Croquembouche Murder: A Seagrass Sweets Cozy Mystery (Book 6): Seagrass Sweets Cozy Mystery, #6

By Sandi Scott

An extravagant destination wedding job brings Ashley, Patty and Dizzy to a millionaire's remote horse ranch in the mountains of Wyoming where a mysterious death and disabled commuter plane leave everyone stranded until the murder is solved.  Another guess-along mystery by USA & Wall Street Journal Best Selling Author Sandi Scott.

Being hired to cater a wedding is exciting and when that wedding is at a horse ranch, things couldn't be much better for Seagrass Sweets and The Southern Bird.  Ashley, Patty and even Dizzy fly to a remote ranch located high in the mountains of Wyoming, ready to wow wedding guests with sumptuous meals and decadent desserts.

All is not well at the ranch however.  Horses are falling sick with a virus and one of them, a mare named Cocoa, seems bent on ruining everything—from Ashley's desserts to the wedding itself.  Then a body is found in Cocoa's stall, and the wedding is postponed.  Ashley can't decide which is worse, being at the scene of yet another murder, or not being able to make it home in time to go on a dream cruise with Ryan.

An impassible road and a plane that has been disabled means there is no way off the ranch and the police are unable to get up the mountain, so it is up to Ashley and Patty to keep their eyes and ears open to find the killer.  With some help from Dizzy's new friends, Cocoa and a farm cat called Bébé, Ashley closes in on the killer. 

Will she solve it before the police get involved in order to make it to her dream vacation with her sweetheart?

This is a cozy mystery featuring a strong female protagonist and a mystery that will keep you guessing. It has no graphic violence, bad language or sex. It is Book 6 of the Seagrass Sweets Cozy Series but can be read as a standalone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sandi Scott
• Release date: Oct 28, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393702689

Book preview

Chapter 1

The private jet touched down at the tiny Jackson Hole, Wyoming, airport. The wheels met the tarmac almost delicately.

Over the speakers, the pilot said, We have arrived. How’s your adorable puppy-dog doing, Miss Ashley?

Ashley Adams was buried in a mound of black fur. Dizzy, Ashley’s Labrador-hound mutt, had been specially requested to come along on the flight by Mr. Steven Musgraves, the wealthy ranch owner who had hired her to cater his niece’s wedding.

Dizzy, as it turned out, did not like to fly.

At all.

I think she’s okay, Ashley called. Dizzy whimpered and shoved her head further into Ashley’s neck. Ashley had brought a crate for her to sit in during the plane trip, but Dizzy cried so much during takeoff that the co-pilot came back into the passenger area to tell Ashley it was okay if Dizzy came out.

Thank you, Ashley said, but I’m afraid that she might, um, have an accident.

The co-pilot laughed and said not to worry about it. The private jet wasn’t very large, and they were all trained to assist passengers who got airsick during turbulence.

Fortunately, Dizzy didn’t have an accident, but she had spent the rest of the trip from Seagrass, Texas, to Jackson Hole in Ashley’s lap, panting rapidly with her head almost in Ashley’s face.

The jet slowed to normal taxiing speed and trundled slowly along the runway back to the airport. Dizzy slowly settled down. Ashley spoke reassuringly to her. Soon, we’ll be at Mr. Musgraves’s ranch, and you’ll be able to get out and run to your heart’s content. There will even be horses to play with.

Dizzy didn’t understand a word of it but trusted Ashley’s soothing tone.

Poor darling, said Ashley’s co-passenger, Patty Lafontaine. I know how she feels. I hate to fly.

But you’ve flown around the world, Ashley said. Patty had had an adventurous life before settling down to run her French-style catering company, The Southern Bird.

Sure, Patty said, with a shrug. But every time I get into a plane, it’s a white-knuckle ride. I took a half-tablet of a sedative before I got on the plane this morning, you know. Otherwise I would look just as panicked as poor Dizzy.

If Patty felt as terrified as Dizzy obviously was, Ashley could only feel sympathetic. Did it help?

Oh, yes, Patty said. But I’ll feel better when I’m on solid ground.

Once they left the plane, the pilot and co-pilot came out of the cockpit to say goodbye. By then, Dizzy had completely recovered and was wagging her tail merrily. The pilot and co-pilot crouched down to collect their much-deserved face-licks from Dizzy. They petted her for a few minutes, both saying that it was the highlight of their day.

Ashley was relieved. If the crew hadn’t been such animal fanatics, the trip could have gone much worse.

But it only made sense that they were fans. Their boss, Mr. Musgraves, ran an animal rescue ranch in an isolated corner of Wyoming. He had been a successful businessman in Hollywood some years ago but retired early to pursue his true passion—caring for animals. Now he used his contacts in the industry to help raise donations for animal causes and awareness of the problems that elderly animals faced, especially horses. A lot of the biggest names in the film industry spent their vacations in and around the area and were familiar not just with the ski resort, but with the dude ranches in the area.

Mr. Musgraves rescued all the animals that he could. Just because a horse couldn’t carry riders around the scenic mountain trails any longer didn’t mean it didn’t deserve a good life. A retirement home for animals was what he called the Muddy M Ranch.

The reason he had a private jet was that he liked to fly his friends out to the ranch throughout the year. Nothing raised donations like a relaxing weekend away from Tinseltown, helping take care of grizzled old riding horses who would become your best friend for two bright red, local heritage apples and a brush-down.

And nothing was better than a rescue-horse ranch wedding!

Ashley was in charge of all things dessert, bread, and pastry, from the wedding cake to the cookies she was making for the rehearsal dinner. Patty would be in charge of the rest of the meals. She had planned several sensational menus, culminating in the wedding feast of foie gras, quenelles with lobster sauce, and semi-boneless game hens with a wild mushroom sauce over amaranth risotto with lightly pickled red onions and a thyme drizzle.

The wedding was for just over thirty people. Ashley knew she’d be able to handle her end of the feast, but she was also glad to know that Mr. Musgraves had corralled Patty a pair of ranch hands to serve as assistants to help serve the food and clean up. Cooking for thirty was one thing—but making sure that thirty people at a sit-down meal were all fed before the food got cold was something completely different.

Mr. Musgraves had met the two of them at one of Seagrass’s summer festivals and loved their work, both at Patty’s The Southern Bird and Ashley’s Seagrass Sweets, and had contacted them with a very profitable offer.

It was going to be a lot of work. But it was also going to be worth it.

After Dizzy had collected praise from the crew, the co-pilot led the three of them into the modern log-cabin-styled airport where they were delivered into the hands of their employer, Mr. Musgraves.

He wore a black cowboy hat and a khaki vest with a hundred pockets in it, blue jeans, a yellow plaid shirt, a beard, worn cowboy boots, and a broad smile. Miss Ashley! Miss Patty! Miss Dizzy! Dizzy waited until he crouched down, then gave him her standard greeting: a face full of kisses.

Who’s a good girl?

Ashley sneaked a glance at Patty, who rolled her eyes and mouthed Not me!

Mr. Musgraves stood up. Well, ladies, you’re not quite home free yet. We have another flight out to the ranch.

Another flight? Patty’s face had paled slightly.

Yep. In my floatplane.

Aren’t we...kind of far away from any large bodies of water? Patty asked.

He chuckled. Don’t worry, there’s a good-sized lake next to the ranch that works just fine. I’ll make this as easy as possible on you and Dizzy here. I heard that the two of you were concerned travelers.

Terrified of flying, you mean, Patty said.

Unfortunately, the roads are more or less out right now. The spring melt, which even in June is a pretty serious trickle out there, has made a couple of the roads unfit to drive on. It’s going to be a pain trying to get everyone in and out on time, but we’ll all work together to make sure it’s a wonderful wedding, won’t we?

Patty gulped. Of course. Did the food...?

I made sure the food supplies made it in before the two of you even took off from Texas. I think the two of you over-ordered, but I love it! Please tell me you’re going to stock me up for a couple of months. I loved your cooking in Texas...

Mr. Musgraves led them to the front of a hangar where a strange airplane was waiting for them. It had a pair of pontoon-style floaters, but also retractable wheeled landing gear. The plane was smallish, looking like it could hold six people total in the cramped, tiny seats.

Normally, Mr. Musgraves said, I like to bring people out to the ranch in a luxury SUV, where they can watch those little seat-back TV screens with nature videos. Gets ’em softened up for when they see the rescue animals. But this’ll have to do.

I like it, Ashley said firmly. Dizzy was cowering behind her legs, not looking forward to another plane ride. I like to fly.

Speak for yourself, Patty muttered.

A handler drove over with their luggage and gear on an electric cart and loaded everything into the back of the plane.

What do you think, Dizzy? Ashley asked while she was taking Dizzy out for a short walk in the grass beside the main runway. Can you use your crate, or do you need to sit with me on the flight?

But she already knew the answer to that one! Dizzy jumped up into her lap.

ASHLEY’S MIND WAS FILLED with concerns about the job coming up, mostly due to the unfamiliar kitchen she’d be baking in. Would the ovens be up to par? Would there be hot spots? What if the pans were too thin? But she’d adapt. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d had to make a strange catering situation work. Patty was used to working around issues as well.

They both ordered enough food to feed an army for two weeks. They indeed planned to take the extras and stock the freezers at the ranch so that Mr. Musgraves’s guests would be wowed by their cooking for a long time to come. Normally, the cooking was run by rotating local caterers. Ashley had researched the competition. They were all solid businesses, but tended toward California cuisine or Tex-Mex. French comfort food and decadent French-based pastries and cakes weren’t the locals’ strong suits.

The two of them would wow Mr. Musgraves and his guests, Ashley was sure of it.

The flight to the ranch took only fifteen minutes, but it was rougher than the flight with the private jet. Ashley worried about Patty and Dizzy, but they kept it together during the flight, even if they did both seem quiet. Ashley chatted pleasantly with Mr. Musgraves during the flight about the ranch and the work he did there.

The flight itself was through some of the most gorgeous scenery that Ashley had ever seen, with mountains still white with snow and open meadows dotted with mountain flowers and old cattle barns, sparkling streams, and tiny, gorgeous lakes like mirrors framing the sky.

We get all kinds of animals, Mr. Musgraves was saying. But mostly horses. Lord, I remember the one time we took in a couple of llamas. I grew to love ’em, but they tested my patience, all right.

I haven’t been around horses very much, Ashley admitted. Is there anything I should know?

Well...you have to be careful what you feed a horse. They can’t throw anything up, so if something gets stuck or is not good for them, it can cause them real trouble, even kill them. He sighed. But we do have a horse who can’t seem to understand that. It’s a real miracle she’s alive.

Oh?

Her name’s Cocoa. She’s about twenty years old, which is a fair age for a horse, especially one who likes to get into human food. She’ll beg for anything. Don’t listen to her.

Ashley nodded.

Always move slow around a horse. They don’t see as well as humans do, so they tend to get jumpy at any sudden movements. They’re all pretty much trained to be mounted from their own left-hoof side, so you’re less likely to spook ’em if you come in from that direction. You should always listen to your horses. They vocalize a lot, for one thing, and most of ours love to ‘talk’ to our guests. But they’re also pretty sensitive. If something is wrong, they’ll let you know.

Thank you, Ashley said. I’ll try to remember all that!

You’re an animal lover, Mr. Musgraves said. You’ll take one look at those pretty loves of mine and it’ll all make sense.

She smiled. Mr. Musgraves talked about his rescue animals like someone talking about their first sweetheart.

The plane touched down on the water of the small lake next to the Muddy M Ranch with a graceful glide like a swan’s landing. Mr. Musgraves sailed the plane smoothly up to a dock, cutting the twin engines and letting the plane drift through the water and come gently to a stop against the rubber-edged wood dock.

Before the plane could drift away from the dock, Mr. Musgraves hopped out of the plane and clipped two hawsers onto rings on the dock, holding the plane steady.

First he helped Patty out. This is it? We’re here? No more flying?

Mr. Musgraves let out a belly laugh. Not until after the wedding.

Patty sighed with relief. By then, Dizzy had helped herself out of the plane. She was not waiting around for assistance. Ashley climbed down onto the dock with Mr. Musgraves’s help. It wasn’t as awkward as she had feared.

Ashley and Patty wanted to get straight to work, but, after locking up the plane, Mr. Musgraves insisted on giving them the tour of the ranch. Once the guests start coming in, I won’t have time to show you, he said, and it really is special.

It was. It really was.

The main house was a huge log cabin with stone accents. It lay only about fifty feet from the water’s edge, and it was surrounded by porches with swings and rocking chairs. A smaller cabin peeked around one side of the main house. A weathered wagon with wooden wheels overflowed with wildflowers in planters.

Barn’s on the other side of the house, Mr. Musgraves said. Inside the house, they found a dining room easily big enough to serve thirty. The eight big, round tables that had been set up only took up a third of the room; more tables and chairs were stacked to the side. Got a decorator coming in tomorrow with the flowers, Mr. Musgraves announced. Like to have the wedding outside, but you know how weather is. Soon as you let Mother Nature know what you’re planning, she does her best to thwart you.

They took a tour of the kitchens that had both Ashley and Patty ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the equipment they’d be working with. Mr. Musgraves’s kitchen was almost as good as the professional kitchen they rented back in Texas, complete with walk-in freezer. At least the kitchen logistics wouldn’t be a problem. And, as promised, all their food supplies were already in place.

Mr. Musgraves showed them their room, which had two twin beds and a tiny but private bath. Beautiful photographs of animals hung everywhere. Horses, bears, birds, moose, and even fawns were featured. Ashley glanced out the window and saw a huge barn. Everything was so gorgeous!

The rest of the house passed by in a blur. Mr. Musgraves took them out