Barbara Silkstone visits the blog again with her latest installment in the Cold Cream Murders Series.
Book Description
When Nelson Dingler is found dangling from a chandelier—feet-side up—Grams Dingler determines to find her son’s killer. Can Olive help her best friend Lizzy save her feisty grandmother from suffering the same fate? And can the Cold Cream Shop survive while Olive psyches out the killer?
Bonus: Contains a recipe for heavenly lavender lemon honey soap.
Excerpt
Officer Kal wasn’t waiting for me at Lizzy’s. Too bad. I wanted to be sure the women were safe inside for the night. What if the entire Dingler family was in danger? I reached inside my tote feeling around for my can of self-defense hair spray. Unarmed! Not allowed on the flight, I’d left it home.
A slobbering red tongue greeted Lizzy as she unlocked her door. “Enough WonderDog! Sit!”
Instead of obeying, the gangly hound pawed at the front door once Lizzy closed it.
“Dave was supposed to walk WonderDog before the dinner rush. I don’t think he’s been emptied. Maybe Dave couldn’t break away.”
She clipped a leash to the dog that bore a striking resemblance to the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood. “Be right back.”
“Grams would you like some tea? Maybe Lizzy has some chamomile?”
“That would be nice dear.”
We left her bag at the door and walked into the kitchen.
A bright turquoise teakettle sat on the stove. I filled it with water, but hesitated. One of Lizzy’s new finches swooped down and landed on my shoulder. Fearful that turning on the gas stove might result in an injury to the bird, I stopped my tea making.
Two minutes later, Lizzy returned. She unleashed WonderDog who leaped on me dripping kisses. Despite his doggy breath I could never resist him.
“I was going to make tea, but I don’t want to hurt the finches. How do you turn on the stove without the finches getting burned?”
“Easy peasy.” She took a stick of incense from a drawer and placed it in a holder on the stove. The kitchen birds beat a retreat to the other rooms as if a hawk perched on the refrigerator.
Grams and I exchanged eye-rolls.
“Why did you replace your seventy-six lost finches with fifty-two?” I asked.
“Because the pet store didn’t have seventy-six, they only had fifty-two. Fifty is a sensible number but I couldn’t leave two behind. That would be cruel.” She turned on the burner.
The sound of Grams’ soft chuckle was followed by a knock on the door.
“Come in!” Lizzy called.
I made a mental note to warn her about not locking the door and being so free to invite knockers.
Kal stepped into a WonderDog greeting complete with a sticky, smelly tongue—the dog’s not Kal’s.
“Everything okay here?” He gave the combination family room and kitchen a quick scan.
Grams shot a button-your-lip look at Lizzy and me. She’d dug in her pink orthopedic heels—determined to catch her son’s killer without Kal’s help.
“I won’t rest until the mystery of Nelson’s death is solved,” Kal said.
Grams didn’t respond. She plucked a Sweet Dreams tea bag from the jar on the counter, dropped it into a cup and poured boiling water over it. She’d written Kal out of her investigation.
The officer smiled at the Dingler ladies and then turned to me. “Ready, Olive?
I hugged Lizzy and approached Grams but she was in the process of balancing a hot cup on a saucer. “See you tomorrow.” She pointedly addressed me, excluding Kal.
Lizzy walked us to the door.
“Lock this tight. Windows, too!” I said.
She squinted her eyes until they were two amber slits. “You’re thinking Grams and I are in danger? I’ll have Dave spend the night.”
“How are you fixed for hairspray?” Neither one of us could bring ourselves to use pepper spray—too cruel.
“I’ve got a can by each door. We’ll be fine.” WonderDog trotted to her side ready to protect her.
About the Series
Olive Peroni put out her family therapy shingle six years ago, never thinking her top client would be Myron Meyers, head of a New York crime family. When Olive’s grandmother dies and leaves her a condo in Florida and a secret recipe for miracle cold cream, she grabs the chance at a new life in Starfish Cove, making designer creams for ladies who spend far too much time at the beach. Business is brisk and life is good! Olive even makes a wild new best friend and business partner in Lizzy, the real estate agent who handles the transfer of Nonna’s condo.
But when the quiet little community on the Gulf of Mexico soon begins to compete with a certain notorious coastal village in Maine, Olive finds herself solving odd-ball murders as often as she soothes wrinkles.
Clean and wholesome!
Each book contains a recipe for homemade cosmetics!
Available in Kindle Unlimited
Start reading now!
SUN SCREAM – Book 4 in the series – coming July 4th!
About the Author
Barbara Silkstone is the author of the COLD CREAM MURDERS cozies, also the Florence Nightingale Comedy Mystery Series, light-hearted Victorian murder capers.
Silkstone is also the author of the best selling Mister Darcy series of comedic mysteries ~ 9 Books~ plus an additional 10 Regency novels and novellas, all with a light, humorous touch.
Please check out her Wendy Darlin Comedy Mysteries – 5 Cozy Capers.
Connect with Barbara Silkstone
Marianne Sciucco, Author 