A California Online Magazine with Local Focus and Global Appeal
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who loved to play “store.” Fascinated with cash registers and display counters (as well as the Wizard of Oz), she dreamed of someday running a retail establishment of her own.
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Wouldn’t you like to party like it’s Two Thousand Nineteen? Things were so much simpler, then. Now…oh, boy. Imagine what it would be like to run a restaurant during this pandemic. No, you can’t. Yes, you can. No, you can’t. Yes, you…maybe. Owners have to find some way to make things work and keep their employees employed.
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This week we have another group of food mysteries for your Christmas feast-Game of Cones: A Lickety Split Mystery by Cynthia Baxter, Finished Off in Fondant: A Courtney Archer Mystery by Rosemarie Ross, and Murder with Oolong Tea: A Daisy’s Tea Garden Mystery by Karen Rose Smith.
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This week we have another group of Christmas mysteries for holiday reading-Candy Cane Crime: Amish Candy Shop Mystery by Amanda Flower, Gingerdead Man: A Five-Ingredient Mystery by Maya Corrigan, Murder She Wrote: Murder in Season by Jessica Fletcher and Jon Land, andA Whisker of a Doubt: A Cat Café Mystery by Cate Conte.
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Christmas on Mackinac Island may be the postcard ideal of snow and horse-drawn carriages, but for Allie McMurphy the holiday is proving to be a little more humbug than ho ho. Extensive renovations on the top floor of her family’s Historic McMurphy Hotel and Fudge Shop have Allie bunking in her fudge shop manager’s vacant apartment until the construction is completed, but at least Allie has her bichonpoo Mal and calico Mella as roommates. A knock on the door and an intriguing note leads Allie to the steps of Fort Mackinac, where she is shocked to find a body facedown in the snow. Nearby church ladies identify the unconscious woman as Kayla Cramdon, a freelance graphic artist and new resident at the Ambassador apartments.
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This week we have a group of food mysteries for your mystery Thanksgiving feast-The Key Lime Crime: A Key West Food Critic Mystery by Lucy Burdette, Murder with Honey Ham Biscuits by A. L. Herbert, Three Treats Too Many by Debra H. Goldstein, Dough or Die: A Bread Shop Mystery by Winnie Archer, and Murder Goes to Market by Daisy Bateman.
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‘Tis November, and the Great Food Search’s heart (and stomach) turns to Pumpkin Smash Smoothies, but the local Jamba Juice branches are out of them, so I’m out of luck. Where to go? Well, there was one place in Sanger, and I went there…and I went there…and WOW!
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Dani Sloan’s business, Chef to Go, is a lunch carry out for college students. She also caters and prepares chef-worthy meals in client’s homes. She has three students living in the mansion with her. The rent they pay plus the hours they work helps keep the business in the black.
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Hannah Swenson’s popular Cookie Jar Bakery has been open for two years. Baking is a soothing activity and brings happiness to so many of Lake Eden’s residents. Coming up with new cookie and cupcake recipes is always fun, too. One especially cold morning, a homeless man knocks at the back door, looking for work. Hannah invites him in for coffee and German chocolate cupcakes. He’s polite, eager to work, and has trouble with his memory. He leaves, promising to return the next day to do odd jobs.
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Brynn MacAlister is a cheese maker and cow lover. She’s also a soft touch for rescued animals, as her veterinarian friend, Schuyler, knows. When a Scottish Highland cow, Jewel, is in need of a foster home, she joins Brynn’s three cows. It’s pretty obvious to all, Jewel’s already home.
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This week we have 3 mysteries perfect for your Halloween reading including sweets, cats, and haunted mansions-Murder Most Sweet: A Bookish Baker Mystery by Laura Jensen Walker, A Case of Cat and Mouse: A Magical Cats Mystery by Sofie Kelly, and Haunted Homicide: A Haunted Mansion Mystery By Lucy Ness.
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It’s October. I know this is The Great Food Search, but do you really want to hear me tell of delicate dining? Of course not! You want the ooey-gooey, sticky-licky sweets, the sugar-laden and calorie-unconscious! Let’s go satisfy your sweet tooth!
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Ellie is enjoying her Florida vacation. Of course, in between a couple of pesky murders she was successful at solving, she relaxes by the pool, strolls on the beach, and heads over to the Bar & Grill for a cool cocktail, spicy treat, and some people watching. Today’s people watching included some awkward eavesdropping. Not on purpose, you know, Ellie overhears Walter Saunders, a wealthy guest, deep in conversation with his “not gonna remain silent” business partner, but when the conversation goes from gators to scorpions, she tries to find something else to occupy her interests.
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Emory’s life is more hectic than busy, but getting embroiled in a family squabble could be dangerous. Experimenting with a new cupcake flavor she plans to showcase at Tillie’s upcoming pre-Halloween party, she nearly flambés the kitchen. This doesn’t go well with Tillie’s eldest, and pretentious, grandson Theodore, but the youngest grandson Brian is a lot more helpful. Emotions, however, go ballistic when, only weeks after the unsolved hit and run death of wife number three, Skylar Senior introduces his fourth trophy wife whose age, manner, and details of their whirlwind romance solicit questions about background, motives, and prenups.
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