Title: The Pepper Peach Murder
Author: Meg Benjamin
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Book Blurb:
Roxy Constantine is the jam queen of Shavano, Colorado. But her social life is a bust, and she’s still recovering from a bad experience as a line cook in Denver. Things improve when she meets tasty local chef Nate Robicheaux, but she’s also fending off the attentions of another local, Brett Holmes, who won’t take no for an answer. When Brett threatens to derail Roxy’s career, the two have a very public fight. A few days later, Brett is found murdered in his restaurant kitchen, and suddenly Roxy’s a prime suspect. Now Roxy must find the truth about Brett and his murderer before the town of Shavano decides her reign as jam queen is over for good.
Excerpt:
I went downtown on Monday after I’d gotten the strawberry rhubarb jam into jars and before I started another round of strawberry preserves. I figured I’d see if Fowler was around at the police station, and if he wasn’t, I’d at least have tried to talk to him.
Needless to say, I really hoped he wasn’t in his office.
The Shavano County Courthouse isn’t as charming as the rest of the town. The original granite building was torn down a decade ago, and the town put up a utilitarian square made of tan-colored brick. It houses courtrooms, judicial chambers, and the county attorney’s office.
Also the county sheriff and the Shavano police department. And the jail.
It is not, under any circumstances, a cheerful place, even on a bright Colorado bluebird morning. Once again, I thought about turning around and heading home.
It would be better for him to hear it from you than to discover it on his own.
Nate’s voice still echoed in my ears. For a moment, I wished I’d asked him to come with me. But I had to face this on my own. It was my disaster, after all.
I climbed up the stairs to the front door, pausing for a moment to check the directory on the wall inside. The chief’s office was on the first floor, right down the hall. Once I turned in that direction, there’d be no going back. I’d be committed to confessing.
I walked down the hall, feeling like I was going to the executioner’s block.
There was a receptionist for the chief’s office along with the county attorney and the sheriff. I didn’t recognize her, which was just as well. This visit wasn’t something I wanted shared on social media.
She looked up expectantly. “Yes?”
“I need to see Chief Fowler.” I was amazed that my voice was steady.
“Do you have an appointment?”
I shook my head. “He’ll want to talk to me. Tell him it’s Roxy Constantine.”
The receptionist picked up her phone and dialed a number, turning away from me as she spoke.
Of course, I wasn’t absolutely sure Fowler would want to see me. Maybe he’d be too busy. Maybe he wasn’t interested. Maybe…
The receptionist glanced up at me. “Go on in. He’ll see you now.”
So much for hope. I opened the office door and stepped inside.
Fowler was sitting at his utilitarian, city-issued desk. He gazed up at me with that same unsmiling, inscrutable look he always seemed to wear. I wondered if he ever smiled. Probably not at people like me, people he suspected of murder.
I cleared my throat. “I have some things to tell you.”
He gestured to the chair in front of his desk. “Sit down, Ms. Constantine. I’ve been expecting you.”
That speech wasn’t reassuring at all. Did that mean he’d had his suspicions confirmed by other people? Was he expecting me to confess? I dropped into the chair, clutching my purse in my lap.
I wasn’t sure how to start, but getting to the point seemed like a good idea. “Brett Holmes was blackmailing me. Well, sort of. He was trying. He hadn’t actually succeeded.” I bit my lip.
Fowler had picked up his pen to take notes on a legal pad, but he put it down again. “What was he blackmailing you over?”
“We worked in the same restaurant in Denver a couple of years ago. It was a pretty famous place.” I gave him the name and paused, but Fowler shook his head. He didn’t look impressed.
“Oh, well, it’s been on TV. Anyway, I worked there for about six months. One night I was working late, and the chef who owned the place was there, too. He told me to help him out in the pantry, and when I got there he…” I ran through all the euphemisms I usually used: attacked, assaulted, jumped. Screw it, I was talking to a cop. “He tried to rape me. I managed to grab a can of tomatoes and I hit him in the head. It kind of stunned him, and I got out before he could pull himself together.”
Fowler had stopped writing for a moment. He stared at me. “Go on.”
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
What’s the first binge-worthy book you read and why was it a must-read?
Sara Smith’s The Vanished Child. The mystery at the center of the book—a murdered man and his apparently kidnapped grandson—keeps unfolding as the book goes on. Each solution seems impossible until it isn’t anymore.
What makes your featured book a binge-worthy read?
Roxy’s dealing with a rocky social life and a murder that seems to point straight at her. She needs to find the real murderer to restore her reputation in her beloved hometown, and she needs to find a way to deal with past trauma and start a new relationship with the yummy chef who wants more than her jams.
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $100 Amazon gift card.
Open internationally.
Runs August 1 – 31, 2024
Drawing will be held on September 2, 2024.
Author Biography:
Meg Benjamin is an award-winning author of romance and cozy mysteries. Meg’s Konigsburg series is set in the Texas Hill Country and her Salt Box and Brewing Love trilogies are set in the Colorado Rockies (all are available from Entangled Publishing and from Meg’s indie line). Her new cozy mystery series, Luscious Delights from Wild Rose Press, concerns a jam-making sleuth based in the mythical small town of Shavano, Colorado. Along with romance and cozies, Meg is also the author of the paranormal Ramos Family trilogy from Berkley InterMix and the Folk trilogy soon to be reissued through her indie line. Meg’s books have won numerous awards, including an EPIC Award, a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion from Virginia Romance Writers, the Beanpot Award from the New England Romance Writers, and the Award of Excellence from Colorado Romance Writers.
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Website: http://www.MegBenjamin.com/