Beyond a Reasonable Donut

May 24, 2021

Beyond a Reasonable Donut

Beyond a Reasonable Donut (A Deputy Donut Mystery)
by Ginger Bolton

About Beyond a Reasonable Donut

Beyond a Reasonable Donut (A Deputy Donut Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Publisher: Kensington (May 25, 2021)
Paperback: 256 pages
ISBN-10: 1496725581
ISBN-13: 978-1496725585
Digital ASIN: B08GY9Z1PD

Selling her corn fritters at a carnival, Deputy Donut Café owner Emily Westhill faces off against a murderer who doesn’t play fair . . .

Emily and her assistant, Nina, are looking forward to manning the Deputy Donut tent at the Faker’s Dozen Carnival in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin—a festival held on Friday the thirteenth to celebrate good and bad luck. But Emily has barely dropped the corn fritters in oil when bad luck boils up. First, their bucket of confectioner’s sugar disappears—and then while a mime creates a distraction, a magician robs their cash register.

After the carnival, their misfortune continues. Emily discovers that someone has broken into artist Nina’s loft and vandalized a large painting in progress with the bucket of stolen sugar, which is now on the head of the mime, who seems to have been suffocated. Emily would bet Nina was the intended victim, but the cops think Nina silenced the mime. Now Emily must catch the killer white-handed—before someone else kicks the bucket . . .

THE NICKNAME ISN’T BAD, CONSIDERING

Hi, there! Folks call me Hooligan Houlihan. Hooligan is not my real name, but I keep my real name a deep, dark secret. And don’t say that I could go by my middle name, either. It’s as bad. Well not bad, really, just embarrassing.

I know, I know. I’m a grown man, and a police officer, and I’m about to marry the sweetest, funniest, smartest woman in the world, and I should be confident and proud of the name my parents (rest their souls) gave me. But really, who would want to be the inadvertent and all-too-frequent butt of hastily smothered laughter?

Let me tell you about Samantha. She’s an emergency medical technician. She’s petite with brown curly hair and sparkling eyes. She puts streaks of color in her hair to distract the patients she picks up in the ambulance. She’s kind and empathetic. She’s beautiful.

I hadn’t lived in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin, for more than a few days when my patrol partner, Misty, told me about the two women who had been her best friends since junior high, Emily and Samantha. I liked Misty a lot, and before I met Emily and Samantha, I already liked them. Then, one evening when I was picking up some evidence from a possible poisoning, Misty introduced me to Samantha. She just glowed in pinkish light of the setting sun. Until that second, I didn’t believe in love at first sight.

It wasn’t long before Samantha told me that she had also been hit by a lightning bolt of—call it extreme interest—at the same time. Minutes later, I met Emily, and from the smile on her face and the way she looked from Samantha to me and back again, I could tell she understood exactly what was going on. Later, she admitted it. Misty had noticed it, too. Those three had been matchmaking for one another and for everyone else since junior high!

Samantha and I started dating, and we often spend time with Misty and Emily. Scott, who is Fallingbrook’s fire chief, and Brent, a detective with the Fallingbrook police department, often join us. It’s like Samantha, Emily, and Misty have drawn us into their circle, and the six of us are close. We share potlucks and laughter long into the evening. Misty and Scott are now dating, also, but Emily and Brent claim to be just friends. Brent was Emily’s late husband’s partner in the police department and was with Alec when Alec was shot and killed. The subject is still painful for both Brent and Emily. Their grief keeps them apart, yet they rely on each other for understanding and emotional support. Maybe, someday the other two couples can be as happy as Samantha and I are.

Our wedding will be this coming August on the beach out at the Lake Cares Away Resort. It should be perfect except for one tiny detail.

How can I keep my real name a secret? Samantha will know it by then. She has promised not to laugh, but I don’t want the minister to say it aloud. The entire congregation might burst out laughing.

Oh, wait. The minister . . .

I have an idea. It might work.

About Ginger Bolton

Ginger Bolton writes the Deputy Donut mystery series—coffee, donuts, cops, danger, and one curious cat. The first four books in the series are SURVIVAL OF THE FRITTERS, GOODBYE CRULLER WORLD, JEALOUSY FILLED DONUTS, and the latest, BOSTON SCREAM MURDER. JEALOUSY FILLED DONUTS was chosen as the Woman’s World Best New Cozy Mystery of the week and was named as one of Dollycas’s Best Reads of 2019. BEYOND A REASONABLE DONUT will be on store shelves May 25, 2021. When Ginger isn’t writing or reading, she’s crocheting, knitting, sewing, or generally causing trouble. She’s also fond of donuts and coffee. As Janet Bolin, Ginger wrote the Threadville Mysteries—murder and mayhem in a village of crafty shops.

Author Links

Website – https://gingerbolton.com

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/AuthorGingerBolton

Twitter – https://twitter.com/ginger_bolton

BookBub – https://www.bookbub.com/authors/ginger-bolton

GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16834862.Ginger_Bolton/

Purchase Links: https://gingerbolton.com/where-to-buy

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