“Nah… I knew she wasn’t the real killer and that the truth would come out in the end,” Seth said.
Millie scrunched up her face. “You expect us to believe that? You said you were going to bring her in for questioning. Why, I bet you were about to arrest her when we called telling you we’d caught the real killer. Without us you might have arrested the wrong person for the murder.”
“Yeah,” my mother said. “You needed us to put it all together for you. We don’t mind doing it this time, but next time I hope you’ll be able to do some of the work yourself. I mean, you can’t expect us to solve all the murders that happen in this town, can he, Josie?”
“I’m sure Sheriff Chamberlain can do just fine without our help.”
Seth was taking it all in his stride. A movement behind him caught my eye. Nero and Marlowe were skulking around the edges of the tent, heading toward the town docks.
It had been kind of fun figuring out who had killed Bob, but I hoped we wouldn’t have another murder in town anytime soon. We hadn’t totally figured it all out on our own, either. I was starting to realize that we’d had a little non-human help. As if sensing my thoughts, Nero turned and looked right at me.
Yep, I was sure we’d gotten more than a little help from the cats. But I couldn’t very well tell anyone that, now could I?
“Too bad the humans will never realize the key role we played in helping them find the killer,” Nero said as they trotted past the tents on their way to the bait wharf.
“I don’t know, I think Josie has an idea. I mean, she must have figured out that I was hanging on to Earl’s leg for a reason,” Marlowe said. “But I suppose she can’t very well go around telling people that her cats helped her solve a murder.”
They rounded the side of the harbormaster’s station and proceeded straight to the bait wharf. All the other cats were lounging around by the lobster traps. No fish scraps this time, Nero noted with disappointment. Maybe they could persuade Josie and Millie to give them some morsels from the cheese sculpture later.
“Louie Two Paws tells me the case against Earl is pretty much tied up,” Harry said. His police informant—a double-pawed Siamese—always had interesting and invaluable information from the station.
“Yep. I think we did well,” Nero said as he hopped onto a lobster trap.
“And finally Josie is starting to realize that it pays to listen to us,” Marlowe noted, flopping down in the sun.
“And the confession I overheard?” Juliette asked.
“That was Carla. She wanted to cleanse her soul in regards to her sneaky plan to take over the company,” Nero said.
“But it’s all worked out because now Doris, Carla and Paula will run the company. Since Earl was embezzling most of the money, the company’s financial situation isn’t as dire as they thought,” Marlowe said.
“They can get the company back on track and it’s all thanks to us,” Boots preened.
“Right,” Stubbs said. “By catching Earl, we exposed his embezzling and saved the company.”
“And we cleared Flora,” Nero said. “You know, I knew her shoes smelled like something burnt. At first I suspected it had something to do with all the breads Josie was burning. Turns out she was rooting around in Earl’s fireplace for what she thought was a treasure map.”
“Who knew she was actually listening to the argument we overheard between Bob and Earl that day in the hallway? I thought she was dusting,” Marlowe said.
“Sometimes things are not always as you think,” Nero said wisely. The truth was that he also had thought Flora was just dusting but he wanted to make it seem like he knew more.
“And that also explains why the dirt on the table in the foyer smelled so familiar,” Marlowe said.
Juliette frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Earl claimed he wasn’t wearing the Ferragamo shoes that Paula saw the night of the murder. He produced a pair of mud-caked Nikes to prove it.”
“But it turned out the dirt on the Nikes was from the pot of the ficus tree in the conservatory,” Nero added. “When Earl was accused, he snuck down to the conservatory and dirtied his sneakers. The dirt was still on the table in the foyer where he’d presented them to Sheriff Chamberlain. I just wish we’d sniffed that one out sooner. Could have cracked the case earlier.”
“Well, the important thing is that we did crack the case,” Poe said.
“Yep. And Josie even has a full house of guests next week and more money for renovations.” Nero watched a lobster boat motoring out of the narrow mouth of the cove on its way to the open ocean. “There is something odd about the new guests.”
Juliette sat up, her interest piqued. “Odd? How?”
“They seemed unusually interested in assuring themselves that the Oyster Cove Guesthouse was the guesthouse where Jedediah’s skeleton was found,” Nero said.
“Why would they want to do that?” Stubbs asked.
“One reason,” Harry said. “They’re interested in ghosts.”
“But there is no ghost,” Marlowe pointed out.
Nero shrugged. “I guess they will discover that in due time. For now, Josie has a full roster of bookings and that’s what counts.”
Poe plopped down on the warm ground. “And now we can rest.”
“I will miss having guests with cheese,” Marlowe said. “But hopefully the next guests will be able to keep from killing each other.”
Boots looked down his long whiskers at Marlowe with an expression that indicated she had a lot to learn. “I wouldn’t be too sure about that. Josie doesn’t have a very good track record in the murder department. And if recent history is any indication, we may need to keep a close eye on the next batch of guests.”
There’s more to come in the Oyster Cove Guesthouse series! Nero and Marlowe’s next case is their most mysterious by far… but can they help Josie decipher the clues in time? Sign up here for more Leighann Dobbs!
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Books by Leighann Dobbs
The Oyster Cove Guesthouse (Cat Cozy Mystery Series)
A Twist in the Tail
A Whisker in the Dark
Mystic Notch (Cat Cozy Mystery Series)
Ghostly Paws
A Spirited Tail
A Mew to a Kill
Paws and Effect
Probable Paws
A Whisker of a Doubt
Blackmoore Sisters (Cozy Mystery Series)
Dead Wrong
Dead & Buried
Dead Tide
Buried Secrets
Deadly Intentions
A Grave Mistake
Spell Found
Fatal Fortune
Hidden Secrets
Lexy Baker (Cozy Mystery Series)
Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Series Boxed Set Vol 1 (Books 1–4)
Or buy the books separately:
Killer Cupcakes
Dying for Danish
Murder, Money and Marzipan
3 Bodies and a Biscotti
Brownies, Bodies and Bad Guys
Bake, Battle and Roll
Wedded Blintz
Scones, Skulls & Scams
Ice Cream Murder
Mummified Meringues
Brutal Brulee (Novella)
No Scone Unturned
&
nbsp; Cream Puff Killer
Never Say Pie
Kate Diamond Mystery Adventures
Hidden Agemda (Book 1)
Ancient Hiss Story (Book 2)
Heist Society (Book 3)
Silver Hollow (Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series)
A Spell of Trouble (Book 1)
Spell Disaster (Book 2)
Nothing to Croak About (Book 3)
Cry Wolf (Book 4)
Shear Magic (Book 5)
Mooseamuck Island (Cozy Mystery Series)
A Zen for Murder
A Crabby Killer
A Treacherous Treasure
Hazel Martin (Historical Mystery Series)
Murder at Lowry House (Book 1)
Murder by Misunderstanding (Book 2)
Lady Katherine Regency Mysteries
An Invitation to Murder (Book 1)
The Baffling Burglaries of Bath (Book 2)
Murder at the Ice Ball (Book 3)
A Murderous Affair (Book 4)
Sam Mason Mysteries (Writing as L. A. Dobbs)
Telling Lies (Book 1)
Keeping Secrets (Book 2)
Exposing Truths (Book 3)
Betraying Trust (Book 4)
Killing Dreams (Book 5)
Available in Audio
A Twist in the Tail (Available in the UK and the US)
A Letter From Leighann
Hi! I hope you enjoyed A Whisker in the Dark. If you did enjoy it and want to keep up-to-date with all my latest releases, just sign up at the following link. Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Sign up to my mailing list here!
In the book, Josie burns a lot of baked goods. I have to admit that I have experience with that myself! My mother, on the other hand, was a great baker and I have so many fond childhood memories of sitting in her kitchen while she baked. My mom is gone now, but the recipes in this series are from her old cookbooks and recipe cards that I inherited. Even the descriptions of the food-stained cards written in faded blue ink are the actual descriptions of her cards.
Another food aspect of the book is the cheese sculpting—yes that is a thing! Did you know that the largest ever cheese sculpture weighed over 1,500 pounds and was in the form of a cheeseburger sculpted out of Wisconsin cheddar? I wonder how long it would take Nero and Marlowe to snack on that?
All best,
Lee
www.leighanndobbs.com
Recipes
Pumpkin Bread
This recipe sure is an oldie—I know because my mother has written on the side that she uses Crisco instead of the oil. She used to be very big on Crisco. Do people even use that anymore? I’m sure Millie still does.
Makes 3 loaf pans.
Ingredients:
2 cups tinned pumpkin (a 14 or 16 oz can)
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
1 cup oil (or if you’re like my mom, you’ll want to use 1 cup Crisco)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
A pinch of ground cloves
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F or 177 degrees C or Gas Mark 4.
Combine eggs, oil (or Crisco) water and pumpkin in a large bowl and mix well.
Sift flour and add sugar, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves.
Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix well.
Turn into 3 greased loaf pans (regular size) and bake for 45 minutes.
Broccoli Quiche
Millie likes to prepare this the night before and slide it into the oven to warm up the next morning for breakfast.
The recipe claims this serves 3. It’s a 9-inch pie plate though, so those are some big servings!
Ingredients:
3 eggs
3 oz cheddar cheese grated
10 oz package frozen broccoli (cooked)
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons skim milk
Optional: add 3/4 cup drained cooked mushrooms. Heck, while you are at it, you could add some ham or bacon too. Maybe even some spinach or chopped peppers.
Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees F or 190 degrees C or Gas Mark 5.
Beat 1 egg. Add the rice, 1/2 the grated cheese and salt. Mix well then press firmly in an even layer on the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate.
Beat remaining eggs slightly. Stir in broccoli, milk, pepper, and whatever else you are adding, plus the rest of the cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Peanut-Butter-Banana Bread
This recipe is actually a low-calorie one I found in my mother’s stash. It says each serving is only 28 calories, but I’m skeptical about that. Then again, it doesn’t say the serving size so maybe it’s only a crumb.
Ingredients:
6 tablespoons peanut butter
2 teaspoons reduced-calorie margarine (Margarine? Yech! This recipe is from the seventies when margarine was all the rage. I’d use butter, but then of course each serving will be more than 28 calories!)
1/8 cup skim milk
1/8 cup water
1 banana, mashed
1/2 cup non-fat powdered milk
10 teaspoons low-calorie sweetener (I’d use Truvia but they didn’t have that back when Mom wrote this recipe)
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
9 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F or 177 degrees C or Gas Mark 4.
Mix peanut butter and margarine together then stir in mashed banana. Add skim milk and water.
Combine dry ingredients then mix into peanut-butter-banana mixture.
Pour into a greased loaf pan.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Apple-Pecan Bread
This thing takes forever to cook but I’d start checking early if I were you… you wouldn’t want it to burn!
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups apples, diced
1 cup pecans, chopped
Directions:
Heat oven to 300 degrees F or 150 degrees C or Gas Mark 2.
Beat eggs, oil and vanilla.
Combine sugar, flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add egg mixture and stir well. Batter will be very thick. Fold in apples and pecans.
Divide batter into 2 greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pans.
Bake for 90 minutes.
Published by Bookouture in 2019
An imprint of StoryFire Ltd.
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ
www.bookouture.com
Copyright © Leighann Dobbs, 2019
Leighann Dobbs has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
eBook ISBN: 978-1-78681-725-9
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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