From the back cover of
Lemon Tart:
A Recipe For Murder
5 families living on Peregrine Circle
1 flowered curtain tieback
1 missing child
1 body in the field
Mix with a long list of suspects and top with two very different detectives. Increase heat until only the truth remains.
Cooking afectionado-turned-amateur detective, Sadie Hoffmiller, tries to solve the murder of Anne Lemmon, her beautiful young neighbor-a single mother who was mysteriously killed while a lemon tart was baking in her oven. At the heart of Sadie’s search is Anne’s missing two-year-old son, Trevor. Whoever took the child must be the murderer, but Sadie is certain that the police are looking at all the wrong suspects-including her!
Armed with a handful of her very best culinary masterpieces, Sadie is determined to bake her way to proving her innocence, rescuing Trevor, and finding out exactly who had a motive for murder.
I absolutely love Josi Kilpack's books. Way back when her first book was published in 2001, I became a die-h
ard fan (not in a stalker kind of way though - I promise). Then I met Josi at an LDS Storymakers conference and after getting to know her, she became not just someone I was in awe of (and yes, slightly envious of), but she became a real person and a wonderful friend.
Josi's newest book, Lemon Tart, is totally different from all her other books. Not only is it a culinary mystery - whereas all her previous books have been Women's fiction novels dealing with issues that hit you right in the gut and keep you attached to the book until you find out how everything turns out - but it's also the first book that has no mention of the LDS Church. Her main characters have good Christian morales, but no where do they talk about visiting teaching, callings, or other things you typcially expect to find in LDS Fiction. In fact, I'm really surprised it wasn't published under Deseret Book's national market imprint - Shadow Mountain. I think it would be extremely well received by readers all over the U.S. who want a good, clean mystery.
And when I say good mystery, I truly mean Good, with a captial G. After the first, oh maybe five chapters or so, I got really cocky and was totally sure I knew who the murder was and why. But let me tell you, my guess was totally wrong! Josi weaved a whole thread in there that I completely over-looked, and when the plot twisted I just wanted to kick myself in the pants for having missed it! I was so into wanting to solve the mystery, I couldn't put the book down until it was finished. And the massive mess I found around my house after I reached The End is a testament to my reading frenzy!
I enjoyed the mouth-watering recipes Sadie cooked up in the book. I'm really excited to try them out here at home! Some of those recipes include: Sadie's Lemon Tart, Homemade Alfredo Sauce, Carrot Cookies, Brownies, and Granny's Gingerbread Bundt Cake. I'm thinking it's time for a pot luck girls night out!
And the romantic in me is hoping to see more development of Sadie's relationship with a certain dectective in the next book in the series! Hee hee hee.
Now, if you're ready to run out to purchase your very own copy - then get going! But if you can contrain yourself for about a week, check out Anne Bradshaw's blog. She's giving away an autographed copy of Lemon Tart. The contest ends on Wednesday, February 25th. And hey, if I win I'll have an extra copy for a contest, too! Good luck and enjoy this fabulous new book!
QOTC Rating: Five Stars!
From the back cover of Lemon Tart:
