literary suspense-romance, won the Daphne du Maurier Award and the New England Readers’ Award for unpublished mystery/suspense and was a finalist in the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Competition. Since I began writing my cozy series, I haven’t had the time to look for a publisher for that book, but I plan to do that next year.


Kathy: Tell us about your series.

MC: My Five-Ingredient Mysteries feature café manager Val Deniston and her grandfather, the Codger Cook, who solve murders in a historic town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore near the Chesapeake Bay. Each book has five suspects, five clues, and Granddad’s five-ingredient recipes.


Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?

MC: Granddad is my favorite character. He serves as Val’s confidante and sidekick, although he would say she’s his sidekick. He’s good for comic relief when his cooking experiments go awry. Because they have different value systems and challenge each other’s assumptions, Val and Granddad arrive at conclusions that neither would reach alone. They make a good team though their relationship is not always smooth. They have typical male-female and old-young conflicts, as well as generational differences in food, cooking, and eating that I enjoy exploring in the book.


Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?

MC: I based the grandfather character on my father. I grew up in a traditional family with a stay-at-home Mom who planned and cooked every meal we ate. When she was 82, she underwent chemotherapy, which left her barely able to get out of bed for months. So my father, at age 85, took over the cooking and housekeeping, doing all the things for her that she’d done for him for the previous 60 years. He continued cooking even after my mother recovered and often boasted about how few ingredients he used to make dinner. That’s the story behind Granddad’s obsession with five-ingredient recipes.


Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

MC: I wrote my first novel when I was thirteen, pecking it out on a manual typewriter. As I finished each chapter, I gave it to my best friend and watched her read it. It thrilled me to see her smile and laugh. Knowing I'd created a story that entertained someone made me want to be a writer. I spent a lot of my professional life writing nonfiction, including academic papers and technical manuals—not the most entertaining fare, but that’s what people paid me to write. Now I’m thrilled to be writing fiction again and hoping that my books are as entertaining as what I wrote when I was thirteen.


Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?

MC: I enjoy wit and verbal fireworks, so I would invite Jane Austen, Edgar Allan Poe, Oscar Wilde, and Tom Stoppard. I also enjoy mixing guests from various backgrounds at dinner parties. Those four wrote in different eras and a variety of genres. Though they might not agree with each other, the conversation among them would sparkle.


Kathy: What are you currently reading?

MC: I’m currently enjoying Curtis Sittenfeld’s Eligible, a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice. While reviewers have praised the book, many ardent Jane Austen fans feel Sittenfeld doesn’t do justice to the depth of Austen’s characters. She does, however, create believable 21st-century characters and conveys the complexities of modern marriages. She also satirizes society through its courtship rituals, just as Austen did two centuries ago.


Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?

MC: When not reading or writing, I enjoy cooking, crosswords, trivia, tennis, and snorkeling.


Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.

MC: Only 4? I keep a lot of different kinds of food around. Here are 4 items I can’t live without and would go out to buy in the middle of the night if I ran out of them: butter, garlic, crusty bread, and eggs.


Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?

MC: I’m currently writing the 4th book in the Five-Ingredient Mystery series and have a contract for a 5th book in the series.


Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?

MC: As a left-brain person, I’ve found it wonderful how my right brain gets into the act. I have an outline and many details worked out before I start writing a book, but in the process of writing, my creative side kicks in and tells me to go in a different direction from the way I’d planned. So the story changes as I go along. Sometimes I go to bed with a lingering writing problem. I can’t figure out how to liven up a scene between two characters or where to insert a clue. The next morning I wake up knowing what to do because my subconscious has been busy during the night. It’s a great feeling to use the whole brain.


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