Death of a Cookbook Author Read online

  THE PRIME SUSPECT

  Hayley watched Gloria glance around the room to make sure no one else was within earshot.

  “Last night Penelope was in a pretty nasty mood and was taking it out on Conrad and . . .” Gloria said, hesitating.

  “And . . . ?” Hayley asked.

  “Well, I saw him in the kitchen and he had a bottle of pills . . . he was crushing some into a powder and stirred it into her warm milk with nutmeg.”

  “Which she has every night before bed.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Did you see the bottle? What kind of pills were they?”

  “Sleeping pills, I think.”

  Sleeping pills in her milk.

  Penelope was admittedly a very light sleeper.

  But those pills would no doubt have knocked her out cold for the entire night, allowing Conrad to slip away freely and rendezvous with Lena.

  In order to secretly discuss Penelope’s murder . . .

  Books by Lee Hollis

  DEATH OF A KITCHEN DIVA

  DEATH OF A COUNTRY FRIED REDNECK

  DEATH OF A COUPON CLIPPER

  DEATH OF A CHOCOHOLIC

  DEATH OF A CHRISTMAS CATERER

  DEATH OF A CUPCAKE QUEEN

  DEATH OF A BACON HEIRESS

  DEATH OF A PUMPKIN CARVER

  DEATH OF A LOBSTER LOVER

  DEATH OF A COOKBOOK AUTHOR

  EGGNOG MURDER

  (with Leslie Meier and Barbara Ross)

  Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

  DEATH of a COOKBOOK AUTHOR

  A Hayley Powell

  Food and Cocktails Mystery

  LEE HOLLIS

  KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

  www.kensingtonbooks.com

  All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

  Table of Contents

  THE PRIME SUSPECT

  Also by

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Teaser chapter

  KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  119 West 40th Street

  New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2018 Rick Copp and Holly Simason

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

  KENSINGTON BOOKS and the K logo are Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

  ISBN: 978-1-4967-1384-1

  ISBN-13: 978-1-4967-1385-8

  ISBN-10: 1-4967-1385-0

  Chapter 1

  Hayley stared numbly at the inscription that had been scribbled inside her book cover only moments before.

  She couldn’t believe what she was reading.

  “To Hayley, one of my inspirations! Keep writing and cooking! All the best, Penelope Janice.”

  Inspiration?

  Penelope Janice was Hayley’s idol. A cooking and lifestyle expert with her own top-rated TV show on the Flavor Network. When Hayley heard the famous part-time summer resident of Mount Desert Island was going to make an appearance at Sherman’s Bookstore in Bar Harbor midweek before the long Fourth of July weekend, she was filled with excitement. Hayley owned all of Penelope’s cookbooks in hardcover, and they lined the bookshelf in her living room. Cowboys and Turbans, Penelope’s mouthwatering exploration of Mexican-Indian fusion recipes, was a personal favorite. She had met her idol in person a few times in passing at Penelope’s famous Fourth of July barbecues she held every year at her palatial Seal Harbor estate for all the local residents, but Hayley had never worked up the nerve to bring one of her cookbooks and personally ask her for an autograph.

  Since it was practically a holiday week, Hayley’s boss Sal Morretti, editor in chief at the Island Times newspaper, was amenable to her leaving early on a Wednesday in order to get in line for Mrs. Janice’s book signing.

  By six o’clock when Penelope was scheduled to arrive, the line had already wrapped around the aisles of the store, out the door, and down Main Street, nearly stretching all the way to the Bar Harbor Banking and Trust building blocks away. But thanks to Hayley’s careful planning, she was only tenth in line to get her newly purchased hardcover signed.

  This latest release, Making Magic out of Leftovers was the perfect title to add to her collection, especially now that Hayley’s two kids, Gemma and Dustin, were out of the house and living on their own. She suddenly found her refrigerator stocked with leftovers in Tupper ware containers. She was used to cooking for a family of three for so many years. Four, if you counted the years her ex-husband Danny was in the picture. But for the record, that period of her life she would just as soon forget.

  Hayley chatted with a few locals in line with her while waiting for the official start of the book signing, including Martha Hickenlooper, a culinary fan in her own right who had moved back to the island after years working as a chef in Atlanta and gaining fame in some circles for designing meal plans for Delta Airlines.

  Martha also considered Penelope Janice a hero.

  “Have you read this latest book?” she asked Hayley, breathlessly.

  “No,” Hayley said, “I just bought it today. I’m going to curl up on my couch between all the barbecues and fireworks this weekend and tear my way through it!”

  “It’s genius! Penelope has no peer when it comes to creating gourmet recipes you’d expect at a five-star restaurant—and out of the simplest ingredients you can find in your cupboard any day of the week! I mean, the woman is brilliant. I had some leftover cheeses and a few roasted potatoes on hand, and within minutes I had a heavenly casserole like none I’ve ever tasted! I’m telling you, she is—”

  Martha stopped mid-sentence, her jaw dropped, and her eyes grew wide as her attention was drawn to something happening outside the store window.

  Hayley turned to see a maroon Chevrolet SS sedan pull up in front of the store, and a petite, fiery redhead in Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses, a bright pink blouse, and white capri pants jump out. The fans outside the store burst into spontaneous applause, and although she made several modest gestures begging them to stop, Penelope Janice clearly loved soaking up all of the adoration.

  Donna, a heavyset Sherman’s Bookstore employee, who was known for wearing thick wool sweaters even in the dog days of summer because she was cold all the time, flew out the door to greet the VIP guest, and then ushered her inside the store with all the fanfare she could muster.

  “Hello, everyone, I’m so glad you could make it!” Penelope cooed as the doting fans in
side the store followed the leads of the less fortunate ones still standing outside and enthusiastically broke into more applause.

  “She looks even prettier in person!” Martha gushed, clapping her hands so hard her palms started turning red.

  Donna whisked Penelope down the aisle to the back of the store where her table, pens, and stacks of books awaited.

  After a few minutes of glad-handing all of the Sherman’s Bookstore staff, Penelope plopped down in her leather chair that had been wheeled out from the back office just for this special occasion. She waved over the first person in line to get her book personally autographed.

  Hayley had secretly hoped that she might get the chance to have a brief chat with Penelope while having her book signed, mostly because she wanted to tell her just how much she enjoyed her books and TV show, but gatekeeper Donna kept the chatter between the author and her devoted readers to a minimum by shooing them away the second Penelope handed their book back to them with a bright smile.

  It took less than five minutes before Hayley found herself standing before her culinary idol. She clutched her copy of Making Magic out of Leftovers to her chest and stared at the attractive woman with the Lucille Ball hair color.

  Hayley was at a complete loss for words—a rare occurrence, by the way.

  “Would you like me to sign your book?” Penelope asked politely, as Hayley noticed her lipstick matched her hair perfectly.

  Martha had to nudge Hayley in order to snap her out of her trance.

  “Oh, yes, sorry,” Hayley laughed, shaking her head. “Just make it out to Hayley. That’s Hayley with a Y. I mean, in the middle, everyone knows Hayley has a Y at the end. Although I did go to summer camp when I was a kid with a girl who spelled it with two E’s at the end. H-A-I-L-E-E. But that’s rare—”

  “Could you please just hand her your book, Hayley, so she can sign it?” Donna barked, quickly losing patience.

  “Gosh, I’m just a bundle of nerves. I guess I never thought I would ever meet you in person,” Hayley said.

  She handed Penelope the book and watched her start to write her name on the title page inside the front cover, but then she stopped and looked up at Hayley.

  “Hayley . . . as in Hayley Powell?”

  “Yes, that’s right,” Hayley said, incredulous.

  How could this woman possibly know who she was?

  “As in Hayley Powell, who writes the Island Food & Spirits column I read every week in the local paper?”

  “Yes,” Hayley said.

  “I’m such a huge fan!” Penelope yelped.

  Martha dropped her book on the floor in shock.

  “You know my column?” Hayley asked, her mouth agape.

  “Of course I do! You forget I live here during the summer. I like to keep up with all the local news. I stumbled across you a few years ago, and I have to say, I’ve been hooked on your column ever since. I also must confess, I’ve lifted a few of your recipe ideas for my show, but please don’t sue me!”

  “No, of course not! I’m flattered!” Hayley cried, trying to remain calm and not dance around the store in a frenzied euphoric state.

  Hayley knew a few notable people who spent the summer months on the island and were aware of her column. There was the late Olivia Redmond, a billionaire bacon heiress, and also Rhonda Franklin, the famous daytime TV hostess of The Chat who was an unabashed fan. And there were also more than a few locals who claimed Martha Stewart, a summer resident who bought the old Ford Estate in Seal Harbor, was vaguely aware of her, but Hayley had never encountered her in person.

  But Penelope Janice?

  Sitting right in front of her with a big toothy grin on her face announcing her devotion to Hayley’s obscure small-town musings?

  This was a whole other level.

  “I’ve been dying to meet you and talk to you,” Penelope said, reaching out and taking Hayley’s hand to shake it since Hayley was too dumbfounded to offer it herself. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Mrs. Janice, we have a lot of people waiting in line to get their books signed . . .” Donna said softly but firmly.

  “Of course, I understand,” Penelope said, nodding.

  She scribbled a quick note in Hayley’s book and handed it back to her.

  Hayley stared at it, still unable to comprehend the idea of her being an “inspiration” to someone as talented and accomplished and world famous as Penelope Janice.

  Martha pushed Hayley out of the way and took her place in front of the author. “Mrs. Janice, I just have to tell you that I think—”

  “Wait!” Penelope shouted as Hayley turned to leave.

  Donna grimaced as Penelope waved Hayley back over to her.

  “I know this is last minute, but what are you up to this weekend?”

  “I—I was going to read your book,” Hayley stammered.

  “Well, I would never discourage anyone from reading one of my books, but perhaps you can do it at my house in Seal Harbor,” Penelope said, smiling.

  “I’m sorry, what?” Hayley asked.

  “I’m sorry, what?” Martha echoed.

  “I don’t mean to be forward, but I need you. If I could explain . . .”

  Donna checked her watch and sighed.

  Hayley stepped forward, all ears.

  “I’m hosting an event at my house this weekend, sort of a celebrity potluck, if you will, where famous chefs come together and whip up their signature dishes in a friendly competition. The unveiling of the winner will be taped for a segment on my TV show. Well, as luck would have it, Irina St. Pierre, you know, the French pastry chef, is going through a nasty divorce back in New York. She slapped her husband after a court hearing and it wound up on TMZ, so she’s in damage control mode now working with a high-priced public relations firm, and she had to cancel at the last minute. So to make a long story even longer, I need a fill-in. But finding a replacement has been somewhat challenging to say the least, given the short notice, not to mention that it’s Fourth of July weekend, so I was wondering—”

  “I would love to participate!” Hayley screamed.

  “She would love to!” Martha echoed.

  “That’s wonderful! The guests will be staying for an extended weekend. Most of them are arriving tomorrow and are not scheduled to leave until Monday or Tuesday because they need a couple of days to shop for ingredients and prepare their dishes before the competition. My husband and I have also planned a few outings and excursions, so if it’s not entirely inconvenient for you—”

  “You want me to stay the entire Fourth of July weekend at your estate in Seal Harbor?”

  “It’s not exactly an estate. More like a summer cottage,” Penelope said, brimming with modesty.

  Hayley smiled knowingly, having seen some of the expansive rooms on a few episodes of Penelope’s Cupboard when she shot segments in Seal Harbor. Penelope’s idea of a summer cottage was in reality a normal person’s idea of a large sprawling estate.

  “No pressure though. I know it’s last minute and a very busy time of the year,” Penelope purred, knowing full well Hayley would instantly jump at the chance to join her potluck party.

  And she did.

  With gusto.

  “Yes! I would love to!” Hayley blurted out. “I just need to check with my boss to see if I can get Thursday and Friday off.”

  “Marvelous! You will have full access to my kitchen to prepare your dish,” Penelope said. “I can’t thank you enough, Hayley. You’re a lifesaver! I’ll have my assistant call you at your office with the rest of the details.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Janice, thank you!”

  “Please, it’s Penelope.”

  Martha Hickenlooper pushed her face in front of Penelope and screamed, “I’m a chef too, Penelope! In case anyone else is a no-show!”

  Donna folded her arms and glared at Martha, but Penelope was unruffled and asked with a tight smile, “Who do I make it out to?”

  As Martha carefully spelled out her name,
Hayley floated out of the bookstore.

  Her lazy, boring holiday weekend at home had just turned into the dream of a lifetime.

  Chapter 2

  Hayley’s instincts were right. Penelope’s “quaint seaside cottage” boasted spacious dining and living rooms, twelve bedrooms, seven and a half baths, a state-of-the-art kitchen, and stocked pantry. Outside there was also a remarkable combination of covered porches and large sun decks. Surrounding the property were extensive landscaping and colorful gardens with quiet meandering walkways that wind their way to a stunning view of the crystal-blue ocean and the picturesque harbor dotted with fishing boats and summer cruisers.

  A perky maid, who introduced herself as Pam, showed Hayley to her room upon her arrival. When Pam swung open the door and Hayley stepped inside, she audibly gasped at the adorable space that had been so lovingly softened by pale pink walls, hanging silk sheers and linen drapes, and an elegant, shell-covered chandelier.

  Pam then marched over and dramatically pulled open the curtains, allowing a bright stream of the midday sun to shine through, which lightened the room even more. There was a small dressing table to the left adorned with expensive beauty and skin products and lush towels that matched the walls.

  Hayley thanked Pam and reached into her purse to scavenge for a few dollars for a tip, but Pam waved her off, declining any compensation for doing her job. This was a private home, not a hotel. Pam then scooted out the door to give Hayley her privacy.

  After looking around and marveling at her gorgeous room once more, Hayley unzipped her bag, unpacked her summer clothing for the weekend, and stored it in the cottage-white antique dresser drawers. Then she changed into a short-sleeve yellow blouse and white shorts, slipped on some low wedge strap-on sandals, and decided to set out to find the kitchen in order to get familiar with it before she started her food prep.