Guest Post with Edith Maxwell

 Poison? Coming Right Up 

Thanks so much, Annette, for inviting me back to Writers Who Kill. That’s truly the best blog name for a group of mayhem-minded murder mavens. 

I’m so excited about Tuesday’s launch of Murder Uncorked, which is Cece Barton’s first full-length adventure. She’s managing a wine bar in the town where her twin sister and twin nephews live. Cece has bought herself a cottage, established a garden, and made friends with gardener and wise old man Richard next door (who is inspired by my favorite and still-thriving uncle Dick Reinhardt, now age 97).

But then a guy Cece has had unpleasant dealings with turns up dead, apparently not from natural causes.

Cece had already helped solve a murder in “Murderous Mittens,” my novella in the Christmas Mittens Murder collection. 

A quiet Christmas in Colinas, California, at her twin sister’s charming B&B is exactly what Cece Barton needs during the holiday hustle of Los Angeles. But the morning after a lovely evening at the local wine bar, Cece learns that the bar’s proprietor, who sells mittens in her spare time, has been found dead. With her horrified twin one of the main suspects, can Cece unmask the merry murderer before this becomes a holiday from hell? 

And then, well, the job of wine bar manager is open. Allie asks Cece, “Don’t you want to apply for the job and live in the same town as we do?” Cece adores her nephews and is close to Allie and her husband. It doesn’t take much to say “Yes.” 

The murder weapon in the novella had to have something to do with mittens, which was mandated by my editor. For the book, it was my choice how to kill the victim. 

I keep a running list of murder weapons I’ve used in previous books and stories. Garroting? Check. Same with sharpened knitting needles, malnourished pigs, a push off a cliff, giving someone, who is deathly allergic to seafood, broth made from…seafood. I’m writing my thirty-seventh novel and am weirdly proud to say I’ve never (fictionally) shot anyone. 

Still, poisons are my weapon of choice. But how to pick one? As I often do, I hauled out my collection of poison books.

I consulted my notes from several talks by the Poison Lady, aka Texas pharmacologist Luci Zahray. Many are the choices. Luci has lectured on commonly available drugs – Tylenol and alcohol are a deadly combo, for example. Tropical botanical toxins can come from plants or frogs. 

This book takes place north of San Francisco. I started thinking of poison plants that might grow in the area. Because I’m a native Californian, I remembered several plants native to the Golden State that can be deadly if ingested. I dug a little deeper and made my decision.

If you recognize those seed pods, keep it to yourself! No spoilers, please. 

Readers: What’s your experience with wine bars? Northern California? I’d love to send one US reader a signed copy of Murder Uncorked (ebook to commenters outside the US). 

As the manager of Vino y Vida Wine Bar in Colinas, Cecelia “Cece” Barton’s first Alexander Valley harvest is a whirlwind of activity. Her twin sister, Allie Halstead, who owns a nearby Victorian bed & breakfast, is accustomed to the hustle and bustle of peak tourist season. But Cece barely has a moment to enjoy her new home while juggling her responsibilities at the bar and navigating the sticky politics of the local wine association. Just when it seems things can’t grow any more intense, Colinas is rocked by a murder within the wine community . . . and Cece is identified as a possible suspect.

With her reputation and her livelihood on the line—and the Sonoma County deputy sheriff breathing down her neck—Cece has no choice but to uncork her own murder investigation. Tensions are already high in the valley, as a massive wildfire creeps toward Colinas, threatening homes, vineyards, and the vital tourist trade. And now, with a murderer on the loose, and Cece’s sleuthing exposing the valley’s bitterest old rivalries and secret new alliances, Colinas feels ready to pop. But with Allie’s help, Cece is determined to catch the killer and clear her name before everything she’s worked so hard for goes up in flames.

 

Maddie Day pens the Country Store Mysteries, the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, and the new Cece Barton Mysteries. As Agatha Award-winning author Edith Maxwell, she writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries and short crime fiction. Day/Maxwell lives with her beau and cat Martin north of Boston, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook. Find her at EdithMaxwell.com, wickedauthors.com, Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, and on social media:

 

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