by Lynn Cahoon
By Lynn Cahoon
The Kitchen Witch Mysteries
Two Wicked Desserts
One Poison Pie
Novellas
Murder 101
Chili Cauldron Curse
The Tourist Trap Mysteries
Picture Perfect Frame
Murder in Waiting
Memories and Murder
Killer Party
Hospitality and Homicide
Tea Cups and Carnage
Murder on Wheels
Killer Run
Dressed to Kill
If the Shoe Kills
Mission to Murder
Guidebook to Murder
Novellas
A Very Mummy Holiday
Mother’s Day Mayhem
Corned Beef and Casualties
Santa Puppy
A Deadly Brew
Rockets’ Dead Glare
The Farm-to-Fork Mysteries
Killer Comfort Food
Deep Fried Revenge
One Potato, Two Potato, Dead
Killer Green Tomatoes
Who Moved My Goat Cheese?
Novellas
A Pumpkin Spice Killing
Penned In
Have a Deadly New Year
The Cat Latimer Mysteries
A Field Guide to Homicide
Sconed to Death
Slay in Character
Of Murder and Men
Fatality by Firelight
A Story to Kill
Two Wicked Desserts
LYNN CAHOON
www.kensingtonbooks.com
All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.
Table of Contents
Also by
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Two Wicked Desserts
Teaser chapter
KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2021 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.
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.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
The K logo is a trademark of Kensington Publishing Corp.
ISBN: 978-1-4967-3032-9
ISBN-13: 978-1-4967-3035-0 (ebook)
ISBN-10: 1-4967-3035-6 (ebook)
To the creators of magic out there who keep us
entertained and our imaginations working overtime.
Acknowledgments
I talk about the writing process on my Facebook page, but a lot of times I leave out the daily boring activities that all authors have to work with. The creating—the writing—the world building, the traveling to events and meeting readers, that’s the fun stuff. The edits, the proofreading until your eyes bleed (and then still missing an obvious typo), the bookkeeping, the accounting, the scheduling—well, sometimes this stuff can be overwhelming. At least that’s the stuff that wears on this author. So thanks to all the people on my team who make these days easier. From my husband, who takes giveaway packets to the post office, to my editor, who challenges my mix of magic and mystery, to my agent, who helps me negotiate the business side. And all the others who touch my books and make them better. One step at a time. You guys rock.
Chapter 1
Mia Malone watched as her grandmother, Mary Alice Carpenter, stared at the notes from her grimoire. The book’s pages were that lovely cream color old books get, but the ink used to write the spells ranged from standard black or blue to the more recent ones in colored ink. Where her grandmother had found the glitter pens Mia didn’t know. Her own grimoire was out on the large desk in the room. She didn’t have half as many spells as her grandmother, but hers were neat and tidy in the large book. Even from the beginning.
“I’m certain I have the ingredients right. This spell should have worked.” Grans peered at Mia over her round, wire-rimmed glasses. Mr. Darcy sat on the large bench in the middle of what used to be a chemistry lab before the school had closed. Mia had purchased the school to save it from being torn down for a strip mall, as well as give her a space to open her own catering company and cooking school in Magic Springs, Idaho.
So far, the catering jobs and takeout business she’d snagged had kept the large, empty building heated and food on the table, but Mia hoped the classes would start to put her monthly profit-and-loss statement in the green. She needed a slush fund for slow times. But she’d worry about that later.
Today they were trying to help her cat. Mr. Darcy had taken on an unexpected visitor when he interrupted one of Grans’s spells after her beau, Dorian Alexander, had been killed by a rival coven leader. Mr. Darcy had been host to Dorian’s spirit for several months now, and even if he wasn’t Mia’s familiar, she’d be able to see he was tired of sharing his body.
Right now, he stared at Grans, waiting for her to put things back. He tapped his left foot twice, a signal he was getting impatient.
“She’s doing the best she can.” Mia stroked his fur, and he nuzzled his face into her hand. Then he gave Mary Alice one last stare, let out a loud meow, and jumped off the bench. He ran to the closet, where the secret outdoor passage hid, pawed it open, and disappeared. Mia stared after him. “I guess he was done talking.”
“He’s probably out hunting moles in the yard. Dorian always did like the outdoors. Although he used to hunt deer and use a rifle or a bow rather than his teeth.” Grans pushed a strand of hair from her face. “I really am trying. I love having Dorian around, but I know Mr. Darcy deserves his body back. Maybe I could transfer Dorian into that grandfather clock in my living room.”
“If we’re doing that, shouldn’t we be performing this spell at your place?” Mia wasn’t sure her grandmother really wanted to release Dorian. While he was in Mr. Darcy, she could park him here at the school with Mia. If she released him into the clock, he’d be with her twenty-four seven.
“Dear, Dorian and I were just beginning our courtship. Don’t you think it’s too early for him to be moving in?” Grans closed the grimoire and glanced around the room. “Do you think I need to take the book upstairs while we have dinner? Or will it be safe here?”
“With half the town knowing where the secret entrance is and the fact that I can’
t seem to keep a lock on that closet door, you should bring it upstairs.” She grabbed the book and then walked over for her own, carefully holding them separate. The books fought when they touched each other, a situation that her grandmother couldn’t explain. “Come on and let’s cook.”
It was a pretty spring day in Magic Springs. Mia stared out the large windows looking out over the mountain range the town had been named for and wished she was outside with Mr. Darcy. Wildflowers had begun to bloom out in the woods past the grassy backyard and she wanted to walk the back area so she could figure out where she was putting her garden plot.
“Aren’t you working tomorrow? If not, you could invite Trent over and he could help you plan the landscaping.” Grans followed her out of the chemistry lab and to the stairs that would take them from the second-floor classrooms to her apartment on the third floor. “Maybe he could devise a plan to block the secret entrance as well. The man seems very versatile.”
Mia slowly climbed the stairs, keeping her pace even so her grandmother wouldn’t hurry to keep up. “Trent’s tried. He says the house is preventing anyone from closing it off. He thinks there’s a ward on the entrance, but he hasn’t figured it out yet. Do you think someone added in some magical additions when they built the school?”
Her grandmother didn’t answer until she was on the landing in front of the apartment door. There were only three doors on this floor. One to Mia’s apartment. One to a storage room. And one that was locked, and Mia couldn’t find the key. Trent thought it led to a widow’s walk on the top of the building. She glanced at the locked door as she unlocked the apartment and waited while Grans stepped in ahead of her. Finally, she sat down in the kitchen and motioned Mia to set her grimoire on the table.
“Are you okay? I can get a contractor in here to install an elevator if the stairs are too much.” Mia set Grans’s grimoire in front of her, then returned her own to its spot on the kitchen bookshelf. The book shared its shelf with Gloria, Mia’s kitchen witch, and a few crystals.
Her grandmother looked up from scanning the book’s pages. “Why on earth would I need an elevator?”
“You didn’t say anything. I thought you were winded.” Mia dropped into the chair near her fridge and wondered if there was any sun tea left.
“I was thinking. You asked me a question and I was trying to remember if I had any notes in the grimoire about spell work done when the school was built. If I remember right, the school was built in 1940. My mother might have been part of the construction crew.” She flipped through the pages as she talked. “Our family’s magical history is in my grimoire. Someday, because your mother has passed on the opportunity to learn the craft, the history will all move to your book.”
Mia frowned as she looked at her book on the shelf. “Maybe I should have gotten a bigger one. Or you could just will me that book and I can keep it as well as my own. Kind of like volumes.”
Grans shook her head. “It doesn’t work like that. When I pass on, the spells our family of witches has developed over the years will move into your book. My book will die with me. Most witches have their books buried with them, but really, it’s just a shell by the time of the ceremony. The spells will pass as soon as my tie to the earthly plain is broken.”
Mia thought about this new bit of magical family history she hadn’t known. “So what happened to Dorian’s book? Because he’s still here and all.”
“His physical tie has been broken. He’s only here in spirit.” Grans shrugged. “I assume his daughter got the new book delivered to her place in Hollywood. I’m sure she’ll try to use the spells to further her career, which, of course, will ruin the book and all his lovely spells. I really hope Dorian talked to her about the power she now wields. I tried to talk to her at the funeral, but she looked at me like I was a crazy old woman. Can you make me a cup of tea?”
Mia stood and filled the teakettle, putting it on the stove to heat up. “I thought we’d have roasted pork and vegetables tonight. I have some apple pie for dessert.”
“Is Christina joining us?” Grans kept slowly turning pages.
Christina was the only employee of Mia’s Morsels, as well as Mia’s almost-sister-in-law and now roommate. Or would you call the sister of the jerk you were once engaged to an ex-almost-sister-in-law? Either way, she was turning into an amazing chef, even though her career goals were focused more on the hospitality side of the business. More than that, she had become a good friend.
Mia got out cups and tea bags. She would have her own herbs this year to dry for tea mixtures this summer. As soon as she got the garden planned and planted. There was a lot of work to be done before she’d be sipping a cup of her own brew next fall. “Christina’s returning home this weekend from her birthday trip. She spent the week with her parents and Isaac in Bermuda, at their vacation place.”
“When I turned twenty-one, no one sent me on an all-expenses Caribbean trip. We were just adults.” Grans studied a spell in the grimoire, then shook her head and turned the page. “How did school go for her this term? Does she like the business classes?”
“Now that she’s in charge of her future, school feels different now. And she’s loving the hospitality program. She’s a natural, but her heart is in event planning. She’s probably going to open her own shop as soon as she gets the degree.” Mia poured the water over the bags and brought the steaming cups to the table. “I’m glad she finally found her passion.”
“I’m surprised she’s still living here with you. I would have thought that she’d have gone home to stay with her folks.” This time Grans did glance up, watching Mia’s reaction.
“I’m not sure, but I believe she’s here because she needs connection. Being home would have been miserable for her. Her mother would have pushed her into law or pre-med, something that Christina didn’t want.” Mia played with the bag, not letting it steep on its own. “I know she’s not really related to me, but I like playing big sister. And she does a lot for the catering company.”
“You could hire someone with fewer issues.” Grans refocused on the book. “But I understand your concern about the girl. She’s special.”
Mia stood and grabbed her laptop. As she booted it up, she grinned at her grandmother. “Maybe I can find some information about the builders and who was involved in the school planning.”
“How will that help? They’re probably all dead by now.”
She stood and got a notebook from her desk drawer. “Probably, but maybe you’ll recognize some of the names from the coven. And if they were in the coven, maybe they passed on their spells to someone in the family.”
Grans nodded. “That’s brilliant. I wouldn’t have thought of it.”
“I only just did. Probably because of your explanation about how the family grimoires work. All we have to do is find the witch or witches who were part of the development of the school.” She keyed information into her search engine and went to find the information.
Two hours later, her stomach was growling and she had three names: Charles Silas Miller, Andrew Nathan McDonald, and Horace James Blough.
Her grandmother looked at the names as Mia pulled out the sheet pan where she’d roasted dinner. The roast felt done, but she put a meat thermometer inside just in case. Perfect temperature, she thought as the digital readout blinked.
“I don’t know any of these men. Of course, I was just a little girl when the school was built. I wasn’t even in school yet.” Grans put the laptop and notebook on Mia’s desk, along with her grimoire. “Don’t let me forget this when you drive me home.”
“I won’t. Believe me, I don’t want to deal with the problems.” Mia got out plates and served the meal. After a few bites she set down her fork and smiled. “I love this kitchen. It’s not as high tech as the one in my house in Boise, but it feels good. The school feels comfortable. Even the places I haven’t had time to clean and organize.”
“I’m glad you feel at home. That’s important to your ability to be happy. You k
ept too busy in Boise to even breathe, let alone figure out what your heart was telling you.” Grans sipped from her water. “Speaking of your heart, how are you and Trent doing?”
“We’re fine.” Trent was the owner/manager of Majors Grocery and Mia’s boyfriend. He was also a reluctant witch, not like his little brother, who enjoyed magic and its benefits. Mia figured that Levi’s living here was the real reason Christina had stayed in town, but he was a good guy and she didn’t mind having him and his brother over most nights. “He’s been getting some flak from John Louis about selling again. I guess John thinks if Majors closes, he can get a bigger grocery to come into town.”
“I can’t believe he isn’t still in jail for what he did to you. Holding a gun on someone just isn’t a joke in my mind.” Grans’s lips pursed together. She didn’t like talking about John Louis, not at all.
“Apparently it wasn’t loaded, and John has friends in the county government. Anyway, he’s supposed to stay away from me, so that’s a win at least. I haven’t seen him since he came back from his trip to Boise when he did his ‘time.’” Mia used air quotes. “He must have some really powerful friends to just get six weeks in the low-security prison section. I heard he was still running his realty business while he was in lockup. I hate to see him actually make money by ripping Majors Grocery out of Magic Springs.”
“That’s not going to happen. Albertsons already opened a small store in Sun Valley. There’s no way they’d open a second one so close. Besides, all the one in Sun Valley carries is prepared foods and gourmet items. I stopped in for a few items the other day and couldn’t even find regular flour. Rice flour, yes, but not all-purpose.” Grans glanced around the room. “It’s feeling chilly in here. Do you have the heat on?”
