The Pepper Peach Murder

 

 

The Pepper Peach Murder

by Meg Benjamin

GENRE:   Cozy Mystery

Roxy Constantine is the jam queen of Shavano, Colorado, and she’s fine with it. Not that things couldn’t be better. Her social life is a bust, and she’s still recovering from a bad experience as a line cook in Denver. But things are looking up when she meets local chef Nate Robicheaux. Roxy would like to get closer to Nate, but she’s fending off the unwanted attentions of another local, Brett Holmes, who won’t take no for an answer. When Brett threatens to derail Roxy’s appearance on a national cooking show, the two have a very public fight. A few days later, Brett is found murdered in his restaurant kitchen, and suddenly Roxy’s a prime suspect. Now Roxy, Nate, and her other friends must find out the truth about Brett’s background and his murderer before the town of Shavano decides Roxy’s reign as jam queen is over for good.

 

Excerpt:

It would be better for him to hear it from you than to discover it on his own.

Nate’s voice still echoed in my ears. For a moment, I wished I’d asked him to come with me. But I had to face this on my own. It was my disaster, after all.

I climbed up the stairs to the front door, pausing for a moment to check the directory on the wall inside. The chief’s office was on the first floor, right down the hall. Once I turned in that direction, there’d be no going back. I’d be committed to confessing.

I walked down the corridor, feeling like I was going to the executioner’s block.

There was a receptionist for the chief’s office along with the county attorney and the sheriff. I didn’t recognize her, which was just as well. This visit wasn’t something I wanted shared on social media.

She looked up expectantly. “Yes?”

“I need to see Chief Fowler.” I was amazed that my voice was steady. 

“Do you have an appointment?”

I shook my head. “He’ll want to talk to me. Tell him it’s Roxy Constantine.”

The receptionist picked up her phone and dialed a number, turning away from me as she spoke.

Of course, I wasn’t absolutely sure Fowler would want to see me. Maybe he’d be too busy. Maybe he wasn’t interested. Maybe…

The receptionist glanced up at me. “Go on in. He’ll see you now.”

So much for hope. I opened the office door and stepped inside. 

Fowler was sitting at his utilitarian, city-issued desk. He gazed up at me with that same unsmiling, inscrutable look he always seemed to wear. I wondered if he ever smiled. Probably not at people like me, people he suspected of murder. 

I cleared my throat. “I have some things to tell you.”

He gestured to the chair in front of his desk. “Sit down, Ms. Constantine. I’ve been expecting you.”

About the Author:

Meg Benjamin is an award-winning author of romance. Meg’s Konigsburg series is set in the Texas Hill Country and her Salt Box and Brewing Love trilogies are set in the Colorado Rockies (all are available from Entangled Publishing). Her new cozy mystery series, Luscious Delights from Wild Rose Press, concerns a jam-making sleuth based in the mythical small town of Shavano, Colorado. Along with contemporary romance, Meg is also the author of the paranormal Ramos Family trilogy from Berkley InterMix and the Folk trilogy from Soul Mate. Meg’s books have won numerous awards, including an EPIC Award, a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion from Virginia Romance Writers, the Beanpot Award from the New England Romance Writers, and the Award of Excellence from Colorado Romance Writers. 

Q&A With the Author

What did you enjoy most about writing this book? 

The Pepper Peach Murder is my first cozy mystery, and I really enjoyed writing something different. My other books have all been romance, contemporary and paranormal. The Pepper Peach Murder has a romance, too, like a lot of cozies. But along with the romance and the heroine’s personal growth, I had to come up with a murder, a murderer, and a solution. It was fun to work in a different genre, although one that had some things in common with the genre I normally work in.

Do you have any other books you are working on that you can tell us about? 

The second Luscious Delights mystery, The Pumpkin Butter Murder, will be out sometime later this year. It features a lot of the same characters as The Pepper Peach Murder, but there’s a new murder for Roxy to worry about. I’ll also bring out a new book in my long-running Konigsburg, Texas, series later this summer. It’s called Take That Ride, and it features a lot of music (the hero’s an up-and-coming Americana artist).

Can you tell us about what you have planned for the future? 

I want to go on with Luscious Delights since I’m having so much fun writing them. And I’ve got more Konigsburg books in the planning stage. 

How long have you been writing? 

I used to be a college teacher, so I wrote a lot for my job, but I started publishing fiction in 2009, when I retired and moved from Texas to Colorado.

Anything more you would like to say to your readers and fans?

I had a great time learning to make jam like my heroine in the Luscious Delights series. You can get my recipe for pepper peach jam in the Wild Rose Press’s Holiday Garden Gourmet, a free collection of recipes from Wild Rose authors. Download it at the Wild Rose Press website, wildrosepress.com.

Meg’s Web site is http://www.MegBenjamin.com. You can follow her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/meg.benjamin1), Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/megbenjamin/), Instagram (meg_benjamin) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/megbenj1). Meg loves to hear from readers—contact her at meg@megbenjamin.com.

The buy links for Pepper Peach Murder is https://www.amazon.com/Pepper-Murder-Luscious-Delights-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0BKYJPN22/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3PHU83N6E7I8N&keywords=meg+benjamin+pepper+peach+murder&qid=1668885185&s=books&sprefix=meg+benjamin+pepper+peach+murder%2Cstripbooks%2C105&sr=1-1

 And  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-pepper-peach-murder-meg-benjamin/1142562360?ean=9781509246922

GIVEAWAY

Meg Benjamin will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway