BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--WHEN MYSTERY AUTHOR MARILYN MEREDITH WRITES WHILE HUNGRY

Marilyn Meredith is the author of more than forty published books including the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, and writing as F. M. Meredith, the Rocky Bluff P.D. series. Learn more about her and her books at her website and blog.

Including Food in my Mysteries

One thing that always bugs me when I’m reading a book is when the characters eat and nothing is said about what they ate, especially if they are eating in a restaurant. Lately, I did read a really good mystery where the heroine always ate the same thing. It worked because it was an important part of the story.

 

I enjoy reading about good food almost as much as I like eating really delicious meals either at home or in a restaurant. One thing I’ve learned is some of the best eating can be found in a small, locally owned place, often ethnic of some sort. 

 

And it follows, that I also enjoy writing about food. 

 

In my latest Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery, The Trash Harem, Tempe and her husband travel to the city of Temecula to help a friend, Jonathan Reynolds, who is the only suspect in a murder case. The friend and his wife host Tempe and Hutch while they are there. The wife, Samantha, is a great cook and of course I felt compelled to write about the meals she served, and there a lot.

 

Looking back, I can’t help but wonder if I was hungry when I sat down at the computer to write this tale. 

 

When Tempe and Hutch arrive at the Reynolds’ home, their first meal is lunch which consisted of a salad of crisp greens, chilled asparagus spears, tomatoes, green onions, black olives, mushrooms, garbanzo beans, and artichoke hearts, served with sliced sourdough bread and olive oil and vinegar for dipping. (Old Town Temecula, a shop is famous for their various olive oils and vinegars.)

 

Neighbors who might also be murder suspects are invited to dinner to meet Tempe and Hutch. Samantha has prepared Beef Burgundy to eat over rice, Chicken Alfredo with noodles, and crème brûlée for dessert.

 

One evening the two couples dine at a small restaurant in Old Town and enjoy clam chowder abd fish and chips, while Tempe chooses lobster tacos.

 

The Reynolds and their guests are invited to dinner at a winery restaurant by the son of the murder victim who orders the most expensive item on the menu a Bouillabaisse. The others enjoy Beef Bourguignon and Coq Au Vin.

 

The final get-together with all the suspects is a fancy luncheon that begins with a veggie tray and tomato bisque, followed by interesting sandwiches made with unusual breads, a variety of fillings such as thinly sliced chicken with cheddar cheese, avocado and bean sprouts, cucumbers and cream cheese, pimiento cheese and chives, and sliced boiled eggs with avocado. A cheese board, nuts, cookies and fresh blackberries and whipped cream are served while Tempe brings everyone up to date on her investigation, Agatha Christie style.

 

And of course, there were always beverages at these meals, sometimes freshly made lemonade, different fancy iced teas, and various wines.

 

I think I may be hungry when I’m writing, and going over all the food that I included in the book has made me hungry now,

 

My editor said she wouldn’t eat a lot of the food I wrote about. I’m just the opposite; I like to try anything edible. What about you? Do you like to read about food in the books you read? 

The Trash Harem

A Tempe Crabtree Mystery, Book 19

 

Deputy Tempe Crabtree has retired from her job in Bear Creek when friends, who once lived in Bear Creek and attended Pastor Hutch’s church, ask her to visit them in Temecula. The husband, Jonathan, is a suspect in what might be a murder case. The retirement community includes many interesting characters, any of whom might have had a better motive than Jonathan. There is also a connection to Erle Stanley Gardner as well as the Pechanga Old Oak. What is a trash harem? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

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