Introduction

From Agatha Award winning author

Editorial Review

No editorial review at this time.

Excerpt

“Aunt Vera, stop twirling me,” I yelled.

But she didn’t. She continued to spin me in a circle. My eyes pinballed in my head. My braids whipped my cheeks—right, left, right, left. I didn’t ordinarily wear braids, but cleaning up a shop that closed thirty years ago, over a year before my birth, was almost as dirty a business as having a garage sale. I had dressed for the occasion: cut-offs and tee shirt, so I wasn’t worried about my clothes.

“Stop,” I repeated.

My aunt cackled with glee. “Jenna Starrett Hart, I am so excited.”

No kidding. The striped walls of the bookshop blurred together; I felt trapped in a kaleidoscope. Chipped walls painted baby blue, olive green, and a weird fleshy pink color flashed around me. Normally, I liked twirling and dancing. I adored music—rock and roll, country, and big Hollywood musical classics. My mother used to play the radio full blast when she drove me to art classes and we would sing and car-dance to our hearts’ content. But I had returned to my childhood town of Crystal Cove less than an hour ago, and I hadn’t found my sea legs yet. Warmer than normal August temperatures weren’t helping my equilibrium.

“Too-ra-loo,” my aunt sang merrily. Her turban flopped to and fro. Copious strands of beads clacked against her phoenix amulet. Her royal blue caftan flared out around her large frame. “I have such a good feeling about our new venture. Sing with me. Too-ra-loo.”

“Too-ra-loo,” I croaked as I tried to slow her down by skidding on my heels. Three-dollar flip-flops didn’t win the prize for gaining traction. Why couldn’t I be a tennis shoe person? view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

1. Family is the most important thing in the world to Jenna. How did it affect you to find out about Jenna’s husband and mother passing away in the same month?

2. A theme of the book could be how one moment can change your life forever. How has this twist of fate affected you personally? How did it affect Jenna?

3. How did you feel about how Jenna balanced the new elements of her move, her life, her new career? Are there any aspects of Jenna that don’t ring true?

4. Creating a credible villain is one of the writer’s hardest tasks. Readers want to know the “why”. Did the reasons for the victim’s murder ring true? Was the killer a sympathetic character?

5. Which of the secondary characters was your favorite and why?

6. Cookbooks are a major factor of A Cookbook Nook Mystery series. Did you find the mentions of cookbooks and subsequent descriptions satisfying?

7. Did you know there’s a list of cookbooks mentioned on Daryl’s website under “Fun Stuff”? Which was your favorite cookbook?

8. Will you try the recipes included at the back of the book?

9. As is common in a lot of cozy mysteries nowadays, there is also a romantic element to consider. While investigating the murder, Jenna, trying to move on after the horrific loss of her husband, finds herself attracted to Rhett Baxter. What do you think of the romantic chemistry between Jenna and Rhett? Do they make an interesting couple, one that you would want to read about in future books? Are you intrigued about Rhett while not knowing much about his background…yet?

10. Is there anyone else that you think Jenna should date? What would be her ideal man?

Thanks to each and every one of you for reading
Final Sentence
and finding the time to discuss it.

Next up:

Inherit the Word
Berkley Prime Crime
March 2014

Weblinks

»	Read an Excerpt
»	Author Daryl Wood Gerber's web site
»	Publisher's Book Info

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