Truffles and Tragedy

March 26, 2021

Truffles and Tragedy

Truffles and Tragedy: A Down South Cafe Mystery Book
by Gayle Leeson

About Truffles and Tragedy

Truffles and Tragedy: A Down South Cafe Mystery
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Publisher: Grace Abraham Publishing (March 16, 2021)
Number of Pages: 295 (approximately)
Digital ASIN: B08VMM8F27

Down South Cafe owner Amy Flowers learns her chocolate truffles might not be the only things her patrons find “out of this world.”

When her cousin, Jackie, asks her to give a presentation to her online class, Amy thinks all she has to worry about is speaking before a group. But then the nitpicky professor collapses. He has been murdered, and hot-tempered Jackie is the prime suspect. Some online forums are even speculating that the professor was an extra-terrestrial, so Amy must sort out fact from fiction to get to the truth.

Certain the real killer is setting Jackie up, will Amy be able to outwit the killer and save her cousin?

Guest Post - Aunt Bess and Me

As an author, I’d would like to think I’m similar to my protagonists, especially since the protagonist is usually younger, more beautiful, and more accomplished than I am. Amy Flowers, the protagonist in TRUFFLES AND TRAGEDY is approximately twenty-eight years old, and she owns her own café. The Down South Café is located in a tiny, rural town in Southwest Virginia called Winter Garden. Amy has a nice house of her own, her mom and great-aunt live nearby, and she’s dating a gorgeous sheriff’s deputy. Plus, she has mad skills in the kitchen.
I believe that I often identify a lot more with the character of Aunt Bess than with Amy. Aunt Bess is in her early eighties. She is sassy and set in her ways. She’s nosy and wants to solve crimes, since she considers herself a modern-day Nancy Drew. When Amy’s mother, Jenna, suggested that Aunt Bess is more of a Miss Marple, Aunt Bess told her to mind her own business.
Aunt Bess enjoys the internet and has a number of Pinterest boards: People I’ve Outlived, Things I’d Like to Eat but Won’t Make, Lord Have Mercy, Crime Scenes, and the latest, Things That’ll Probably Kill Me. Most of her categories are self-explanatory, but the one I’d like to address is Things I’d Like to Eat but Won’t Make.

I get that Things I’d Like to Eat but Won’t Make feeling frequently when I’m working on a new book in the Down South Café series. For instance, while working on TRUFFLES AND TRAGEDY, I thought I’d love to try that pimiento cheese quiche; but I doubt I’ll make it. I’m the only person in our family who enjoys pimiento cheese; so unless I’m taking the dish to a potluck of some sort, it would be a waste to prepare the dish. The coconut cake Aunt Bess likes called to me as well, but I won’t make that either. The kids don’t like coconut, and I’d wind up eating way too much of that cake because I hate for anything to go to waste—not good, as it would quickly go to waist—mine.

Sometimes readers will tell me they wish the Down South Café was real—they’d like to pay Amy a visit. So would I! I’d love to drop in on Amy, have a slice of that pimiento cheese quiche, take a piece of coconut cake to go, and linger over a cup of French vanilla coffee. I’d ask Homer about his hero of the day, talk with Dilly about the raccoon who visits to get a biscuit every evening, and flirt with Scott the way Aunt Bess does. If you run across a place that reminds you of the Down South Café, would you please let me know? I’ll add it to my Places I’d Like to Visit board. I don’t have one yet, but if you run across a Down South Café, I might just get started on it.

About Gayle Leeson

Gayle Leeson is a pseudonym for Gayle Trent. Gayle has also written as Amanda Lee and Gayle Trent. Going forward, Gayle intends to keep her writing under the Gayle Leeson name. She lives with her beautiful family in the hills of Southwest Virginia.

Author Links

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/GayleLeeson/

Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/Gayle-Leeson/e/B01NBSTBDU/

BookBub:

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/gayle-leeson

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/426208.Gayle_Trent

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/GayleTrent

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