BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR ALLISON BROOK

Marilyn Levinson aka Allison Brook writes mystery, romantic suspense and young adult novels. Learn more about her and her books at her website. 

When did you realize you wanted to write novels?

I was in the second or third grade. I’d even picked out a pseudonym. It was Brenda Something. I tried writing a mystery but didn’t get very far.

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication?

A few years. My first published book, a novel for kids, came out in 1985 or ’86. Today it would be labeled a young YA. And Don’t Bring Jeremy received wonderful accolades. It was a nominee for six state awards. I thought everything I wrote after that would be published. How wrong I was. J

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author?

I suppose I’m all three. I’ve been published by big companies, smaller ones, and I published one mystery myself. I’ve also republished a few novels.

Where do you write?

I write at my desk in my home office on a large-screen computer.

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind?

I write in silence. No music.

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular?

My plots and characters are not drawn from real life, as far as I know, and certainly not from my own life. It’s difficult to say where my ideas come from—I suppose a compilation of life, news, TV shows, books and one’s vivid imagination.

Describe your process for naming your character?

I try out a few names in my head, continue to write and see how that name suits my character. I’ve often made changes. Also, I try not to have two very similar names in one book, and I do my best to avoid having too many characters with names that begin with the same letter.

Real settings or fictional towns?

I create the town or village where my book takes place. However, the surrounding towns, points of interests, and shopping centers, etc. are real. Many of my mysteries take place on Long Island, where I live. However, Death Overdue takes place in Connecticut.

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?

One of my favorite characters is Cameron Leeds in Giving Up the Ghost. Cam is a ghost and can only manifest in the den of the cottage where he used to live, which pleases Gabbie, who now lives in the cottage, no end.

What’s your quirkiest quirk?

I have trouble settling down to write until the late afternoon.

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?

I suppose that would be the Harry Potter series, because Joanne Rowling has created such a wonderful school full of traditions for Harry and his fellow magical classmates.

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours?

I wish I’d started writing fiction ten years earlier than I did.

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

Getting criticized in a review for something a reader misunderstood.

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?

Food to prepare tasty meals, books to read, and pen and paper to write on.

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?

Working in the back room of a bank.

What’s the best book you’ve ever read?

I love A Suitable By by Vikram Seth. It has 1,349 pages, and I wish he’d write a sequel.

Ocean or mountains?

I like both, but I’d take the mountains—like Machu Picchu.

City girl/guy or country girl/guy?

Love to visit the city. Prefer to live in suburbia.

What’s on the horizon for you?

Read and Gone, the second book in the Haunted Library mystery series, has already gone to production and will be out in September. I hope to write more books in the series, start a new series, and try to get back to some of my older series.

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books?

I’m finally starting a newsletter! Please go to my website or contact me via FB to let me know if you’d like to receive it.

Death Overdue

Carrie Singleton is just about done with Clover Ridge, Connecticut until she's offered a job as the head of programs and events at the spooky local library, complete with its own librarian ghost. Her first major event is a program presented by a retired homicide detective, Al Buckley, who claims he knows who murdered Laura Foster, a much-loved part-time library aide who was bludgeoned to death fifteen years earlier. As he invites members of the audience to share stories about Laura, he suddenly keels over and dies.

The medical examiner reveals that poison is what did him in and Carrie feels responsible for having surged forward with the program despite pushback from her director. Driven by guilt, Carrie’s determined to discover who murdered the detective, convinced it’s the same man who killed Laura all those years ago. Luckily for Carrie, she has a friendly, knowledgeable ghost by her side. But as she questions the shadows surrounding Laura's case, disturbing secrets come to light and with each step Carrie takes, she gets closer to ending up like Al.

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FAVORITES, FAILURES & FRUSTRATIONS WITH GUEST AUTHOR TINA NEWCOMB

Tina Newcomb writes heartwarming stories of second chances, new beginnings, and happy endings. She is not a plotter and loves to see where her characters will take her. Learn more about Tina and her books at her website.

Some of my favorite things…

I’m dating myself when I admit reading Charles M. Schulze’s Happiness is a Warm Puppy back in the 1960s. I’ve been thinking about happiness a lot lately. I’m a pretty positive person in general and can find happiness in simple things.

Happiness to me is the first day it’s finally warm enough to open the windows to allow the spring breeze admittance. Happiness is the first fonts of flowers pushing up through the dirt or the buds on the trees unfurling their new coats of green. Happiness is a beautiful monarch landing on the butterfly bush next to the patio. Happiness is remembering to take out the trashcans before the garbage truck comes around the corner. Happiness is a new bra, a swimming suit—that fits, losing a pound or five. Happiness is a clean house, rain hitting the windows, a pile of autumn leaves, the first snowfall of the winter. Happiness is hearing a song on the radio that makes me smile. Happiness is a hug from a friend, a call from one of my kids.

Happiness is typing “The End”.

Happiness is hearing my grandson say, “I love you, Grandma.”

Happiness is my husband and I laughing hysterically over something that isn’t really funny, but, if we don’t laugh, we may cry.

Happiness is family around the Thanksgiving table, a blaze in the fireplace, a bubble bath with an I-can’t-put-it-down book.

Happiness is that moment when you feel something deep in your chest that tells you a higher power is looking out for you.

Happiness for me now is a lot different that it was as a child. One of the happiest memories from childhood was the day I learned to ride a bike. Happiness then was camping trips, throwing rocks into a lake, tubing down the river. Happiness was all the hours I spent at the neighborhood swimming pool. Utter happiness was the first time I did a back dive that didn’t include a belly flop.

This month, happiness will be finishing NaNoWriMo with 50,000 words. Next month, happiness will be when I finally finish wrapping the Christmas presents I haven’t begun to buy, yet. And in January, happiness will be when I get all the decorations packed away and my house is clean again.

Then spring is here and I hear a bird twittering outside my bedroom window. Now, that is true happiness.

Remember every day is filled with ordinary miracles. We just have to look outside ourselves to find happiness in the little things.

What are some of your favorite things?

Finding Eden

Best-selling author Colton McCreed flies into remote but charming Eden Falls for the summer to study small town life for his next horrific murder mystery. As his research pulls him into the community, his life becomes entwined with Mayor Alex Blackwood and her exuberant son. Colton’s bitter past left him believing he’s immune to love, but he soon finds himself drawn to Alex and her happy-go-lucky kid.

Alex Blackwood is not only the mayor of Eden Falls, she’s a business owner, the mother of six-year-old Charlie, and a widow. While love for her son fills her soul, the crushing reality of the death of her husband, who was killed while serving his country, is always near. As she struggles to find balance between her busy life and the challenge of raising a young son on her own, dating someone who’s leaving at the end of summer runs dead last on her to-do list.

Charlie’s impromptu invitations to dinner throw Colton and Alex into a world of discovery, shattering her image of Mr. Right and his belief forever happiness is out of reach.

Colton must move past his fear of attachment or risk losing his opportunity at love.

  

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST MYSTERY SLEUTH LEE ALVAREZ BAKES UP POSSUM PIE

Multi-award winning author Heather Haven writes humorous, noir, historical, and romantic mysteries, short stories, and plays. She and her husband of thirty-five years are allowed to live in the foothills of San Jose with their two adorable but demanding cats. Learn more about Heather and her books at her website.

Lee Alvarez Shares Her Uncle’s Newest Recipe

I don’t mean to brag, but as the central character of the humorous Alvarez Family Murder Mystery Series, I get to eat a lot of terrific food. That’s because my Tío is the retired executive chef of the world famous Las Mananita’s Restaurant in San Jose, California. During his illustrious career, his recipes were often written up in gourmet food magazines. They’d throw in a few snaps of him, too, because Tío is one classy uncle. I have all the articles and pictures in a scrapbook I started in my early teens. That was before my PI days. I don’t have time to make scrapbooks anymore – I don’t have time for squat anymore -- but I always seem to find time to sit down at the dinner table and scarf down one of his culinary masterpieces!

Tío’s desserts undo me. While he’s creating a recipe, he makes it again and again until it reaches his idea of perfection. Meanwhile, lucky me gets to gobble up every version as he strives for the ultimate. When Tío was working on his homemade mango and red plum ice cream garnished with fresh spearmint leaves, I must have gained six pounds.

Fortunately, I spend a lot of time chasing bad guys over Bay Area rooftops, so I tend to lose the weight as fast as I gain it. I’ll tell you, though, my new favorite is his version of Arkansan possum pie, Mexican style. And just for the record, there is NO real possum to be found in it. Just a lot of chocolate hidden under mounds of whipped cream.

Tio’s Possum Pie

(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

First Layer (crust)

1 stick butter, melted

1 cup flour

3/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Second Layer

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons milk

Third Layer

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup of Dutch cocoa

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

1/8 teaspoon ground chilis (optional)

Salt, a pinch

3 tablespoon corn starch

3 large egg yolks

2 cups whole or 2% milk

1 teaspoons vanilla (or 2 teaspoons of vanilla if you don’t use Kalúha below)

1 teaspoon Kalúha, a coffee flavored liquor from Mexico (optional)

Fourth Layer

1 cup cold heavy cream  

 2 tablespoons sugar

 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Chocolate shavings (optional)

 Place all pecans needed for recipe in a skillet on medium heat and sauté until they just begin to turn fragrant and brown, about 3 to 5 minutes (watch closely so they don’t burn). Remove from heat and let cool. Divide into four piles, one for each layer and top then set aside. Spray a 9-inch.

For the first layer (crust): finely chop the share of pecans being used in the crust. Combine melted butter, flour and pecans. Spread the dough evenly over the bottom of the pan, pressing down with your fingers. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until the dough just begins to brown. Remove from oven and let cool.

Forget the second layer for the moment, but move on to the third layer: While the first layer (crust) bakes, in a medium saucepan, add the sugar, cocoa powder, flour, salt, cinnamon (optional), chilis (optional), and corn starch. In a small bowl, beat egg yolks until broken up, then milk. On medium heat, add milk mixture to dry ingredients, whisking constantly until pudding begins to boil and thicken, about 7-10 minutes. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Add Kalúha (optional), but remember to only put in 1 teaspoon of vanilla, not 2,  if you’re adding Kalúha. Let cool about 5 minutes. Pour pudding in a shallow bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap on the surface so a skin does not form. Place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

For second layer: In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and milk. Beat with electric mixture for 2-3 minutes or combined.

For the fourth layer: Place mixer bowl and whisk in freezer for at least 20 minutes to chill. Pour heavy whipping cream, sugar and vanilla into the cold bowl and whisk on high speed until medium to stiff peaks form, about 1 minute. Do not overbeat.

To assemble pie: Spread cream cheese mixture over the dough base. Remove pudding from fridge. Carefully spread pudding over the cream cheese layer. Top with whipped cream, toasted pecans and chocolate shavings if desired. Refrigerate or serve, cut into small pieces.

The Culinary Art of Murder

An Alvarez Family Murder Mystery, Book 6

Lee’s Uncle Tío is smitten with the guest chef at a Silicon Valley culinary arts institute. When the woman is arrested for the murder of a fellow chef, a reluctant Lee agrees to help prove Tío’s lady love innocent. But Lee suspects the ambitious, southern belle of a cook might just be guilty. Undercover work at the institute proves to have more pitfalls than whipping up a chocolate soufflé. The killer isn’t done and tries to get Lee out of the way permanently. But just who is the murderer? The accused? One of her two sons? Another inmate from a cooking school with more to hide than dirty dishes? With secrets as plentiful  as sauces, the nagging question remains, if Lee proves the lady chef guilty, will Tío ever forgive her for sending his new love to jail?

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ANASTASIA GETS A FACELIFT

At some point many years ago I remember learning that people who are constantly rearranging their furniture do so because they have no control over certain aspects of their life. Changing the placement of their furnishings is a substitute for the things they can’t change in their life. Whether this is a principle of psychology or not, I don’t know. I never took a psych course in college. I suppose it makes sense, though. Change the things you can, and maybe it will help you deal with the things you can’t?

I’m wondering if that’s the reason author Lois Winston decided to update a few of my book covers. After all, she’s the one responsible for all the bad stuff that I’ve had to deal with in my life. She killed off my husband in Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, which was certainly bad enough, but she didn’t just leave it at that. She also left me penniless and burdened with debt greater than the GNP of most Third World nations AND permanently stuck me with a communist mother-in-law who blames me for all the world’s ills.

Will a totally new book cover for Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun and a slightly tweaked book cover for Death By Killer Mop Doll make my life any better? Doubtful. But they are nice to look at. I just hope Lois doesn’t consider this my Christmas present. Winter is coming, and I could really use a week in Aruba. Hint! Hint!

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--12 SLAYS OF CHRISTMAS MYSTERY BOX SET TO SUPPORT NO-KILL SHELTERS

Colleen Mooney joins us today to talk about a very special project she’s involved in with a group of fellow authors. Learn more about the project and the various giveaways the authors are offering at their website. 

I met Abby Vandiver in a Twitter group, and the next thing I know I’m working with these wonderful mystery writers, and we are doing a Christmas Box set called the 12 Slays of Christmas and donating all proceeds to Non-Kill Animals Shelters. Now, since Harvey hit Houston and Irma hit Florida, there is a greater need than ever.  We hope to sell enough copies so that we can help both areas.

The collection is available for preorder now on Amazon, Kobo, Nook, and ITunes for only $.99.  After the December 5^th release the price increase to $4.99.

The lineup of authors and stories include:

1.Abby L. Vandiver, Baby Its Cold Outside

It's a family affair. Cousins, Brigitt and San finally start their dream business - an event planning company! And what better time to open then at Christmas. But it looks as if the only event they may be hosting is a murder investigation after a body is found in their basement.

2. Judith Lucci, The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year

Faced with the recent death of her husband Medical Examiner Kinsey Zee and her black lab Solomon investigate a death by bear mauling on the Massanutten Mountain only to learn her holiday wouldn't be so bad after all.

3. Amy Vansant, Stollen Time

When a Pineapple Port resident is found face-down in her Christmas fruit stollen, Charlotte knows this case won't be cake. Was it an accident? The ungrateful granddaughter? Or the person who baked the stollen?

4. Colleen Mooney, Death by Rum Balls

Guests to a neighborhood Christmas party all have something to hide and the hostess has been spreading everything except good will. When a couple are discovered poisoned right before everyone sits down for dinner, all the guests are suspects and have reasons they want the hostess to pay.

5. Amy Reade, The Worst Noel

It's Black Friday, and Lilly Carlsen finds a body who's been strangled with a strand of pearls from her inventory on her biggest shopping day of the year. Lilly is a single mom with two teenagers, has a sister with Juniper Junction's finest and her mother is showing signs of dementia, but her life gets more complicated when her ex-husband shows up out of the clear, thin mountain air.

6.Nell Goddin, The Case of the Curious Biscuit

PI Molly Sutton expected Christmas in Castillac to be quaint and charming. But apparently murder doesn't take vacations...

7. Colleen Helme, Devil in A Black Suit

Ramos’ job as the right-hand man to a mobster used to be easy until Shelby, a mind-reading soccer mom, joined the organization. With all the trouble she gets into, he’s constantly putting his life on the line to save her. But this time, it could be a deal with a deadly enemy that gets him killed.

8. Larissa Reinhart, May Your Days Be Cherry and Albright

In this Rashomon-style Christmas mystery, while Cherry Tucker suffers from flu-induced visions of murder, Maize Albright’s on the hunt for a missing granddaughter whose criminal stockings have long been filled with coal. 

9. Kim Hunt Harris, Frankincense, Gold, and Murder

Salem is celebrating Christmas in true Trailertopian style, but her festivities take a downturn when she finds a murdered neighbor. It won’t be a jolly Christmas if her snooping for the killer leads to her becoming the next victim.

10. Cindy Bell, Christmas Chocolates and Crimes

Ally and Charlotte expected the holidays to be filled with chocolates and good times. What they didn’t expect is to be solving murders and crimes.

 

11.Summer Prescott, Home for the Holidays

When a down-and-out young veteran finds himself homeless for the holidays, he lands a job as a mall Santa, and finds himself in a situation much tighter than a chimney. Will the magic of Christmas come to his aid in time?

12. Kathleen Dionne, Murder at the Holiday Bazaar

Travel chef, Stevie Elliott, comes home to Quapaw, Mississippi, to help with the annual Holiday Bazaar by making her famous Southern Fried Chicken. But this joyous festival suddenly sours when Pastor Oliver is found dead in his office with one of Stevie’s half-eaten chicken legs in his hand.

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Over the river and through the woods,

To grandmother's house we go;

The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh,

Through the white and drifted snow, O!

Over the river and through the woods,

Oh how the wind does blow!

It stings the toes, and bites the nose,

As over the ground we go.


Over the river and through the woods,

To have a first-rate play;

Oh hear the bells ring, "Ting-a-ling-ling!"

Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day, Hey!

Over the river and through the woods,

Trot fast my dapple gray!

Spring over the ground, like a hunting hound!

For this is Thanksgiving Day, Hey!


Over the river and through the woods,

And straight through the barnyard gate,

We seem to go extremely slow.

It is so hard to wait!

Over the river and through the woods,

Now grandmother's cap I spy!

Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done?

Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!

FAVORITES, FAILURES & FRUSTRATIONS WITH GUEST CHARACTER JULIENNE LaMERE

Avery Daniels graduated from college with a degree in business administration and has worked in Fortune 500 companies and the Department of Defense her entire life. She lives in Colorado with two brother black cats as her spirited companions, volunteers at a cat shelter, enjoys scrapbooking and card making, photography, and painting in watercolor and acrylic. She inherited a love for reading from her mother and grandmother and grew up talking about books at the dinner table. Learn more about Avery and her books at her website. 

Frustrations Galore

Hello, I’m Julienne LaMere. I make my debut in Iced by Avery Daniels. The beginning briefly shows how good my life started. I opted out of college because I was fortunate to get accepted in a management-training program at a five-star resort. I am receiving on-the-job training on how to run luxury resorts. How amazing is that! I think I am doubly blessed to start my career at the foot of a majestic mountain with a resort that exemplifies European elegance and glamour. Not that I am biased in the least.

As part of the training, I rotate jobs to learn each area. Currently I am doing event planning. One local Influential Leaders Networking Luncheon finds a celebrity mega-church pastor getting a bit grabby with me. I knee him where it counts and leave. Next time I see him, he has the pointy nose of the swordfish ice sculpture through his chest. Gulp.

Because of my incident with the good pastor I become the prime suspect. Frustration Number One and granted, the biggest concern. But oh, it is only the beginning of my trials and tribulations.

The incredibly popular and nationally known pastor haunts me from his grave, as if in retaliation for my knee to his sensitive bits, in the form of his devoted fans and church members calling to have me fired. If it weren’t for my dad hiring a lawyer, I might have lost my job before I could take a breath.

Oh, then there is my dad. Family is always a challenge… am I right? Come on, be honest now. Frustration Number Two, my father pours on the pressure to stop pursuing a career and marry, preferably with a financially set man, and start giving him the grandchildren he wants. Arggggggg!

My boyfriend, who is a long-term best friend of my cousin and nearly a member of the family because of it, decides to pop the question. Sure, most women would be over the moon, right? I was blown away, especially when he reveals how he sees my ambition to manage resorts around the world as silly little fantasies that I should have left in the dust with my Barbies.  Frustration Number Three.

As if all this weren’t enough to make a hummingbird exhausted or a Tasmanian Devil lose his cool, I have a new neighbor who the senior women simply call “the hot new guy.” I call him Bond Jr. because he is suave, a photographer of celebrities, and a professional level gambler. Somehow I have sparked his interest, not that I did anything for that honor. To be honest, the man scares the pudding out of me, he is just too….sexy. Now, you may not think that is a frustration, ladies, but when you are attempting to work through problems with your boyfriend and his detailed plans for our future that trample my dreams – it is yet another complication in life I could do without at the moment. Really. 

I don’t want to reveal all my frustrations, but suffice it to say I had to put my foot down in several instances…and take control of this situation before the police make a terrible mistake. I’m part French, and the last thing you want is this little French gal mad as a hornet. So I’m putting together a list for the police of other more worthy suspects they should be looking at, which involves my going undercover at one point. Some of what I discover about the dearly departed pastor is more than blush worthy, too.

If you would like to commiserate with me, read about all the frustrations and revelations I dig up, let alone the danger I come far too close to, check out the account of my adventure in Iced by Avery Daniels.

Iced

Julienne has her ideal job as an event planner at a prestigious resort. During a luncheon event she coordinated, a renowned celebrity pastor is killed next to the buffet. All eyes turn to her as the suspect. If she wants to stay out of jail or even keep her job, Julienne needs all the help she can get to solve the crime.

She has her work cut out for her with a vengeful high school rival now reporter, the public demanding she be fired, plus family who knows what's best for her, and a boyfriend who doesn't understand her. She turns to friends and a new ally to uncover who wanted to put the pastor on ice.

Julienne goes undercover and investigates a local swingers group as she follows the trail of clues before they go cold. Can she gather enough suspects and motives to convince the police to widen their investigation? Can she do it before the killer sets his murderous sights on her? Will her personal life ever be as simple as unveiling a murderer?

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--BOLOGNESE RAGU WITH AUTHOR LISA LIEBERMAN

Lisa Lieberman writes the Cara Walden series of historical noir mysteries about blacklisted Hollywood people in exotic European locales. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts and blogs about old movies at deathlessprose.com

An Italian Thanksgiving

You might have thought life as a college professor was challenging enough, teaching history while trying to finish a book, with three small children at home, but my husband and I could never resist an adventure. We’d spent the first year of our married life in England and France, researching our doctoral dissertations in fusty libraries and taking advantage of student travel discounts to see as much of those two countries as we could, but jobs were scarce for academic couples and we ended up stuck in small towns with little hope of escape.

So when I was offered the opportunity to direct a study abroad program in Bologna, Italy, we didn’t hesitate. Who cared that we didn’t know Italian? We had a year to learn the language (and Italians turned out to be very forgiving of mistakes. . .) Somehow we managed to find a babysitter for our infant, a nursery school for our four-year-old, and a public school for our second grader — all within walking distance of our apartment.

That year in Italy changed us in so many ways. For one thing, we started eating pasta pretty much every day, sometimes twice a day! My Italian administrative assistant taught me how to make a proper ragu, Bologna-style. Turkeys being hard to come by in Italy, we made it for Thanksgiving and have kept up the tradition ever since. The recipe below makes enough sauce for two pounds of pasta, so you can freeze half if you’re not feeding an army.

All the Wrong Places, the first book in my Hollywood-themed mystery series, is set partially in Italy. Writing it allowed me to travel back there in my imagination. We’d taken our kids to Sicily for Easter, and stayed at a pensione in Taormina that had a swimming pool set in a terraced garden, complete with lemon trees. For breakfast, they served us juice made from blood oranges. “I couldn’t get over the ruby red pulp,” Cara says. “That was Sicily, always surprising you with its vibrancy.”

I invite you to come along with Cara and have an adventure of your own. The ebook of All the Wrong Places will be on sale for .99 from Thanksgiving week through the end of November. Buon viaggio!

Bolognese Ragu

2 T. olive oil

1 small onion

1 small carrot

1 small piece of celery

1 lb. ground beef (can use ground turkey)

1 cup milk

grating of fresh nutmeg

1 cup dry white wine

28 oz can Italian plum tomatoes

12 sage leaves (or 1 tsp. dried sage)

salt and pepper to taste

1 lb. pasta

Cook onion, carrot, and celery in olive oil until soft (not brown).

Add beef, crumbling it into small pieces as it cooks.

Add milk and simmer until the liquid is absorbed. Grate in a little fresh nutmeg. Add wine and simmer until the liquid is absorbed.

Add tomatoes and their juice, along with sage, salt and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, two hours or more. You want the fat to separate from the meat. If it starts to dry out, add a little water. The tomatoes will start to break down as well (you can help them along by smashing them with your wooden spoon).

Cook pasta al dente, according to package directions, and combine with half of the sauce. Serve with freshly grated parmesan.

All the Wrong Places

Seventeen-year-old Cara Walden arrives in 1950s London with her half brother Gray‚ a blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter and closeted homosexual. Gray has looked after Cara ever since her mother‚ glamorous actress Vivien Grant‚ was found drowned in the pool at their estate. As Cara embarks on a film shoot in Sicily and begins a love affair with a temperamental actor‚ she cannot help pondering the mystery surrounding her mother’s death‚ but the questions she asks soon put Cara’s own life in danger.

Fans of old movies will get a kick out of All the Wrong Places, a historical mystery set in England, Italy, and the French Riviera that pays tribute to the films of the forties and fifties, capped off with a thrilling finale straight out of Hitchcock.

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