When not reading and writing, she enjoys theater, tennis, trivia, cooking, and crosswords.
Her website features trivia about food and mysteries. Readers can connect with Maya Corrigan on
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My Thoughts
Crypt Suzette by Maya Corrigan is the sixth A Five-Ingredient Mystery. Val Deniston is catering the grand opening of Title Wave which is the new bookstore owned by Dorothy Muir. There is a costume contest as part of the festivities with a gift card to the bookstore as the grand prize. Suzette Cripps, who has been renting a room from Don Myers, Val’s grandfather, enters the contest and wins with her creative entry. The next morning, Chief Earl Yardley visits the house to notify them that Suzette is dead from a hit-and-run driver. Val has a feeling that it was not an accident and decides to learn more about Suzette. After someone tries to run Val down, she has a feeling she is on the right track. There are multiple suspects, good misdirection and discreet clues. You will have to pay close attention if you want to solve this case before the reveal. While Val is working on Suzette’s case, Grandad is busy with his new ghost hunting business. He has two women who have had items disappear. Both mysteries are cleverly done and interesting to follow. We can always count on Grandad to provide humor and he does not disappoint in Crypt Suzette. He is certainly busy with his Codger Cook column, private investigating business, and now ghost hunting. Bayport is celebrating Halloween and the festivities help provide Val with a vital clue. Bram Muir has come to town to help his mother with her new business venture and Val has caught his eye. While Crypt Suzette is the sixth book in the series, it can be read alone. There is cooking a plenty in Crypt Suzette and the author provides a couple of recipes at the end of the book. I always enjoy the banter between Val and her grandfather. I like that they have a close relationship and share the same interests (cooking and investigating crimes). The ending of Crypt Suzette will have you laughing. Crypt Suzette is a spirited cozy mystery with clever costumes, devilish delights, a crafty killer, Halloween hijinks, morbid moaning, and a phantasmal plunderer.
Excerpt from Crypt Suzette
A knot of people blocked the driveway where Val usually parked. She pulled in behind Granddad’s Buick parked in front of the house and jumped from her car. A streetlamp dimly lit the crowd. She recognized no one. If anything had happened to Granddad, surely neighbors would be here, not a bunch of strangers. Who were these people and why had they gathered here? Val edged toward the group clustered around a woman.
“I’ve given you the history of this house with no mention of the ghost.” The woman emphasized her final word in a throaty stage whisper that could have been heard in the balcony. “This house is a unique stop on our walk. At all the other places, the ghosts have been around for decades and, in some cases, for centuries.”
Val relaxed. The group was on a haunted house walk, and Granddad was fine. She glimpsed him creeping down the driveway, apparently to eavesdrop on the ghost tour. He and Val had heard from their neighbor, Harvey, that last weekend’s ghost tourists had trampled his chrysanthemums and talked nonsense about haunted houses.
“A ghost would be right at home in a house like this,” a woman on the tour said. Val looked up at the gables and the turret on the Queen Anne Victorian. Less of an eyesore now than when she’d moved in a year and a half ago, but outlined against the night sky, the structure resembled a classic eerie house. Granddad was only now catching up on maintenance he hadn’t done in the seven years since Grandma died. Despite the house’s appearance, Val had yet to encounter a ghost, though she sensed Grandma’s spirit in the kitchen, where they’d spent happy hours cooking.
“Who’s haunting the place?” a teenage girl said. “Someone only a little older than you.” The tour leader pointed at the girl. “A year ago this month, she was murdered in the backyard.”
Val’s jaw clenched. That young woman’s death had touched her and Granddad personally, and now someone was exploiting it. A teenage boy nudged the girl who’d spoken up. “Maybe if we hang out in the backyard at night, we’ll see the ghost.” Val was sure the young man had something in mind besides ghost hunting.
“Has anyone spotted this ghost?” an older man said, his tone skeptical. The tour guide paused before saying, “Neighbors have noticed a shadowy figure and strange lights in the backyard.” Easy to explain. Granddad or his tenant, Suzette, might have taken out the trash at night and used a flashlight crossing the yard.
Granddad emerged from the dark driveway into the light cast by the streetlamp. He resembled a professor in a pullover sweater with patched elbows, wire-rimmed bifocals, and the beard he’d started growing for his Santa Claus role in December. “If you folks are looking for the ghost, you’re wasting your time. It’s gone. As a qualified ghost hunter, I got rid of it.”
Crypt Suzette is available through
Amazon,
Amazon UK,
Barnes & Noble,
Kobo, and
Google Play. You can find the complete list of A Five-Ingredient Mystery titles
here on
Amazon (
Amazon UK). Enter the giveaway for one print copy of Crypt Suzette by clicking
here or using the Rafflecopter form below (U.S. Only). Good Luck! Thank you for dropping by today. Tomorrow (hopefully) I am sharing my review of
Word to the Wise by Jenn McKinlay. It is the tenth
A Library Lover's Mystery. I am off to finish preparing for the hurricane heading in my direction. May you have a exuberant day. Take care, stay safe and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader
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