Why 20 is a magic number

Twenty can be a pretty magical number. Here are two reasons why:

Our breakfast table

Reason #1: A few weeks ago, my husband and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. For real! To honor the two decades of togetherness, we flew to the Kenyan coast and stayed at a delightful hotel called The Nomads. Here are a few photos.

Anniversary dinner

The restaurant’s warning

The view from our breakfast table

I could get used to this.

Who needs a car when you have a boat!

Wouldn’t that be awesome?!

Reason #2: I’m one of fifteen authors who are stirring up trouble in a food-themed anthology of short stories. On 20th October, get ready for some kitchen madness in “Happy Homicides 6: Cookin’ Up Crime“. The book comes with a bonus gift of recipes and craft projects.

Enjoy this smorgasbord of yummy, culinary mysteries for a mere 99c — but hurry because the price goes up on 5th November. Sadly, it’s only on Amazon (sorry, everyone else): https://www.amazon.com/Happy-Homicides-Cookin-Up-Crime-ebook/dp/B076HBH58S/. As if that’s not enough, we’re also giving everyone a chance to win a Cook’s Dream Basket: https://www.facebook.com/HappyHomicides/app/228910107186452/

Here are the short story blurbs. Mine’s Number 13…

1. Joanna Campbell Slan — Kiki Lowenstein and the Smoothie Operator — A mother, a business owner, a crafter and an amateur sleuth extraordinaire, Kiki Lowenstein is a champion for other women who are wrongly accused of crimes. She’s especially sympathetic to anyone who struggles with her weight, because Kiki never met a sweet she didn’t like!

2. Linda Gordon Hengerer — Dying for Spice Tea: A Beach Tea Shop Short Story — The curious death of a friend surprises BevAnne Wexler. Will a new method for making a frozen treat lead Alex and BevAnne to a killer?

3. Teresa Trent — A Gift for Gus: A Pecan Bayou Short Story — Everyone deserves a treat now and again. Danny’s Cake in a Cup proves the perfect present for everyone, except for a woman who is determined to poison the future with a tall tale about the past.

4. Terry Ambrose — Recipe for Murder: A Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery — When a guest dies and her diamond necklace is stolen, a hapless dreamer is accused of the crimes. Can Rick, the owner of the Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast, track down the culprit in time to save this hopeless romantic?

5. Neil S. Plakcy — Nectar of the Dogs: A Golden Retriever Short Story — Steve Levitan and his golden retriever Rochester make a great team. In this story, they work together to exonerate one of Steve’s high school friends who is accused of murder.

6. Randy Rawls — Irish Texas Chili Story: A Jonathan Boykin Short Story — A famous recipe goes missing when its creator is murdered. Can Jonathan Boykin stir the pot enough to cook up a killer?

7. Amy Vansant — Dot Didn’t Do It: A Pineapple Port Mini-Mystery — Can a novice private investigator crack a bad egg in order to track down a foul crime? Charlotte Morgan wonders if the fungus amungus had a lethal after-taste.

8. Christina Freeburn — Simmer to Death — Did sibling rivalry lead to the poisoning of an up-and-coming food personality? Or were simmering hostilities among the staff the real recipe for murder?

9. Wendy Sand Eckel — Food for Thought: A Rosalie Hart Mystery — The death of a Civil War reenactor sticks in Rosalie Hart’s craw. Can she peel back the layers of history to uncover a motive for murder two hundred years in the making?

10. Colleen Helme — Catering to Murder: A Shelby Nichols Adventure — Can Shelby Nichols use her special abilities to forecast the success or failure of a business venture? Maybe. But first the new owners will have to deal with the decomposing body in the deep freeze.

11. Loulou Harrington — Murder, Moonlight and Muffins: A Myrtle Grove Garden Club Short Mystery — The never-ending hunt for unique merchandise to sell in their antique shop leads Jesse and Connie into a dark, deserted house that comes complete with a crime scene.

12. Micki Browning — F is for Fruitcake — Baking fruitcake becomes an antidote for stress—and maybe something more?

13. Vered Ehsani — A Death in Customs: The Cozy Tea Shoppe Mystery Series — When a dead man shows up in her tea shop, paranormal investigator Miss Beatrice Knight is perturbed by the inconvenience. Then again, no circumstance is too onerous when one is armed with a pot of tea and a fully loaded walking stick.

14. Vincent O’Neil — Silent Harmonies — Charlotte and Myrna serve up breakfast and lunch from their food truck in a peaceful Rhode Island town. When a rival outfit’s crew member turns up dead one night, the list of suspects is already long—and it keeps on growing.

15. R.V. Reyes — Fish Fried — The death of a protected species of fish causes Lilly a considerable amount of heartburn.

Cheers

Vered

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