THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: "A PINCH OF DEATH"

 

 

                                                            By Margaret S. Hamilton    

 

I originally wrote a much longer version of “Pinch of Death,” accompanied by a modified family recipe for turkey tetrazzini. When I reshaped the story for submission to Kings River Life, I focused on two varieties of wild mushrooms which appear at Easter time on Cape Cod: poisonous death caps, and black morels, which are edible.

 

Main character Beatrice “Bea” Rossi has spent twenty years building a take-out business in her in-laws’ former sub sandwich and pizza stand behind the Main Street shops in a Cape Cod town. She owns a thriving business in take-out dinners for summer visitors staying in rental cottages, plus customers from a growing year-round retirement community.

 

Bea has formed an unlikely but warm friendship with Emily Grayson, a well-to-do, long-time resident. Emily senses trouble when her grandson’s wife, Francesca, turns up, anxious to restart her television chef career on Cape Cod. Francesca is none other than Bea’s cousin Frankie, seeking fame and fortune. Bea suspects Frankie is up to no good, and that Emily is in danger. Bea is proven correct.

 

Much of the action takes place in Emily’s cedar-shingled traditional home overlooking Clam Pond, a sixty-two-acre saltwater estuary linking the pond via a river to the town harbor. The shoreline is dotted with docks, the houses on the surrounding hills surrounded by pine trees, with a small public beach at one end.

 

I infused many Cape Cod memories into the story. I worked in the kitchen of a seafood restaurant for three college summers. In addition to making salads and sandwiches and serving parfaits and slices of pie, I spent many hours whisking cornmeal into a simmering pot of milk for Indian pudding and neatly slicing loaves of cranberry and brown bread into serving sized pieces. I cut lard into huge containers of flour and salt for pie crust.

 

During my afternoon breaks on weekends, I swam in Clam Pond, floating in the warm saltwater while watching the sea and shorebirds. I knew many women like Bea—caterers, take-out shop and bakery owners, whose establishments featured quality, service, and family recipes.

 

Enjoy “A Pinch of Death” and a turkey tetrazzini casserole!

 

Readers, do you enjoy culinary stories with recipes? Writers, do you write culinary stories?

 

My family turkey tetrazzini recipe is on my website:

 

Home - The Official Website of Margaret S. Hamilton

 

A Pinch of Death, An Easter Mystery Short Story | Kings River Life Magazine