by Agatha Frost
BROWNIES AND BLOODSHED
THE PERIDALE CAFE COZY MYSTERY SERIES - BOOK 19
AGATHA FROST
CONTENTS
About This Book
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Also by Agatha Frost
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
Thank You!
Also by Agatha Frost
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Published by Pink Tree Publishing Limited in 2019
All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Copyright © Pink Tree Publishing Limited.
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
For questions and comments about this book, please contact [email protected]
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www.agathafrost.com
About This Book
Released: December 3rd 2019
Words: 61,000
Series: Book 19 - Peridale Cozy Café Mystery Series
Standalone: Yes
Cliff-hanger: No
Dot South and Percy Cropper are finally getting married! With a secret theme up their sleeves, the octogenarians are intent on making the day the most spectacular wedding Peridale has ever seen. They planned everything to the last detail, but they didn't prepare for Percy's cruel older brother's murder in the middle of the wedding reception.
The responsibility to solve Ian Cropper's murder falls on Julia South-Brown's shoulders, but her grandmother's ruined wedding isn't the only thing she has on her plate. Her bankrupt father, stepmother, and baby brother are living in her small cottage and wreaking havoc, her husband is heading down a surprising new career path, and to top it all off, she's ten-weeks pregnant and struggling with her mood and bladder.
The local gossips all point their fingers at Percy, but with the whole Cropper family in the village for the event, Julia has more than enough suspects to prove her new grandfather's innocence, even if she isn't the only one on the case. Who is the mysterious and handsome American sniffing around the village in the wake of Ian's murder, and can he be trusted? Everyone in the Cropper family has a clear motive for wanting Ian dead, but can Julia pinpoint the culprit before her newly gained family falls apart beyond repair?
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ALSO BY AGATHA FROST
(IN READING ORDER. LINKS TO AMAZON STORE. AVAILABLE IN EBOOK AND PAPERBACK FORMATS, OR TO READ FOR FREE THROUGH KINDLE UNLIMITED)
The Peridale Cafe Series
Book 1-10 Boxset
1. Pancakes and Corpses
2. Lemonade and Lies
3. Doughnuts and Deception
4. Chocolate Cake and Chaos
5. Shortbread and Sorrow
6. Espresso and Evil
7. Macarons and Mayhem
8. Fruit Cake and Fear
9. Birthday Cake and Bodies
10. Gingerbread and Ghosts
11.Cupcakes and Casualties
12. Blueberry Muffins and Misfortune
13. Ice Cream and Incidents
14. Champagne and Catastrophes
15. Wedding Cake and Woes
16. Red Velvet and Revenge
17. Vegetables and Vengeance
18. Cheesecake and Confusion
19. Brownies and Bloodshed
20. Cocktails and Cowardice
1
A fter a busy Saturday at her café, Julia South-Brown burst into her cottage, desperate for the bathroom. She tripped over a pair of high heels left in the middle of the doormat, catching herself on a side table covered in stacks of mail.
Julia straightened and her bladder begged her to ignore the mess and get to the bathroom. She dumped her keys and handbag on the letters and glanced down the hallway.
She sighed.
Floor-to-ceiling cardboard boxes lined the length of the hallway, their contents spilling out onto the floor. It would have been easier to ignore if Julia had caused the mess, but she hadn’t. It didn’t help that she had been waking up on the wrong side of the bed all week.
Stood between two high columns of cardboard, Julia rattled the bathroom doorknob, but it was locked from the inside.
“Barker?” Julia called. “Is that you in there?”
Her husband appeared from their bedroom, his new reading glasses perched on the end of his nose, holding a pregnancy book in one hand and an apple in the other. He took a bite of the latter before kissing Julia on the cheek, leaving behind a trace of the sweet apple juice.
“Nice day?” he asked, eyes barely leaving the book as he turned the page.
“Sort of,” Julia replied, crossing her legs and clenching. “Jessie almost burnt down the café by leaving kitchen roll next to the oven, but apart from that, it was an ordinary Peridale day. Who’s in the bathroom? I’m bursting.”
“That’ll be the baby,” Barker remarked, eyes still on the page. “Not in the bathroom, I mean. Your bladder. Since you’re around ten weeks, your liver is producing heightened levels of the hormones that cause frequent urination.” He took another bite of the apple. “And to answer your question about the bathroom, I’ve no idea. Your dad went out with Vinnie an hour ago, and Katie’s nail customers keep coming and going. I’ve been reading in the bedroom for most of the day.”
Julia’s father, Brian; his wife, Katie; and their son, Vinnie, had been living with Julia for most of the past month. A burglary at their former home, Peridale Manor, had triggered a chain of events leading them to the edge of bankruptcy. As Katie’s elderly father, Vincent Wellington, had died during the burglary drama, they had been forced to put the manor up for sale to stop debt from dragging them under.
That had been six weeks ago. The Wellington-Souths had spent the first two weeks living at Evelyn’s bed-and-breakfast since it cost less than the daily upkeep of the manor. Even though Evelyn’s fees were fair, Julia hadn’t liked thinking of them spending their little money on housing while they hunted for somewhere to rent.
Knowing about their financial difficulty, Julia had offered to let them move into her guest bedroom temporarily. It had once been Jessie’s bedroom, but their adopted daughter now lived in the flat above the post office next door to the café, and Julia and Barker wouldn’t need to turn it into a nursery for a while yet.
Initially, Brian’s pride made him refuse the invitation, but when Julia repeated the offer a fortnight into their B&B stay, he bit her hand off. Along with the amount of money it cost them to live in a B&B, fair prices notwithstanding, Brian also cited Evelyn’s insistence on giving all her guests tea readings in the morning and tarot readings in the evening as reasons to leave. Katie had enjoyed Evelyn
’s mysterious ways, but Brian wasn’t sure he could hear her predict they were ‘going through tremendous changes’ and would ‘find a new home soon’ one more time.
Julia switched her legs over, clenching even tighter as she knocked on the door again.
“Says here that our little one is about the size of a strawberry right now,” Barker read aloud, “and its size will double in the next three weeks alone.”
“Fascinating,” Julia said, hearing the bite in her voice as she knocked on the door again. “Sorry, the constantly needing to pee thing has turned me into a dragon lady, in Jessie’s words.”
“That will be the mood swings.” Barker turned the book to show her the list he was reading from. “I read earlier that the baby’s teeth buds are already growing under its gums. Have I told you that already?”
“Over breakfast.” The thought turned Julia’s stomach as much now as it had then. “Who’s in there?”
She knocked again, and this time the door opened. Her best friend, and local primary school teacher, Roxy Carter, appeared, white headphones firmly in her ears. She pulled one out with a smile, showing the nail foils on her hands.
“Sorry,” Roxy said as she wrapped up the headphones. “You know I have the fear of peeing in other people’s houses. The music helps.”
“Still?” Julia asked. “You did that when we were kids.”
“The headphones weren’t as tiny back then.” Roxy put them in her pocket. “Your stepmother accosted me outside the school today. Practically dragged me up here to do my nails, but she said it was half price tonight only.”
Julia should have expected it wouldn’t take long for Katie and Brian to spread their mess throughout the house. However, she still couldn’t come to grips with Katie running a makeshift nail salon in her dining room, causing an alarming number of Peridale locals to pass through her cottage. Katie hadn’t exactly asked for permission, but Julia wouldn’t have been able to say no if she had.
“She’s been telling everyone it’s half price,” Barker muttered through a mouthful of apple. “I can’t believe people are still falling for it.”
“Don’t you start.” Roxy’s eyes narrowed. “Nice glasses. Suit you.”
Julia couldn’t wait around to see Barker’s reaction to the heavy sarcasm in Roxy’s voice. She hurried into the bathroom, locking the door. When the sweet moment of relief came, a little of her prickly mood drained away with it.
Maybe Barker was right about the mood swings being a symptom of her current condition: they were out of character. Though she had bought the plethora of pregnancy books for herself, so far, Barker had been the one working his way through them while she couldn’t bring herself to pick one up. Not that she didn’t care about the baby’s development — she cared a lot — but something about how medical and specific the information was put her off. Even ten weeks in, she had yet to wrap her mind around the concept she was growing a life, and hearing that the strawberry-sized baby was developing teeth buds only made it feel more surreal.
While washing her hands, she wondered if she might have read one of the books if she wasn’t dealing with a full house. She was certainly more stressed since her guests had moved in. Not that she didn’t like their company, but she had only seen the chaos and disorder that surrounded them from afar until it crashed into her home. She had grown used to a little mess thanks to Jessie, but Brian, Katie, and Vinnie had taken mess to a whole new level.
“Do they make me look older?” Barker asked through the mirror in the hallway as he fiddled with the new round, thin-framed glasses. “I knew I should have gone for the contacts.”
“I like them.” Julia stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “They make you look even more handsome, and you only have to wear them for reading.”
“I know.” Barker pulled them off and slotted them into his top pocket. “Feeling better now?”
“Somewhat.” She rested her chin on his shoulder. “Sorry for being a moody witch these last few days.”
“I wouldn’t go as far as witch.” Barker smiled as he turned and slid his hands around her waist. “Maybe a little like a porcupine. It’s all part of the process, but nobody can blame you, considering what’s going on.” He paused and sighed. “How long will they be here, Julia?”
Julia’s urge to make peace was replaced by the sharp edges of her inner porcupine. She pulled away from her husband, tripping on the same pair of pink heels again. She kicked them towards the bigger pile that swallowed the shoe rack; Julia had given up the insurmountable task of straightening Katie’s vast shoe collection after the first few days.
“I don’t want to go over all this again,” Julia said, lowering her voice as she cast her eyes to the closed dining room door. “I can’t throw my family onto the streets.”
“But how long will they be here?” Barker matched her voice. “You said a couple of weeks, and it’s already been a month! They’re so used to having a maid follow them around, they’ve forgotten how to look after themselves like adults! I saw Katie kick a pair of socks under here the other day instead of just picking them up.” He bent down and retrieved a rolled-up pair of Vinnie’s tiny blue and green socks from under the hallway side table. “See! Who does that? Are they even looking for somewhere permanent to live?”
“I think so.” She glanced at the estate agent books amongst the mess on the side table behind Barker. “But the manor hasn’t sold yet, so they can barely scrape together the first month’s rent and a deposit, and then the estate agents take a chunk just for applying. Considering how bad their credit is, I’m not surprised they’re not finding anything.”
“It could take years for the manor to sell!” His voice bubbled up. “It’s June, and we will have a baby here before the year is over. We can’t bring a newborn into this.”
“I know.” She looked down at her feet. “They’ll be gone before then, I promise. They just need an injection of cash to get the ball rolling.”
Barker wrapped his arms around her, and as she melted against his chest, the fatigue he had warned her of washed over her. She had been drained and dizzy for most of the week, even without the added stress of the chaos in the cottage.
Before either of them could continue their conversation, the front door opened, and Brian pushed a screaming Vinnie over the doorstep. Julia loved her nineteen-month-old little brother with all her heart, but she had grown to resent the sound of his screams. People promised it would feel different when she had her own. She certainly hoped so, because the last month had put her off having a toddler in the house.
“Teething!” Brian called over the noise as he bent to unbuckle Vinnie from his pram. “Molars are finally coming through, and they seem to hurt more than the others.”
To demonstrate his pain, Vinnie thrashed out, kicking his tiny shoes and flailing his arms with more strength than someone so small should be capable of. He chanted, “No, no, no,” his new favourite word, over and over until Brian gave up, his face as red as Vinnie’s.
“I must have been stark raving mad to want to do this again at my age!” he cried, tripping over yet another pair of shoes as he backed away. “You girls were never like this.”
Julia crouched, and Vinnie calmed when he saw her face. For whatever reason, over this stay, Vinnie had decided he would act like an angel for Julia and no one else. When his breathing slowed, and his tears ceased, Julia unfastened his buckles and lifted him out of the pram. Even though she suspected her father wished she would keep hold of him, she passed Vinnie right over, and the performance erupted again.
“We all need to get ready.” Julia attempted to make eye contact with her father while Vinnie lashed from side to side like the girl from The Exorcist. “We’re all supposed to be at the Comfy Corner in half an hour for Gran and Percy’s meal.”
“Do you think she’ll notice if I don’t go?” Brian gave up and set Vinnie down on the floor. “I’ve had such a long day at the antiques barn.”
“It’s the ni
ght before your eighty-five-year-old mother’s wedding,” Julia snapped, her nostrils flaring. “Yes, she’ll notice. And it’s the first time we’re all meeting Percy’s family. You’re coming.”
Brian’s eyes shot wide open, and his cheeks prickled red. A second later, Julia heard the echo of her harshness. Gritting her jaw, she swallowed the flaming lump of irritation in her throat.
“Pregnancy mood swings,” Barker said softly from behind her.
The hot lump shot right back up, and even though she knew Barker was right and only trying to help, hearing ‘mood swings’ out loud made her want to mood swing all over the cottage.
Seconds away from exploding and letting everyone know exactly what was on her mind, through the open bedroom door, she caught Mowgli’s eyes peeking out from under her bed.
“Please, just get ready.”
When on the edge of her bed, Julia rested her elbows on her knees and ran her hands through her thick chocolatey curls. The early evening June sun streamed through the windows, but her mood couldn’t have been greyer. For months, if not years, she had looked forward to being pregnant, but she hadn’t expected it to be so testing. The mood swings had sunk right into the hole left behind by the terrible morning sickness that had consumed her life until a week ago. Considering how quickly she was reaching her snapping point with everyone, she would take the sickness back in a heartbeat.
“It’s just hormones,” Julia said to Mowgli as she scooped him up and into her lap. “It’ll pass.”
Mowgli, a fluffy grey Maine Coon, purred and allowed her to hold him like a baby, a recent development in their relationship. Since the Wellington invasion, Mowgli had forced himself into exile in the bedroom, with most of that time being spent under the safety of the bed. Julia had even moved his food and water bowls in, although thankfully, he was still using the cat litter tray in the dining room whenever Katie’s nail salon ceased trading for the day. Even though the abrupt change wasn’t fair to him, it had brought them even closer.