It’s No Mystery That We All Love Ice Cream!
Is there anyone who doesn’t love ice cream?
The average American eats about 20 pounds of ice cream each year, according to the U.S Census Bureau. So I guess I’m not alone!
My interest in ice cream—obsession might be a better word—began as a kid. I grew up in a family that loved desserts. Cakes, pies, cookies, pudding…but ice cream was always the star. In fact, it remains woven into every cherished memory I have of my childhood. Banana splits for birthdays, red-white-and-blue ice cream for the Fourth of July, melty soft serve on family car trips, toasted coconut Good Humor bars that required chasing the ice cream man halfway down the block on hot summer days.
So it’s not surprising that once I was a grown-up writer looking for a theme for my third mystery series, I came up with the idea of ice cream.
My amateur sleuth, Kate McKay, needed to have more going on in her life than solving mysteries. And peeking over her shoulder as she lived out her lifelong dream of opening her own ice cream shop felt as perfect as—well, as perfect as a cherry on top.
Once I came up with the idea, it was easy to picture what I considered the ideal ice cream shop. First of all, it needed to be in an idyllic setting, so I dreamed up a charming small town on the Hudson River that I named Wolfert’s Roost. Second, the shop’s design had to include pastel pink walls, giant paintings of tempting ice cream concoctions, and charming marble-topped tables with pink vinyl-covered wrought iron chairs.
The Lickety Splits Ice Cream Shoppe was born!
When it came to the flavors that my heroine would serve at her shop, that was where the real fun began. The classic chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry would be on the menu, of course, but oh, the possibilities! Gourmet ice creams have become more and more available, not only in specialty shops but even in my local supermarket. (Right now, there are pints of Whiskey Cake, Lavender Mascarpone, and Pumpkin Pie ice cream in my freezer!) So there is inspiration everywhere.
Not surprisingly, I’ve used my ice cream mystery series as an excuse to visit every ice cream shop I come across. (I do admit to going out of my way to check out a few, as well!). I take photos of the menus, doing my best not to drool on my iPhone. I’ve found some of my best ideas for unusual ice cream flavors that way.
And of course, I have to try some of them! What kind of researcher would I be otherwise?
True, not all of them are appealing. I confess that I have yet to try Pear and Blue Cheese, even though my heroine Kate sells that one at her shop. And not being a fan of raisins, to this day I remain a stranger to Rum Raisin.
But I’ve definitely found more winners than losers!
Another fun part of the writing process is finding or developing recipes to include at the back of each book and trying them out. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it! Some of the recipes I’ve chosen are ice cream-based desserts, like Affogato, which is ice cream made even more divine by topping it with espresso, and Baked Alaska, which is ice cream covered in a luscious layer of baked meringue.
But I also came up with a Brown Sugar-Bourbon Ice Cream, a recipe that’s in the first book in the series, Murder with a Cherry on Top, that turned out to be pretty phenomenal. (In fact, one reader wrote me that the members of her book group had enjoyed my book so much that they made the ice cream recipe at the back—and that they all loved it! I’m so happy to have been the inspiration for that experience!)
There’s an old saying in the writing world: write what you know. That’s true, but it’s also a good idea to write what you love. I like to think that sharing my love of ice cream with my readers makes reading my books even more enjoyable for them. And hopefully it inspires them to indulge more often in a treat that never disappoints.
A Lickety Splits Ice Cream Shoppe Mystery, Book 1
Kate McKay had doubts about swapping her high-powered life in Manhattan for Wolfert’s Roost, the quaint Hudson Valley village where she grew up. But when she moves back to care for her ailing grandmother, Kate decides to start fresh and indulge her dream of running an ice cream shop. All goes smoothly—until she’s reunited with old acquaintances nuttier than a vat of rocky road.
Kate should be thrilled about opening Lickety Splits Ice Cream Shoppe in the heart of town. Instead her spirits melt like soft serve in the summer when she learns that her childhood frenemy, Ashley Winthrop, has started selling frozen treats in the bakery across the street. Turns out, Ashley hasn’t sweetened since high school. And once again, she’s game for some very unfriendly competition.
But before Ashley can kill Kate’s new business, someone kills Ashley—stabbing her to death inside the bakery. Worse, the murder occurs right after the two rivals drew crowds with a heated argument, leaving half of Wolfert’s Roost speculating that Kate was finally pushed over the edge.
With rumors swirling and her reputation in serious trouble, Kate is determined to get the real scoop on the crime—even if it means joining forces with a former flame. As she pieces together clues to a chilling scandal, Kate soon realizes that she’ll need way more than a sprinkle of wit if she wants to expose the killer and live to see another sundae . . .
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