Murder Made to Order (All-Day Breakfast Cafe Mystery, Band 2) - Softcover

Gregory, Lena

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1516104668 ISBN 13: 9781516104666

Verlag: Lyrical Underground, 2018

Inhaltsangabe

To save her cozy Florida diner, Gia Morelli must choke down a heaping helping of murder . . .
 
New York native Gia Morelli is just getting used to life in Florida when she gets word that the town government wants to shut down her pride and joy: the charming little diner known as the All-Day Breakfast Café. A forgotten zoning regulation means that the café was opened illegally, and hardboiled council president Marcia Steers refuses to budge. Gia is considering hanging up her apron and going back to New York, but before she gives up on her dream, she discovers something shocking in the local swamp: Marcia Steers, dead in the water. There’s a secret buried in the books at town hall, and someone killed to keep it hidden. To save her café and bring a killer to justice, Gia and her friends will have to figure out a killer’s recipe for murder . . .

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Lena Gregory lives in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island with her husband and three children. When she was growing up, she spent many lazy afternoons on the beach, in the yard, anywhere she could find to curl up with a good book. She loves reading as much now as she did then, but she now enjoys the added pleasure of creating her own stories. She is also the author of the Bay Island Psychic Mystery series, published by Berkley. Please visit her website at www.lenagregory.com.

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Murder Made To Order

An All-Day Breakfast Café Mystery

By Lena Gregory

KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

Copyright © 2018 Lena Gregory
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-5161-0466-6

CHAPTER 1

"Fools!" Savannah Mills swiveled back and forth on a stool at the All-Day Breakfast Café counter and tapped a steady rhythm against the butcher-block countertop with her long, powder blue nails. "Every last one of them."

Gia Morelli scrubbed the already spotless counter one more time for good measure, then flung the dishcloth into a bin beneath the counter, the steady rat-a-tat-tat of Savannah's rhythmic drumming making it almost impossible to think straight. "What I don't get is how they think they can get away with this?"

Earl snorted. The elderly man, who'd been the All-Day Breakfast Café's first customer, and had since become a friend, had made a habit of arriving at the café before they opened and lingering over coffee until Gia officially unlocked the door and started cooking. "The council members are so used to doing whatever they want with no opposition they're like a pack of spoiled brats."

"Yeah, well, not this time." Gia checked the clock — just about time to open. She rounded the counter and headed for the door. "No way I'm giving up everything I've worked for because that bunch found some antiquated zoning mistake."

"How are you going to get around it, though?" Earl asked.

"I have no idea. Yet." Gia unlocked the door, then dragged the chalkboard with the day's specials out onto the sidewalk and set it up. She looked up and down Main Street. Winter in Boggy Creek was certainly milder than the harsh bite of winter in New York, and yet there was something inside her, a small niggle of homesickness, that missed the change of seasons. Still ... If she was going to give everything up and go back to New York, it would be on her terms, not because she was forced out. She strode back into the café more determined than ever to fight the council's rulings. "Did your brother get back to you yet, Savannah?"

She shook her head. "He still hasn't heard back from his lawyer friend. Of course, you did only get the letter last night."

Gia resisted the urge to argue. Savannah was right. She hadn't gotten the mail until after closing yesterday, and it was barely six o'clock in the morning now. Savannah's brother, Tommy, who also sat on the town council, would call as soon as he heard something. Until then ...

Willow, the young woman who served as hostess, waitress, and cashier, breezed through the door, her usual smile firmly in place. "Good morning."

"Morning." Earl nodded.

Willow slowed, taking in the three of them. "Is something wrong?"

Gia sighed. Not like she wasn't going to find out anyway. Heck, half of Boggy Creek had probably already heard, and the remainder of the residents would know everything within an hour of the shops on Main Street opening. "I received a letter from the town council. They're closing the café."

Willow's mouth fell open.

Savannah spun her stool toward Gia. "Oh, stop being dramatic, Gia. They're not closing the café, exactly, they're just ..."

Gia lifted a brow and waited.

"Oh, all right. So they're trying to close the café, but they aren't going to get away with it."

"No, they're not. But I need to know why they're trying before I can figure out how to fight them." And that was the problem. The letter only asked her to willingly close the café, said it had been brought to their attention that the historic building that housed the café and the small apartment above it had never been zoned commercial. Instead, it was the only building on Main Street that was still zoned residential.

"Could be it's a mistake," Savannah offered.

"I guess." Gia shrugged.

Earl sipped his coffee, then lowered his mug to the counter. "Of course, yours is the last shop on the block, and the area of town past it is zoned residential."

Gia just looked at him.

"What?" he said innocently. "I know how to use Google."

Earl had quickly become a close friend. He'd believed in her when a lot of other people hadn't, and she cherished his friendship. "When did you find out about the letter?"

"Last night." His cheeks reddened. "One of my sons might have called."

Well, at least the Boggy Creek rumor mill was still up and running. Truth be told, he'd probably known before she had. Since she was always stuck in the kitchen, it had been late before she'd gotten the mail. Then she'd had to feed and walk Thor before she finally found time to open the letter. "But why did the letter ask me to close? They could have said they wanted to discuss the matter or offered advice on how to change the zoning, anything. Something."

Savannah and Earl glanced at each other, a quick, passing look, but something definitely simmered just beneath the surface.

"Okay, spill it. What don't I know?"

"Weeell ..." Savannah looked at Earl once more, then returned her attention to Gia. "Do you know who any of the council members are?"

"No. Well, other than your brother, which I only found out last night. Oh, and the president, Marcia something, is it? Whoever signed the letter." Between running the café, unpacking and putting everything away at the house, and taking care of Thor, she didn't have time to worry about who sat on the town council. "I get a newsletter from them every month, but honestly, I usually just chuck it in the trash."

"Yeah, well, you probably should have paid closer attention," Savannah said.

"Why's that?"

"Maybelle sits on the council."

"Are you kidding me?" Great. Just what she needed, an enemy on the council. "How could someone that lazy —"

The front door opened, and an older couple walked in.

Gia plastered on a smile and went to greet them. She'd have to try to sort everything out later. "Good morning."

"Hello," the man answered and glanced at Earl. "Hey there, Earl."

Earl stood and extended a hand. "Harry. How are you?"

"Good, good." He shook Earl's hand, then stepped back and gestured toward the woman Gia assumed was his wife. "Theresa and I figured we'd check out the breakfast you're always raving about."

"Well, you won't be disappointed." Earl winked at Gia. "This here's Gia, and she makes a mean breakfast."

"Nice to meet you, Gia."

"It's a pleasure to meet both of you." She grabbed two menus. "Can I show you to a table?"

After settling them with coffee and their menus, Gia retreated to the kitchen. She grabbed tongs and moved a few slices of bacon and sausage from the warming trays to the grill, then started scrambling three eggs.

Maybelle Sanford. It figured. That woman was destined to be a thorn in her side. She'd only worked — to use the term loosely — at the café for a day, and yet she kept coming back to haunt her. Since Maybelle had accused Gia of murder last time she'd seen her, it was hard not to jump to the conclusion she had something to do with the zoning fiasco. And yet ...

Gia had been ready to fire Maybelle for being so lazy. Useless as a steering wheel on a mule according to Savannah. That being the case, it was hard to believe Maybelle had found the ambition to search for a way to close the café.

Gia dismissed any thought of Maybelle. Nothing she could do about it right now anyway, and all it was doing was aggravating her. She'd have to wait until Tommy called Savannah back. If not for his wife having their first baby last month, he'd have been at the...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Lyrical Underground
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2018
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1516104668
• ISBN 13: 9781516104666
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 196
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Europaallee 1; Bad Hersfeld; 36244; Deutschland