Have a Deadly New Year

By Lynn Cahoon

Chef Angie Turner of The County Seat—Idaho’s finest farm-to-table restaurant—is preparing a private dinner in the mountains during ski season, but the trip’s about to go downhill . . .
 
It’s a rockin’ New Year for Angie and her crew as they cater a bash for a famous band—and as a bonus, they’ll get to stay at the singer’s Sun Valley house for a whole week once the party’s over. But there are hints of discord, and the event hits a sour note when one of the musicians is found with a drumstick in his chest.
 
Is this a case of creative differences turned lethal or is there another motive at play? Angie’s jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire as she and her fellow foodies try to solve the case before the killer comes out for an encore . . .
 
Praise for Lynn Cahoon's Tourist Trap Mysteries
 
“Murder, dirty politics, pirate lore, and a hot police detective: Guidebook to Murder has it all! A cozy lover’s dream come true.”
—Susan McBride, author of The Debutante Dropout Mysteries
 
“Lynn Cahoon has created an absorbing, good fun mystery in Mission to Murder.”
—Fresh Fiction
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lyrical Press
• Release date: Dec 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9781516110261

Book preview

www.kensingtonbooks.com

Also by Lynn Cahoon

The Farm-to-Fork Mysteries

Who Moved My Goat Cheese?

Killer Green Tomatoes

One Potato, Two Potato, Dead

The Cat Latimer Mysteries

A Story to Kill

Fatality by Firelight

Of Murder and Men

Slay in Character

Sconed to Death

The Tourist Trap Mysteries

Guidebook to Murder

Mission to Murder

If the Shoe Kills

Dressed to Kill

Killer Run

Murder on Wheels

Tea Cups and Carnage

Hospitality and Homicide

Killer Party

Memories and Murder

Novellas

Rockets’ Dead Glare

A Deadly Brew

Santa Puppy

Corned Beef and Casualties

Mother’s Day Mayhem

A Very Mummy Holiday

Have A Deadly New Year

A Farm-to-Fork Novella

Lynn Cahoon

LYRICAL UNDERGROUND

Kensington Publishing Corp.

www.kensingtonbooks.com

To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

LYRICAL UNDERGROUND BOOKS are published by

Kensington Publishing Corp.

119 West 40th Street

New York, NY 10018

Copyright © 2019 by Lynn Cahoon

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

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Special book excerpts or customized printings can also be created to fit specific needs. For details, write or phone the office of the Kensington Sales Manager: Kensington Publishing Corp., 119 West 40th Street, New York, NY 10018. Attn. Sales Department. Phone: [phone].

Lyrical Underground and Lyrical Underground logo Reg. US Pat. & TM Off.

First Electronic Edition: December 2019

eISBN-13: 978-1-5161-1026-1

eISBN-10: 1-5161-1026-9

Dedication

To my ‘band’ friends. I’m so glad you made high school bearable.

Acknowledgments

Writing about a gentler, kinder Idaho town than I grew up in has got me nostalgic for the good things that happened around my nonfictional town River Vista is modeled after. When I was in high school, we had a state conference for Future Homemakers of America at the Sun Valley Inn. I don’t know who pulled the strings for that one, but the one thing I remember about that conference is going out to the hot tub at night and watching the snow fall all around us. The moment in time was magical, so when my publisher asked for a NYE novella in Angie Turner’s Farm-to-Fork world, I knew I needed to recreate that moment in time for my characters too.

As always, big thanks to the Kensington team. Esi, Alex, Larissa, and all the others behind the scenes that make my books as pretty as they can be. Praise to them and their knowledge. Jill Marsal, thanks for getting me through my own rough patch. Sometimes all you can say is thanks. It doesn’t feel like enough.

Chapter 1

Sunlight streamed into the oversized kitchen and sparkled on the marble floor. Angie Turner, owner of the County Seat, watched as Hope Anderson, County Seat’s dishwasher—and soon-to-be newest chef, starting next summer—took in the over-the-top room. Angie had to admit, it felt a little intimidating for her as well. Her home kitchen was the size of this place’s pantry. And she could have fit two of the County Seat kitchen in the opulent space. The rich were different. And once the party was over tonight, this would be their kitchen for a week.

Felicia Williams, Angie’s partner, had set up this catering job with one of her old boarding school buddies. Not only were they getting paid, they got use of the cabin for a week after the event. Angie had all kinds of projects planned for her kitchen staff. She just wished all of her cooks had been able to attend. Nancy Gowan had her kids this week and had bowed out of the job. Which Angie understood. Nancy worked so much it wasn’t easy for her to find quality time to spend with her kids. But it would have been nice.

Who did you say owned this place? The Kardashians? Hope bounced over to Felicia, who was sitting at the table planning out the setup of dinner service. I can’t believe you went to school with this guy. What are you? Wealthy?

Felicia didn’t look up from the notebook where she was writing. My parents are. I’m not. And Cliff wasn’t either until his band took off. Look, you can’t go all starstruck when you meet people tonight. They’re just normal everyday people who have a band.

And live in places like this. My parents’ house could fit in this kitchen. Hope held out her arms. Then she saw Felicia’s glower. Fine, I’ll stop being such a peasant and ogling. What’s the name of the band? Do I know them?

Probably not. They were really popular a few years ago. This time Felicia did look up and met Angie’s gaze. She sighed. Fine. Cliff’s the lead singer for Postal Mutiny.

Hope’s eyes widened even more, and she sank into a chair. OMG. Cliff Henry? That Cliff? He’s like a rock legend. I thought Postal Mutiny broke up?

They did. Now they’re going to do another album. This dinner is to celebrate their signing the contract in the California studios on Monday. They’ll leave here for L.A. first thing in the morning, and we’ll have the house to ourselves for a week. Felicia looked around as they sat in stunned silence. Come on, guys, don’t tell me you’re all starstruck.

Estebe looked up from his tablet. I am not struck by the stars. I do not know this band.

Well, I do. Matt Young sank into a chair by Felicia. This is going to be an amazing way to kick off the new year. Well, actually, end this year, since they’ll be gone by the time the new year arrives. Is this why you took away our cell phones in the van? So we can’t take pictures?

Exactly. You’ll get them back on Monday after everyone’s left. Cliff doesn’t mind if we say we were in his house or that we catered the dinner, but no announcing the address or pictures of the band. Felicia made eye contact with each of them. This is important, guys, I gave Cliff my word that we’d be discreet.

Then we’ll honor that, right? Angie went to stand next to Felicia. Matt’s right, this is an awesome way to end our year. I’ve been excited about how well the restaurant has been doing, so part of our brainstorming is going to be about monthly themes. We get a week to live in this house. Just don’t break anything. My umbrella policy isn’t that large.

So no using Ming vases for football practice? Matt grinned but pointed to Dom, who was sleeping in the corner of the kitchen on the bed Angie had brought with them. What about him? Does he know the rules too?

Angie worried about Dom’s ability to be careful in the expensive rooms. But she had a plan to keep him away from the really delicate items and close by her side. Maybe they’d leave with the house unharmed. At least she hoped that was what would happen. Keep an eye out for him, will you? And if he seems to be somewhere he shouldn’t be, bring him back to the kitchen.

We will watch out for Dom. He’s one of us, Estebe said as he closed his tablet.

Dom lifted his head, huffed, and lay back down. Apparently, he agreed.

Are we ready to start cooking? Dinner’s at five thirty. Angie reviewed the menu for the evening. They were going all out for their guests. An opening salad, then a garden gazpacho soup. A caviar-topped scallop appetizer. Beef tenderloin in a Wellington preparation for

Reviews for Have a Deadly New Year

[aljaira · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The story is compelling. Good job writer! if you have some great stories like this one you can publish it on Novel Star, just submit your story to [e-mail] or [e-mail]