Deck the Halls with Fudge
Page 1
MOUTHWATERING PRAISE FOR NANCY COCO’S CANDY-COATED MYSTERIES
Oh Say Can You Fudge
“Beautiful Mackinac Island provides the setting for a puzzling series of crimes. Now that Allie McMurphy has taken over her grandparents’ hotel and fudge shop, life on Mackinac is good, although her little dog, Mal, does tend to nose out trouble.... Allie’s third offers plenty of plausible suspects and mouth watering fudge recipes.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“WOW. This is a great book. I loved the series from the beginning and this book just makes me love it even more. No one can make me feel like I am in Mackinac Island better than Nancy Coco. She draws the reader in and makes you feel like you are part of the story. I cannot wait to read more. FANTASTIC is the only thing I can say further about this book.”
—Bookschellves.com
To Fudge or Not to Fudge
“To Fudge or Not to Fudge is a superbly-crafted, classic, culinary cozy mystery. If you enjoy them as much as I do, you are in for a real treat. The setting of Mackinac Island immediately drew me to the book as it is an amazing location. The only problem I had with the book was reading about all the mouth-watering fudge made me hungry.”
—Examiner.com (5 stars)
“We LOVED it! This mystery is a vacation between the pages of a book. If you’ve never been to Mackinac Island, you will long to visit, and if you have, the story will help you to recall all of your wonderful memories.”
—Melissa’s Mochas, Mysteries and Meows
“A five-star delicious mystery that has great characters, a good plot and a surprise ending. If you like a good mystery with more than one suspect and a surprise ending, then rush out to get this book and read it, but be sure you have the time since once you start you won’t want to put it down. I give this 5 Stars and a Wow Factor of 5+. The fudge recipes included in the book all sound wonderful. I am thinking that a gift basket filled with the fudge from the recipes in this book, along with a copy of the book, some hot chocolate mix and/or coffee, and a nice mug would be a great Christmas gift.”
—Mystery Reading Nook
“A charming and funny culinary mystery that parodies reality show competitions and is led by a sweet heroine, eccentric but likable characters, and a skillfully crafted plot that speeds towards an unpredictable conclusion. Allie stands out as a likable and engaging character. Delectable fudge recipes are interspersed throughout the novel.”
—Kings River Life
All Fudged Up
“A sweet treat with memorable characters, a charming locale, and satisfying mystery.”
—Barbara Allan, author of the Trash ‘n’ Treasures mysteries
“A fun book with a lively plot, and it’s set in one of America’s most interesting resorts. All this plus fudge!”
—JoAnna Carl, author of the Chocoholic mysteries (NAL)
“A sweet confection of a book. Charming setting, clever protagonist, and creamy fudge—a yummy recipe for a great read.”
—Joanna Campbell Slan, author of The Scrap-N-Craft Mysteries and The Jane Eyre Chronicles
“Nancy Coco’s All Fudged Up is a delightful mystery delivering suspense and surprise in equal measure. Her heroine, Alice McMurphy, owner of the Historic McMurphy Hotel and Fudge Shop (as much of a mouthful as her delicious fudge), has a wry narrative voice that never falters. Add that to the charm of the setting, Michigan’s famed Mackinac Island, and you have a recipe for enjoyment. As an added bonus, mouth-watering fudge recipes are included. A must-read for all lovers of amateur sleuth classic mysteries.”
—Carole Bugge, author of Who Killed Blanche Dubois?and other Claire Rawlings mysteries
“You won’t have to ‘fudge’ your enthusiasm for Nancy Coco’s first Mackinac Island Fudge Shop Mystery. Indulge your sweet tooth as you settle in and meet Allie McMurphy, Mal the bichon/poodle mix, and the rest of the motley crew in this entertaining series debut.”
—Miranda James
“The characters are fun and well-developed, the setting is quaint and beautiful, and there are several mouth-watering fudge recipes”
—RT Book Reviews (3 stars)
“Enjoyable . . . ALL FUDGED UP is littered with delicious fudge recipes, including alcohol-infused ones. I really enjoyed this cozy mystery and look forward to reading more in this series.”
—Fresh Fiction
“Cozy mystery lovers who enjoy quirky characters, a great setting and fantastic recipes will love this debut.”
—The Lima News
“The first Candy-Coated mystery is a fun cozy due to the wonderful location filled with eccentric characters.”
—Midwest Book Review
The Candy-Coated Mystery Series by Nancy Coco
ALL FUDGED UP
TO FUDGE OR NOT TO FUDGE
OH SAY CAN YOU FUDGE
ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS FUDGE
ALL YOU NEED IS FUDGE
OH, FUDGE!
Available from Kensington Publishing Corp.
DECK THE HALLS WITH FUDGE
A Candy-Coated Mystery Novella
Nancy Coco
KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.
www.kensingtonbooks.com
All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.
Table of Contents
MOUTHWATERING PRAISE FOR NANCY COCO’S CANDY-COATED MYSTERIES
The Candy-Coated Mystery Series by Nancy Coco
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Teaser chapter
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.
KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2017 by Nancy J. Parra
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
First Electronic Edition: November 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4967-1610-1
For Thomas, who was my fudge tester all his life.
Chapter 1
“Douglas, have you seen the box with the mixing bowls?” I dug through the other boxes marked kitchen. It wasn’t easy being a newlywed at my age, but love finds you even if you aren’t looking.
“Check the box under the tall table by the fridge,” Douglas called from the next room.
My name is Frances. Douglas and I work for Allie McMurphy at the Historic McMurphy Hotel and Fudge Shop. I’ve worked at the McMurphy ever since I retired from teaching. Douglas is also a retired teacher. I find it strange that we hadn’t met until Allie McMurphy hired him on as her new handyman.
It was love at first sight. We married after only knowing each other a few months. When you are in your seventies, there is not a day you want to waste.
We had just moved into a new home. My condo was too small and Douglas’s old house was too big. Mackinac Island had many wonderful old homes, but finding the perfect size for a couple of senior citizens was tough. It helped that Douglas was a handyman. It meant we could get a fixer-upper.
The c
ottage had a galley kitchen with a floor-to-ceiling double window. We had placed a bar-height table there to add to the counter top space until Douglas could redo the kitchen.
I pulled the box out from under the table and paused to enjoy the view from the window. We lived up on a hill that allowed us to see the Straits of Mackinac. It was December and the entire island was filled with snow. People had Christmas lights and decorations up. It was a gorgeous winter wonderland.
“I’m liking the view,” Douglas said as he came up behind me and put his arms around me.
“It’s the perfect little house,” I agreed and leaned back into his embrace. “Look, you can see a sleigh. It’s like a postcard.”
We watched as a horse-drawn sled meandered down the side of the island. Then the most astonishing . . . most malicious thing I’d ever seen occurred. Someone fell from the sleigh and was run over, but the sleigh kept going.
“Did you see that?” I said.
Douglas was already heading to get his coat and hat. “Call 9-1-1.”
“I will.” I picked up the house phone and dialed the number.
“9-1-1, what is your emergency?”
“Hi, Charlene, this is Frances Devaney.”
“Hello, Frances; congrats on your wedding.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I want to report what might be an accident.”
“What do you mean, might be?” she asked.
Douglas kissed me on the cheek and went out into the snow.
“We were watching a sleigh going down the street when it looked like someone fell out. The sleigh ran them over and then just kept going.”
“Oh, that’s not good. Where are you?”
“I’m at our new home. The Baltimore bungalow. We could see the sleigh going down the street. Douglas is going out now to see if he can help the person who fell.”
“I’ve got the ambulance going out that way,” Charlene said.
“Great,” I said. “I’m putting on my coat and going out there.”
“It’s dark,” Charlene warned me. “Take a flashlight.”
“I will,” I said and hung up.
By the time I got my boots and coat and hat and gloves and a flashlight, I could see the lights from the ambulance outside on the street below. Mackinac Island had a ban on cars and trucks. The only vehicles that were not horse-drawn were the ambulance and the fire truck. Those were state of the art.
Charlene was right. It was dark and only 5 p.m. I trudged through the snow, following in Douglas’s footsteps. When I reached the site, I saw a man pressed into a snowbank, sleigh tracks over his back and legs. He was perfectly still.
“Oh, dear,” I said. Douglas stepped away from Officer Rex Manning.
“The man’s dead,” Douglas said. “I didn’t move him once I could tell there was no pulse.”
“Did the sleigh run away on him?” I wondered. “It didn’t look like the horses were spooked.”
“No,” Douglas said and put his arms around me. “He has been dead a while.”
“Wait, someone put a dead man on a sleigh and just let the horses go?”
“It appears that way,” Douglas said.
“That’s gruesome,” I said and put my mitten-covered hand to my mouth. “Do we know who was killed?”
“They’re getting ready to turn the body over,” Douglas said. “I don’t want you to watch.”
“But if we can help identify him . . .”
“Rex will let us know if he needs help in the identity of the body. I’d rather you didn’t have to see a dead man’s face. These things stay with you for life.”
“I know that Allie has seen a few dead people lately,” I said. “I think it has changed her. She doesn’t seem as carefree as she was when she first arrived on the island.”
“I didn’t know her until after she had found her first dead man,” Douglas said. “But she always seems so determined to find the killer. She has nearly destroyed herself in the process of investigating. I don’t want that for you, my love.”
“Oh you are so dear,” I said and put my hands on his cheeks and kissed him full on the mouth in front of all the first responders. Douglas was my man and I wasn’t afraid to show the world.
“It’s Warren Engle,” Rex Manning said as he came up behind Douglas. “It looks like he was hit with a blunt object. It’s up to the medical examiner, but I think he was dead for at least an hour before he was put into the sleigh. Did you see anyone else in the sleigh with him?”
“No,” I said with a shake of my head. I turned to Douglas. “Did you see anyone else?”
“No. We were really too far to see more than the sleigh as it was going down the street. It sort of hit a bump and the body fell out and the sleigh ran him over.”
“Did anyone find a runaway sleigh? That might tell you whose sleigh it was and where it might have started out.”
“No,” Rex said and ran a hand over his bald head. Rex Manning was the chief of the local police department and its lead investigator. He was about thirty years younger than us—maybe forty. It gets hard to tell age. To us, everyone looks young. But I knew he was handsome, with an action-hero sort of look that had all the girls—even the older ones—looking his way. “It’s odd. But it seems that once you called the ambulance, the sleigh disappeared off the road. There are no signs that it went off into the snowbanks. It’s almost as if it was being driven into town and put away. But you two didn’t see anyone driving?”
“No,” I said. “I didn’t see anyone driving and I tried to see if there was anyone or if the team just went rogue and ran him over.”
“Warren Engle; isn’t he a banker at First Island Bank and Trust?”
“Yeah,” Rex said and rubbed his face, as if perplexed. “He doesn’t own a sleigh or horses.”
“Warren Engle; isn’t he Leigh Ann Engle’s stepson?” I asked. I’d known Leigh Ann since high school. She had married Bruce Engle after his first wife died and spent her entire life as a devoted mother and wife. She never had kids of her own but was very good with Bruce’s boys.
“Yes,” Rex said. “Do you know her well?”
“Fairly well. I got to know Leigh Ann when I had her boys in fifth grade. If I recall, they were a couple of years apart. I’ve been busy lately and have only seen Leigh Ann at a few of my charity functions.”
“I’ll be seeing her tonight with some bad news,” Rex said. He looked stern but a little sad. “But first I need to contact Warren’s wife, Emma.”
“I’ll go see Leigh Ann in the morning and let her know she has support.”
“Thank you,” Rex said. “I’d appreciate that.”
“Are you going to tell Allie about tonight?” I asked.
“Allie McMurphy doesn’t need to be involved in another murder,” Rex said. “Please keep her out of it.”
“I have to let her know why I’m going to miss some work tomorrow.”
“I imagine everyone will know by morning,” Douglas said. He nodded his head in the direction of Main Street. “Looks like Liz McElroy is heading this way.”
Liz was a friend of Allie’s and the island’s local reporter. When Liz got ahold of a story, the entire island knew all the details within hours. Liz loved shining a light on the facts.
“Crud,” Rex said and turned toward Liz while speaking to us. “You two get on home now. Do me a favor and talk to Liz in the morning. I need a few hours of investigation time before this story breaks.”
Douglas nodded solemnly and put his arm through mine. “We’ll let you do your job, son.”
“Let us know if you need any further information,” I said. “You have our number.”
“Thank you,” Rex said, and he walked away from us and toward Liz.
“That boy has his hands full of curious women,” Douglas said as we turned to go back up to our cabin.
“Are you saying I’m nosy?” I asked.
“Not you, dear,” he said. “But between Allie and Liz and Allie’s friend Jenn, there’s a lo
t of amateurs with their fingers in that man’s professional pie.”
“Maybe he needs some help from amateurs,” I said with a bit of indignation. “Sometimes a well-meaning investigation can help, you know.”
“I didn’t mean for you to take that personally, my love.” Douglas patted my arm. “I only meant that it seems there are many amateur sleuths on the island these days. It has to make things difficult for a professional to do his job.”
“And I’m saying that everyone is simply trying to help. I don’t see how that’s bad.”
“Let’s go home, dear,” Douglas said, giving up on his position. “It’s time to settle in for bed. It seems we will have a busy day tomorrow.”
“Yes,” I said. “Poor Leigh Ann. I’ll make her my best casserole. People need support when they lose a loved one, you know.”
“Yes,” Douglas said. “On that we can agree.”
I was glad that at least on that point we could agree. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day indeed.
Chapter 2
The next morning was a bit chaotic. I put the casserole in the oven and headed over to the McMurphy, where I worked as the general manager. I’d taken the position of reservations manager and desk manager and finally general manager after Liam McMurphy’s wife, Alice, died some years ago. I liked working for Liam. He was a hands-off boss. He was more interested in fudge making and story-telling than the business side of the hotel.
I liked working the business. I liked crunching the numbers and doing the marketing and greeting customers who came back year after year to spend a week or two or maybe just a weekend at the inn. I liked seeing the rooms fill up after I ran a marketing campaign. Liam had let me do whatever I wanted when it came to the hotel part of the McMurphy.