Could a stolen Degas unravel a cold-case art heist? Celine must find out before murder closes in . . . Shattered by a journalist’s death and sensing danger to his mother, Clara, psychic art sleuth Celine Skye struggles to focus on the
Gardner Museum theft. Until a stolen Degas taken eight years after the heist surfaces—along with new clues and visions of Clara in peril.
Compelled to investigate, Celine has a startling revelation linking Clara to a Gardner Museum insider. Could Clara’s son have uncovered evidence implicating her friend in the theft?
With the threat to Clara escalating, Celine must find the truth before murder finds them both. . .
About Nupur Tustin
Nupur Tustin is a former journalist who misuses a Ph.D. in Communication and an M.A. in English to paint intrigue and orchestrate murder. She is the author of the Joseph Haydn Mystery series set in eighteenth-century Austria and the Celine Skye Psychic Mysteries about a psychic art sleuth who takes on the still unsolved
Gardner Museum theft of 1990. She also writes the Sophie’s Adventure series about an art sleuth who recovers stolen art as an undercover tourist. For more about her and her books, please visit https://ntustin.com
Mistletoe, Moussaka, and Murder (A Kebab Kitchen Mystery)
by Tina Kashian
About Mistletoe, Moussaka, and Murder (A Kebab Kitchen Mystery)
Mistletoe, Moussaka, and Murder (A Kebab Kitchen Mystery) Cozy Mystery 5th in Series Publisher: Kensington (September 29, 2020) Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages ISBN-10: 1496726073 ISBN-13: 978-1496726070 Digital ASIN: B082WR6DMT
Not even her impending nuptials can keep Lucy Berberian, manager of her family-owned Kebab Kitchen, from the Jersey Shore’s annual Polar Bear Plunge. But her dive into the icy ocean is especially chilling when she finds a fellow swimmer doing the dead man’s float—for real . . .
Who would kill a man in cold blood during Ocean Crest, New Jersey’s most popular winter event? When Lucy learns the victim is Deacon Spooner, the reception hall owner who turned up his nose—and his price—at her wedding plans, she can’t help wondering who wouldn’t kill the pompous caterer . . .
Perhaps the culprit is the wedding cake baker whose career Deacon nearly destroyed? Or the angry bride whose reception he ruined? With her maid of honor, Katie, busily planning Lucy’s wedding without her, Lucy will have to get to the bottom of this cold-hearted business in time for Kebab Kitchen’s mouthwatering Christmas celebration—and before her hometown’s holiday spirit washes out to sea . . .
Recipes included!
GUEST POST WITH
RECIPE FOR THE AVID READER
Thank you for
inviting me to chat with your readers about my new release, “Mistletoe,
Moussaka & Murder.” It’s the fifth book in my Kebab Kitchen mystery series.
Holiday time at
the Jersey Shore is special. Snow on the beach is a sight to see!
In my series, Lucy
Berberian manages her family’s Mediterranean restaurant, Kebab Kitchen. Working
at a Mediterranean restaurant during the Christmas and holiday season means
serving mouthwatering holiday dishes of shish kebab, hummus, and moussaka as
well as delectable desserts like baklava.
When Lucy
Berberian signs up for this year’s Polar Bear Plunge at her Jersey Shore town
to fundraise for the local senior center, she realizes she may have been a bit
too brave. Lucy runs into the freezing Atlantic Ocean, then hightails it back
to the shore. Just when she thinks the worst is over, a chilly scream alerts
everyone to a body lying at the surf. Can Lucy solve the case before Christmas
in Ocean Crest is ruined?
As for the food in
the series, my Armenian parents owned a restaurant for thirty years, and I grew
up in the business. So, what is moussaka? Moussaka to the Greeks is like
lasagna to the Italians. I’m happy to share my own family’s recipe (the
moussaka is featured in my new release as well!)
Have you ever
tried moussaka? What’s your favorite Mediterranean dish?
Lucy’s Moussaka
This Mediterranean dish is a favorite and often
served at holidays and family dinners.
Prep
Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large finely chopped onion
2 pounds ground beef
4 tablespoons tomato paste
½ cup red wine
½ cup chopped parsley
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 large eggplants
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ pound butter
6 tablespoons flour
1 quart full-fat milk
4 beaten eggs
teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 cups ricotta cheese
1½ cup fine breadcrumbs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
For
the ground beef:
Heat
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil in a skillet and cook the onions until they turn
transparent. Add the ground meat and cook until fully cooked. Transfer the meat
to a large strainer set over a bowl and drain off any excess fat. Return meat
to the pan and heat. Add the tomato paste, wine, parsley, and cinnamon. Season
with salt and pepper to taste. Stir and simmer over low heat until all the
liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat and set aside.
For
the eggplant:
Cut
unpeeled eggplants into ½-inch-thick slices. Lightly salt the slices and let
them sit for five minutes. Heat ¼ cup vegetable oil in a separate skillet.
Working in batches, fry the eggplant slices until they are golden brown on both
sides. Set eggplant slices aside on sheet pan lined with paper towels to absorb
the oil. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
For
the béchamel sauce:
In
a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, whisking
constantly, until the mixture is smooth. In a separate saucepan, bring the milk
to a boil and add it gradually to the butter-flour mixture. Whisk constantly.
When the mixture is thickened and smooth, remove it from the heat. In a bowl,
whisk together beaten eggs, nutmeg, and ricotta cheese. Add it to the béchamel
sauce and whisk until smooth.
Putting
it all together:
Spray
an 11-x-16 pan with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle lightly with breadcrumbs.
Layer half the eggplant in pan, then add half of the meat sauce. Sprinkle with
breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese. Add the rest of the eggplant and then the meat
sauce. Pour the béchamel sauce on top. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is
browned and bubbly. Allow it to cool for twenty minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Here’s a dish from my favorite Mediterranean restaurant.
Tina Kashian is an attorney and mechanical engineer
whose love of reading for pleasure helped her get through years of
academia. She is the author of the popular Kebab Kitchen Mediterranean
cozy mystery series for Kensington Publishing. Tina spent her childhood
summers at the Jersey shore building sandcastles, boogie boarding, and
riding the boardwalk Ferris wheel. She also grew up in the restaurant
business, as her Armenian parents owned a restaurant for thirty years.
Tina still lives in New Jersey with her supportive husband and two
daughters. Please visit her website at www.tinakashian.com to join her
newsletter, receive delicious recipes, enter contests, and more!
Maizie’s mixing with international
stars, spies, and her mother’s dark past in her sixth case in The Wall
Street Journal bestselling series.
“Hollywood glitz meets backwoods grit in
this fast-paced ride on D-list celeb Maizie Albright’s waning star.
Sassy, Sexy, and Fun.” — Phoebe Fox, author of the Breakup Doctor
series.
#WannabeDetectiving While ex-celebrity
Maizie Albright’s dreams of becoming a for-real private investigator
have not exactly been dashed, they have been slightly thwarted. Her
ex-manager and still-mother, Vicki Albright, has taken the helm of Nash
Security Services while rebuilding her entertainment management company.
Sometimes with the same clients. Like Chinese action star, Lili Liang,
who’s making the film Unlucky 18 in Georgia.
Thus far, Lili’s living up to her movie
title. Her kung fu coach is missing. Her boyfriend’s disappeared. And
her director, who gambled on her with the part, might be gambling with
her life.
Maizie’s luck is also running out.
Maizie and Nash find themselves struggling to balance a new partnership
and new relationship between missing persons’ cases, wild goose chases,
and tracking a bullet into dangerous places. Sometimes it’s enough to
make a girl NOT want to put a ring on it. When it comes to facing an
18-caliber killer, what will Maizie put up as the target? Her heart or
her life?
Books in the Maizie Albright Star Detective series:
15 MINUTES
16 MILLIMETERS
NC-17
A VIEW TO A CHILL
17.5 CARTRIDGES IN A PEAR TREE
18 CALIBER
Other Series by Larissa Reinhart:
A Cherry Tucker Mystery
Finley Goodhart Crime Capers
A Wall Street Journal bestselling
author, Larissa writes the Cherry Tucker Mystery, Maizie Albright Star
Detective, and Finley Goodhart Crime Caper series as well as romantic
comedies and women’s fiction. She loves to tell funny stories about
Southern women looking for love (and sometimes dead bodies) in all the
wrong places. You might have seen Larissa and family with their little
dog, Biscuit, on HGTV’s House Hunters International “Living for the Weekend in Nagoya” episode, but they’re back in Georgia now. Visit LarissaReinhart.com to learn more.
Beware the East Wind (The Mah Jongg Mysteries)
by Barbara Barrett
About Beware the East Wind
Beware the East Wind (The Mah Jongg Mysteries) Cozy Mystery 4th in Series Bowker (August 17, 2019) Paperback: 254 pages ISBN-10: 1948532182 ISBN-13: 978-1948532181 Digital ASIN: B07WJ7KYSW
Beware the east wind! It’s hurricane
season in Florida, and everyone’s attention is focused on preparing for
the latest tempest. But in Serendipity Springs, mah jongg pals Marianne,
Sydney, Micki and Kat are caught in a different kind of whirlwind—a
mesmerizing murder case involving a slain hypnotist/chef and the woman
police suspect of doing her in, her embittered catering partner, Portia.
About the Author
Barbara Barrett started reading mysteries when she was pregnant with her first child to keep her mind off things like her changing body and food cravings. When she’d devoured as many Agatha Christies as she could find, she branched out to English village cozies and Ellery Queen.
Later, to avoid a midlife crisis, she
began writing fiction at night when she wasn’t at her day job as a human
resources analyst for Iowa State Government. After releasing eleven
full-length romance novels and one novella, she returned to the cozy
mystery genre, using one of her retirement pastimes, the game of mah
jongg, as her inspiration. Not only has it been a great social outlet,
it has also helped keep her mind active when not writing.
Bamboozled, the second book in
her “Mah Jongg Mystery” series, features four friends who play mah jongg
together and share otherwise in each other’s lives. None of the four is
based on an actual person. Each is an amalgamation of several mah jongg
friends with a lot of Barbara’s imagination thrown in for good measure.
The four will continue to appear in future books in the series.
Anticipating the day when she would
write her first mystery, she has been a member of the Mystery/Romantic
Suspense chapter of Romance Writers of America for over a decade. She
credits them with helping her hone her craft.
Barbara is married to the man she met her senior year of college. They have two grown children and eight grandchildren.
The cover is awesome. I love everything about it. The Captain’s old eyes make me wonder what he is thinking. The font tells me there is much more than a mystery coming at me. The lightening means there is a storm coming and I wonder who will be left standing when it is over. The colors help lend an aura of menace to the overall fantastic package.
BE SURE and watch the trailer. If my description of the cover didn’t help draw you in and make you want to read the book, the creepy trailer will.
Book Details: Genre: Mystery/Suspense Published by: Imajin Books Release Date: (July 20, 2013) Number of Pages: ~300
SYNOPSIS
Some things are better left alone…
After Ethan Hodges discovers an undersea cemetery just off the beach of Pelican Bay, South Carolina, he seeks answers from a grandfatherly fisherman named Captain Shelby. The captain wants the past to remain buried, and he warns Ethan to stay away. But Ethan doesn’t listen.
Ethan’s best friend and secret love interest, Morgan Olinsworth, joins in the investigation, unearthing intriguing secrets about the mysterious fisherman. When Captain Shelby is suspected of murder and disappears, a manhunt ensues, revealing a truth that unnerves everyone in Pelican Bay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MY REVIEW
Ethan was intrigued by the stones jutting above the water. He had to see them for himself.
It was an underwater graveyard.
Ethan talked his friend, Morgan into diving with him to see if they could find any names on the stones.
Morgan was a librarian, so when they found a name, she began to investigate.
Their search took them in an unexpected and dangerous direction.
Did Captain Shelby have all the answers?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I saw the beautiful and intriguing cover and the title and knew I would have to be a part of the tour. I love legends of the sea.
Pelican Bay is a ghost story that has a gothic feel to it. The writing made me think of the term “waxing poetic”. At first it annoyed me and I thought, do I even want to read this? But I read on and am glad I did. The book subtly sneaks up on me and the need to know the answers grasps me and won’t let me go. It went from – I don’t think I can get past the first chapter to – hey, this isn’t so bad to – I can’t put it down until I know…
As I got into Ethan’s story, I could visualize the grizzled, old sea Captain and the water that was the lifeblood of Pelican Bay.
“In Pelican Bay, the sea was the Hand of God.”
It is also a love story. Ethan Hodges has been in love with Morgan as long as he can remember, but she won’t even discuss their relationship. She won’t even look him in the eye. It seemed pretty pathetic to me.
The characters are unique and my feelings about them bounced back and forth, like a tennis ball, throughout the book.
Instead of a grown man, Ethan seemed like a love struck teenager. I really didn’t like him pining for Morgan’s unrequited love, following her around like a puppy dog begging for a pat on the head. Even the characters tell him to man up. LOL But, I did love his adventurous spirit.
And Morgan? I thought she was a nutcase. But, yes, another but, she does get caught up in Ethan’s desire to find out about the Captain and the graveyard.
Now, the old sea Captain, Shelby, I loved him. I knew there was more to him than meets the eye. Maybe that is what intrigued me about him. Was he just an old sea captain? Was he even a man? Was he a god?
Nereus – Greek god know as “the old man of the sea.”
Jesse’s vivid descriptions made me feel as if I was there. I could smell the water and feel the salt spray misting on my skin. I could feel the sand shifting under me as I sat on the beach, watching the waves. I have always loved doing that. I find it very soothing and I lose track of time, as wave after wave rolls in. I love listening to the sound of the waves pounding on the seashore, watching the water recede back to where it came from.
I love body surfing, with or without a board, rushing through the water on the top of the wave. Turning around and paddling back out to do it again and again.
3 STARS – Would Recommend To Others
I received this book in return for an honest and unbiased review for Great Escapes Book Tours. Thank you Jesse and Great Escapes for the opportunity to read and review the book. I look forward to reading more of Jesse Giles Christiansen’s work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jesse Giles Christiansen is an American author who writes compelling literary fiction that weaves the real with the surreal. He attended Florida State University where he received his B.A. in English literature. His newest novel, “Pelican Bay,” focuses on a very old fisherman, Captain Shelby, and the mysterious happenings linked to him surrounding a nosy, sea-battered beach town (release date: July 20th, 2013, Imajin Books). One of his literary goals is to write at least fifty novels, and he reminds himself always of something that Ray Bradbury once said: “You fail only if you stop writing.”
Jesse Giles Christionsen is offering for the Giveaway 1 (one) ebook to 1 (one) lucky commenter. International. Easy entry as always, just leave your email address and answer the question:
What do you think of the cover?
GIVEAWAY IS OVER AND THE WINNER IS – Sandy. Congratulations!!!
To purchase your copy of Pelican Bay, simply click on the cover below.
![Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000040_00067]](https://i0.wp.com/www.fundinmental.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/PelicanBayFrontFINAL.jpg)
3 STARS – Would Recommend To Others
Jesse Giles Christionsen is offering for the Giveaway 1 (one) ebook to 1 (one) lucky commenter. International. Easy entry as always, just leave your email address and answer the question:
