Bran New Death

I've already written about how much I love the first two books in the Vintage Kitchen mystery series by Victoria Hamilton, A Deadly Grind and Bowled Over.  The author has a brand new series making its debut this week with Bran New Death, and I'm happy to be today's stop on her virtual book tour.

 

 

Merry is making a fresh start in small-town Autumn Vale, New York, in the mansion she’s inherited from her late uncle, Melvin. The house is run-down and someone has been digging giant holes on the grounds, but with its restaurant-quality kitchen, the place has potential for her new baking business. She even has her first client—the local retirement home.

Unfortunately, Merry soon finds that quite a few townsfolk didn’t like Uncle Mel, and she has inherited their enmity as well as his home. Local baker Binny Turner and her crazy brother, Tom, blame Melvin for their father’s death, and Tom may be the one vandalizing her land. But when Tom turns up dead in one of the holes in her yard, Merry needs to prove she had nothing to do with his death—or her new muffin-making career may crumble before it starts...

 

I loved this book. It has a completely different tone from the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries -- the characters are a little quirkier and I'm fascinated by the setting, a castle in the woods and a small town that Merry describes as "Shirley Jackson odd. Stephen King Odd!"  The book ends with some questions left answered, but it's not the kind of cliffhanger that made me feel cheated.

 

You can enter to win an autographed copy of the book over at the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours website.

 

The book is available from these online retailers --  

Amazon       Book World      B&N     Powell’s Books      Book Depository

 

You can find out more about all of Victoria Hamilton's mysteries at her website, Victoria Hamilton Mysteries.  The third Vintage Kitchen book is due out in November, and the first book in her Teapot Collector series is due out next year. I'll be watching for both!

 

And I'll be keeping my eye out for more of her muffin recipes, too. After I finished the book, I made a batch of Bacon Cheddar Muffins from the included recipe.  We've never tried savory muffins at our house. I absolutely loved them and Hubby, who never likes anything, liked them.(If you're going to make them yourself, there's a slight typo in the book. Where it reads "1/2 1 pound bacon" that's supposed to be a half a pound.)