Welcome to Pine Cove.
The Mayor is a dog, B&B guests are fugitives, and the pancakes
are burnt.
Recipe For Murder
A Pine Cove Mystery Book 2
by Marla A. White
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Mel O'Rourke traded her LAPD badge for the quiet life,
running a bed-and-breakfast in tiny, quirky Pine Cove.
But when Jackson Thibodeaux, the charming café owner who broke her heart,
stumbles back into town, her tranquil second act is toast. While attending a
culinary academy in New Orleans, Jackson found the body of a classmate. The
police rule it a suicide, but Mel’s instincts—and Jackson’s near miss with a
bullet—scream murder.
Between a cooking school full of shady suspects, a reformed cat burglar for a
sidekick, and a complicated love triangle involving the deputy sheriff, Mel has
her hands full.
Perfect for fans of the sweetness of Jenn McKinlay and the snark of Elle
Cosimano’s Finlay Donovan.
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“Dang, woman. You want to take my
certification test for me?” She noticed with no small amount of satisfaction
that, although he’d done a decent job, she’d bested him. Again.
“You’ll do fine,” she teased as she
ejected the clip, put the gun down, and began to reload. Even with the EZ
loader she’d gotten as a birthday gift from her parents a few years ago, she
struggled to get the bullets in. Her father, an ex-cop himself, thought her
lack of dexterity was hilarious.
“Here, let me help you.” Gregg
closed the distance between them, standing so close she felt the heat of his
body. The tang of cordite, pine trees, and the summer blooms scattered around
the outdoor firing range tickled her nose, conspiring to make the moment sort
of romantic as his rough, calloused hands met hers. The thought sent a zing of
electricity through her that she couldn’t quite explain. Before this got any
weirder, she stepped away.
“Gah, I could hear the ‘little
lady’ part of that statement even without you saying it. I’ve got this, thanks
anyway.”
Rather than be offended, he
laughed. They continued practicing their firearm skills for another twenty
minutes until Gregg complained the sound of Mel’s stomach rumbling was loud
enough to be heard even through his protective ear gear. “It’s throwing off my
aim. Are you ready to call it a day?” She felt the heat rise to her cheeks in
embarrassment. “Pizza?”
“You haven’t by chance changed your
stance on the sushi spaghetti combo restaurant, have you?”
He laughed. “No way. You’re welcome
to a sausage caterpillar roll. It’s a hard pass for me. Besides, the pizza
joint carries Redrum beer.”
As they headed to his car, she
teased him. “You can’t fool me, you’re a secret wine lover. And you “know the
name for a type of sushi? I’m impressed.”
She slammed into him when he
suddenly stopped walking. He turned and glanced down at her, standing a good
six inches taller. There was a twinkle of amusement in his eyes as he put one
hand out to steady her, the other to her lips. “Shh, I have a reputation to
protect.”
For a moment, it looked like he was
going to move in to kiss her. For a moment, Mel wanted him to. But whatever
spark had been in his eyes wavered to uncertainty, and he ushered her to his
car without another word.
****
“You’d better hope your boss never
finds out you know all the words to that musical or he’ll insist on drug
testing you.” Mel laughed as Gregg opened the lobby door for her, still
murmuring away in a surprisingly pleasant singing voice. She didn’t normally
wait for any man to open a door, but her hands were full, holding the box of
pizza they’d gotten to bring back for the vultures she knew would be waiting
for her at the inn. He held the door with one hand, a bottle of wine they
planned on sharing while binging episodes of a British cop series they loved
gripped in the other.
As she expected, Gemma, Grandma,
and Poppy materialized from the great room at a speed that suggested they’d
been sitting near the window watching for their return. Their grim expressions,
however, made her stop short. “All right, out with it. Why are you three acting
so weird? We’re twenty feet inside the door, and there hasn’t been one smart
ass remark yet. Who died?” When no one answered, a cold dread bloomed in the
pit of her stomach. She might have dropped the pizza if Poppy hadn’t snatched
it out of her numb hands. “Seriously, is everyone okay? Did something happen?
Is it Liam?”
“No, Mel, it’s me,” a voice said
with a distinctly more pronounced Southern drawl than he’d had the last time
they spoke. An exhausted, pale, but determined Jackson emerged from the
shadows, rubbing at his temple as if to ease an ache. “I really need your
help.”
Relief, anger, hope, and about a
dozen other emotions Mel couldn’t identify came crashing down all at once. “I’m
going to need you to open that wine,” she told Gregg.
He twisted the top off with his
bare hand since their favorite brand of chardonnay didn’t use a “cork. “Done,”
he said as he handed her the chilled bottle, the outside damp with sweat.
She took a healthy gulp straight
out of the bottle before addressing Jackson. “All right, out with it. What do
you want, and it better be good after the bullshit you pulled on me.”
“There’s been a murder.”
Framed For Murder
A Pine Cove Mystery Book 1
After a life-changing injury, Mel O’Rourke trades in her
badge for bed sheets, running a B & B in the quirky mountain town of Pine
Cove. Her peaceful life is interrupted when an old frenemy, the notorious and
charismatic cat burglar, Poppy Phillips, shows up on her doorstep, claiming
she’s been framed for murder. While she’s broken plenty of laws, Mel knows
she’d never kill anyone. Good thing she’s a better detective than she is a cook
as she sets out to prove Poppy's innocence.
The situation gets complicated, however, when the ruggedly handsome Deputy
Sheriff Gregg Marks flirts with Mel, bringing him dangerously close to the
criminal she’s hiding. And just when her friendship with café owner Jackson
Thibodeaux blossoms into something more, he’s offered the opportunity of a
lifetime in New Orleans. Should she encourage him to go, or ask him to stay?
Who knew romance could be just as hard to solve as murder?
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Mel
gaped slack-jawed at her brother, whose palm covered his face. “Why did you
kidnap Grandma?”
“I
did not—ugh!” He answered from behind his hand before shaking off his
frustration and moving to the back seat of the truck to grab their bags. “Mom
forced me to bring her. That’s what the delay was all about. She’s been driving
her crazy, and then this morning she lit the kitchen on fire.”
“She
what?!”
“I
wasn’t there, so I don’t know exactly, something about the toaster and a
curtain. Anyway, Mom convinced her she should come help you out and halfway up
the mountain she wove this kidnapping story.”
“Help
me? How, by greeting guests with her charming personality?” She loved her
grandmother, but her salutation and scathing condemnation of the inn with just
one glance were pretty mild for the old woman. When she really got on a tear,
the best thing was to go to a movie until she wore herself out.
“Beats
me but pro tip, do not let her in the kitchen.” Balancing the bags in one hand,
Liam enveloped her with his free arm. “At least, not until we make sure the
insurance covers curtain fires.”
“No
need to worry, I just hired someone today who is great in the kitchen.”
He
looked at her askance. “Great as in better than you or someone who is actually
a good cook?”
“Shut
up.” She laughed in response to the insult. “The guests this morning raved
about the food. For however long she stays, I think she’ll be a plus in the
breakfast department, anyway.”
“Where
did you find this culinary genius? Did you put out an ad already?” He held the
door open for Mel and they entered the lobby.
“We
didn’t, she found me.” She looked around. “Where’s Grandma?”
The
echoes of laughter led the siblings into the Great Room where their grandmother
sat in front of the fireplace chatting away with Poppy. They turned toward Mel
and Liam as they entered.
“Mel,
your mother is a hoot,” she gushed.
She
narrowed her eyes at the alleged ex-thief, who had to know perfectly well the
woman in front of her was too old to be her mother. Grandma O, however, took
the compliment to heart and patted Poppy’s hand, gracing her with one of her
rare beaming smiles.
To
Mel’s surprise, Liam skidded to a dead halt. She turned back to see why and
received the icy blast of the unmistakable storm in his eyes. She’d seen the
same dark expression in the mirror when she was furious. What did he have to be
so angry about? Before she could ask, he dropped their bags and launched into
full hissy fit mode.
“You!”
he bellowed at Poppy.
The
brunette seemed sincerely surprised at his response. Swiveling her head to see
who else was in the room and finding no one, she met his gaze and pointed to
herself with an exaggerated, “Who, me?” expression.
Her
brother spun, targeting his rage at her. “Don’t tell me this is who you hired?”
“You’re
only being a grump because you haven’t tried her bacon,” she joked, hoping to
deflate the situation. Years of trying to nail her for any number of jobs she’d
pulled off had frustrated Mel, but she had to admit she always liked her style.
Despite her suspicions when she found Poppy in the lobby this morning, so far
she’d been nothing but charming and kind of fun, so what had she done to piss
off easy-going Liam in the two minutes since they met?
Her
brother crossed his arms, stubbornly jutting out his square jaw. “There’s no
way that woman is working here. She nearly killed you once, I’m not giving her
a second chance.”
“You
two have met?” The information surprised her, so she let the macho b.s. slide
for now. She didn’t need anyone to protect her, but his anger rolled off him so
calling him on his chauvinism skittered close to throwing gasoline on a fire.
“We
had to watch her on the news sound bites, taking her bows for saving your life,
while you lay in that hospital bed, broken and in agony.” Mel had never seen
his eyes blaze with such fury before. She’d been so focused on her own
suffering she’d never thought about what her family had gone through. Liam
clearly had been carrying steamer-trunk sized baggage. “Nobody bothered to
mention she’s the one who put you in danger in the first place. Or that you’re
crippled for life, thanks to her.”
“Crippled?”
Poppy’s brows furrowed, her eyes darkening.
“Easy,
drama queen,” Mel snarled, “nobody’s crippled.”
“We
used to go rock climbing and now you can’t even mount a set of stairs without
getting dizzy.” His exasperation exploded as he paced to the far end of the
Great Room to stare out the floor-to-ceiling glass door at the patio and brook
beyond. What really hurt was he sounded more bummed out for himself losing a
climbing partner than concerned about her.
“Is
that true?” Poppy sprang up.
“I’m
working on it.” Embarrassed by the whole conversation, she busied herself with
tidying the morning newspapers the guests had left strewn around the sitting
area.
“She
nearly killed you, she’s not working here,” Liam repeated without turning away
from the view outside.
Grandma
O’Rourke rose to her feet with more nobility than agility, stood between her
two grandchildren, and pronounced, “I like her, and I say she stays,” before
tottering off to the kitchen in a self-professed search for the infamous bacon.
Of
course, she liked Poppy, she just paid her a huge compliment. Never mind if she
was guilty of what Liam accused her of doing or not. After putting the last
section of the newspaper back in place, Mel noticed the below the fold story on
the front page and tightened her fist until she almost tore the paper in two.
Scientist Killed in Daring Heist
Marla White is an award-winning novelist who
prefers killing people who annoy her on paper rather than in real life. Her
first full-length mystery novel, “Cause for Elimination,” placed in several
contests including Killer Nashville, The RONE Awards, The Reader’s Favorite,
and finishing second in the Orange County Romance Writers for Romantic
Suspense. Originally from Oklahoma, she lived in a lot of other states before
settling down in Los Angeles to work in the television industry. She currently
teaches at UCLA Extension and gives seminars about the art of script coverage.
When she’s not working on the next book, she’s out in the garden, hiking,
cheering on the LA Kings, or discovering new craft cocktails.
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