by Morgana Best
We patiently waited until Mongrel had his fill of box-related violence. Once he had, I set the wind-up mouse toy on the floor and let it go. Mongrel watched it for a moment before leaping and landing directly on top of it, attacking it even more viciously than anything he’d attacked before—and that was quite a high bar.
Fluff from the mouse toy was immediately spread all over the house, like some kind of plushy murder scene. I was glad that I’d never had an actual mouse problem here, though I suspected that was because mice probably stayed well clear of Mongrel, and they most certainly would after this demonstration.
I decided that I’d have to open the other presents on Mongrel’s behalf, or we’d be waiting all night for him. The other gifts were all simple, though thoughtful. There were several kinds of cat treats and small toys, ensuring that Mongrel would have plenty to do for the foreseeable future. He was too busy murdering what little remained of his mouse toy to notice his other presents, though I was sure he’d enjoy them once he got around to it.
“He’s very cute,” Paula said, watching Mongrel rip the head off his clearly deceased mouse toy. “Well, mostly. I didn’t really believe that he could have fended off an attacker until I saw him, uh, ‘play’,” she said in a concerned tone. “Now, though, I’m surprised that Todd survived the attack at all.”
“He’s a great guard cat,” I explained. “If I’m ever burgled, I’m much more concerned for the burglar.”
“Why is he so calm now?” Paula asked as Mongrel tore what little of the mouse toy was left into tiny shreds. “Well, relatively calm. Why isn’t he attacking us?”
“It’s rope that sets him off,” I explained with a shrug. “Something about his previous owner. If he sees rope, it sends him into a frenzy, which is something I’d recommend you avoid seeing. Nobody got him anything rope-related, did they?” I asked, suspiciously eyeing the pile of presents, a small handful of which I noticed were still unopened. Everybody assured me that they hadn’t, which relieved me immensely. I loved Mongrel, and I wanted to make sure he was as relaxed as possible, especially when we were celebrating. Though I supposed he didn’t look too relaxed as he began to chew on the mouse toy’s eyeballs.
“Do they give medals to cats?” Carl asked.
“I hope not,” I admitted. “I can’t imagine Mongrel at any kind of ceremony. Imagine someone trying to give him a medal! He’d probably cause irreparable harm. Especially if it was on a rope.” I shuddered.
“Well, it was good of you to hold a party for him,” Paula said, laughing. “I have to admit that it seemed a bit ridiculous to me, but he really does seem happy.”
I smiled at Paula, and then looked at Mongrel. He’d abandoned the mouse toy’s remains in favor of batting at a spot of light he’d discovered on the floor.
I was glad Mongrel was now part of my life, and, it seemed, so was Borage. All’s well that ends well, I thought, although Todd Cambridge had not come to a good end. When he recovered from his surgeries, he would be sent to jail. I looked up to see Borage smiling at me, and I considered that my life was perfect after all.
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Next book in this series
Murder Sweetly Served
Book THREE, the next book in the Cocoa Narel Chocolate Shop Mysteries series.
Narel caters for a retirement party for an advertising executive, who dies as soon as he takes a bite out of one of her cakes. Narel is at once the detectives’ main suspect.
Can Mongrel, Narel’s cranky cat, save Narel from the clutches of the police, given that he has saved her in the past?
How will Borage, Narel’s crush, react when the evidence against Narel mounts?
Other Books by Morgana
Live and Let Diet (The Australian Amateur Sleuth Book 1)
Sybil Potts moves to Little Tatterford, a small town in the middle of nowhere in Australia, seeking to find peace and quiet after the upheaval of her divorce.
Although the town is sleepy and nothing has ever happened, her arrival coincides with a murder in the property adjacent to her cottage. Sybil soon finds she is at odds with the attractive Blake Wessley, the exasperated police officer who is trying to solve the murder.
After Sibyl narrowly misses becoming the next victim, she turns her attention to the suspects. Is it the English gentleman, Mr. Buttons, who serves everyone tea and cucumber sandwiches, or her landlord, Cressida Upthorpe, who is convinced that her fat cat, Lord Farringdon, speaks to her? Or is it someone else entirely?
Miss Spelled (The Kitchen Witch Book 1)
Amelia Spelled has had a bad week. Her boyfriend dumps her when she inadvertently gives him food poisoning; her workplace, a telecommunications center, fires all their staff as they are outsourcing offshore, and she is evicted due to smoke damage resulting from her failed attempts at baking. Amelia thinks her luck has changed when she inherits her aunt’s store and beautiful Victorian house.
Yet has Amelia jumped out of the frying pan into the fire? The store is a cake store, and her aunt was a witch. To add to the mix, the house has secrets all of its own.
When a man is murdered in the cake store, will Amelia be able to cook up a way to solve the crime? Will her spells prove as bad as her baking?
A Ghost of a Chance (Witch Woods Funeral Home Book 1)
Nobody knows that Laurel Bay can see and talk to ghosts. When she inherits a funeral home, she is forced to return from the city to the small town of Witch Woods to breathe life into the business. It is a grave responsibility, but Laurel is determined that this will be no dead-end job.
There she has to contend with her manipulative and overly religious mother, more than one ghost, and a secretive but handsome accountant.
When the murder of a local woman in the funeral home strangles the finances, can Laurel solve the murder?
Or will this be the death of her business?
Christmas Spirit (The Middle-aged Ghost Whisperer Book 1)
Prudence Wallflower tours the country, making live appearances. She connects people with loved ones who have passed on. However, her reputation as a psychic medium is failing, and even Prudence has begun to doubt herself. She has never seen a ghost, but receives impressions from the dead. This all changes when the ghost of a detective appears to her and demands her help to solve a murder. Prudence finds herself out of her depth, and to make matters worse, she is more attracted to this ghost than any man she has ever met.
About the Author
#1 Best-selling Cozy Mystery author, Morgana Best, lives in a sunny beachside town in Australia. She is owned by one highly demanding, rescued cat who is half Chinchilla, another rescue cat with a bizarre story, and two less demanding dogs, a chocolate Labrador and a rescued Dingo, as well as two rescued Dorper sheep, the ram, Herbert, and his wether friend, Bertie. She is the Director of an animal rescue charity.
A Note from the Author
Thank you for reading this book. I hope you enjoyed it.
All my books are edited by two separate editing firms, but no one is infallible. If you happen to find a typo, please email me at morganabest (at) outlook (dot) com. Thank you!
Recipe
Red Wine Chocolate Mousse
Serving size: 2 serves (or 1 Narel-sized serve!)
Ingredients.
2 cup chocolate pieces (I use 90% cocoa)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar (or maple sugar or coconut sugar)
2 cup heavy cream (or coconut cream)
1 cup red dessert wine
Instructions
Use a double boiler, but if you don’t have one, simply place a bowl over a large bowl wi
th hot water in it.
Heat on medium-low heat and add the chocolate, along with the dessert wine, sugar, and water sugar to the bowl.
Stir slowly and until the sugar has dissolved and the chocolate has melted.
Remove from heat.
Place the bowl with the melted chocolate mixture in it over another bowl that is half filled with ice water.
Beat the chocolate, sugar, and red wine mixture with a hand beater until it becomes smooth and thick. Leave the bowl over the ice water to cool.
Beat the cream until stiff peaks form. This will take 4-6 minutes. These need to be stiff peaks, but don’t make butter!
Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate, red wine, and sugar mixture until no streaks remain.
Now you can eat it! Yum!
Table of Contents
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
Chapter 25
Connect with Morgana
Next Book in this Series
Other books by Morgana Best
About Morgana Best
A Note from the Author
Recipe