Laurel McKay was only supporting her friend Stan when she agreed to dress up in an old western calico dress and be an extra on a film in the nearby town of Coloma, California. Her former coworker at Hangtown Bank was hoping to make his big break in show businesses by dazzling the crew of The Gold River Gang, a sexed-up western starring Brittany Abbott and Deke Hardesty.
“Caramel apples are my favorite,” Shelly said to her partner. “The thicker the caramel, the better.”
“Yep, when I think of autumn, I think of food – apple cider, apple donuts and candy apples.” Buck patted his khaki-clad belly. His shirt, which looked ready to burst a button or two, demonstrated his love of Apple Hill delights. Buck stepped back and snapped a few more photos. “And Halloween ghosts and goblins, of course.”
After a year of murder, ex-husband drama, and time separated from her boyfriend due to his new job with Homeland Security, Laurel McKay is more than ready for her post-Christmas wedding and honeymoon cruise. Although Laurel’s initial wish was a simple one for no dead bodies, perhaps she should also have requested that her honeymoon not be on the same Nordic American as her mother, stepfather, Gran, and grandmother’s best friend.
Coffee, tea, beer, maple syrup, tamales, biscuits and cinnamon—we all have our own tastes when it comes to mysteries. Sample the goods with these fun offerings.
Fresh apple donuts are always a treat, but Laurel McKay was actually visiting Camino, California’s, Apple Tree Farm in order to scope out the area before her bank-sponsored Apple Gala and bicycle race. That it could be combined with a visit to her daughter Jenna who’s working at the farm’s bakery was just a bonus.
Laurel McKay dreaded dressing as a Sassy Saloon Gal for Placerville's annual summer Wagon Train event. Laurel definitely was not enthusiastic to be donning a corset that pushed up her assets. What she really should have been worried about was her mother who managed to fall into an abandoned gold mine with its very own skeleton. While this might be seen as celebratory event in this California town, evidence implicates Laurel's great-great-grandfather as the probable murderer. Gran whips out her detective's hat in order to clear her family's name.
I saved my last Bouchercon column for special friends throughout my career. It is always a pleasure to show off their latest!
How does a hoarder and her fortune connect to a corpse in a limestone cavern in Arizona? Joanna Brady has her hands full in What Remains of Innocence—Joanna Brady #16 by the prolific J.A. Jance.
Getting excited about Left Coast Crime, Monterey? Well, here are some more authors attending and their books to get excited about!
There’s nothing like attending a wedding to force one to assess the state of a relationship. On the beautiful Big Island to celebrate the wedding of her best friend, Liz, to El Dorado County Assistant District Attorney, Brian Daley, Laurel McKay had hoped that the vacation would be an opportunity for her to define–and hopefully advance–her romance with Detective Tom Hunter.
At the end of March, Kings River Life Magazine took part in Left Coast Crime 2012 Mining For Murder in Sacramento. We had the pleasure of meeting old friends and getting to know new ones. I was on a panel for my books, The Musical Mystery Panel, which was a lot of fun, we hung out in the hotel bar and showed off KRL to attendees, and did our first video author interviews, which was a lot of fun! The first two—one with Lee Goldberg and one with Victoria Heckman—have already been posted along with articles/reviews involving them, but here are several more for your enjoyment!
