If Mashed Potatoes Could Dance
Read If Mashed Potatoes Could Dance Online
Authors: Paige Shelton
Praise for
If Fried Chicken Could Fly
“Take a puzzler of a mystery, season with a dashing ghost, add a pinch of romance, and you have a blue ribbon–winning recipe for a tasty read.”
—Jenn McKinlay, national bestselling author of
the Cupcake Bakery Mysteries
“I guarantee your spirits—pardon the pun—will be lifted…Paige Shelton has created a vivid setting, fun, friendly characters.”
—E. J. Copperman, author of
Old Haunts
“A juicy mystery that’s deep-fried fun.”
—Riley Adams, author of the Memphis BBQ Mysteries
“
If Fried Chicken Could Fly
simply warms your spirit with delicious homespun goodness.”
—
Blogcritics
“
If Fried Chicken Could Fly
has terrific characters, including a wonderful ghost, and a perfect setting.”
—
Lesa’s Book Critiques
“All good fun and a nice twist on a cozy—a little bit of the supernatural added in.”
—
Book Reviews and English News
“A charming cast makes this a delightful read in this wonderful and appealing debut series.”
—
Dru’s Book Musings
Praise for Paige Shelton’s
Farmers’ Market Mysteries
“[A] puzzling and satisfying whodunit.”
—
Richmond Times-Dispatch
“[An] absolute delight…A feast of a mystery.”
—
Fresh Fiction
“Each page leads to more intrigue and surprise.”
—
The Romance Readers Connection
Berkley Prime Crime titles by Paige Shelton
Farmers’ Market Mysteries
FARM FRESH MURDER
FRUIT OF ALL EVIL
CROPS AND ROBBERS
Country Cooking School Mysteries
IF FRIED CHICKEN COULD FLY
IF MASHED POTATOES COULD DANCE
eSpecial
RED HOT DEADLY PEPPERS
If Mashed Potatoes
Could Dance
PAIGE SHELTON
BERKLEY PRIME CRIME, NEW YORK
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) • Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) • Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE:
The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reactions to the recipes contained in this book.
IF MASHED POTATOES COULD DANCE
A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with the author
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Berkley Prime Crime mass-market edition / October 2012
Copyright © 2012 by Paige Shelton-Ferrell.
Cover illustration by Robert T. Barrett.
Interior text design by Laura K. Corless.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
ISBN: 978-1-101-61153-1
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If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
ALWAYS LEARNING
PEARSON
For my grams, Ruth Grzyb and Daisy Shelton
A special thanks to:
Every time I write a book I hope I’m getting better at doing it on my own, but I’ve decided that it must be impossible for me to write a book on my own, one that’s coherent at least. There are still so many people I consult, so many people I like to bounce things off of, and a few people who really do the dirty work. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank those people, the dirty work people, the ones who take what I write and fix it. I’m sure I’m not one of their easier cases. So, thank you to copyeditors Caroline Duffy and Jude Grant who worked so hard on both this book and
If Fried Chicken Could Fly
. Seriously, you are amazing! Any remaining mistakes are solely mine.
The cover artist for the Country Cooking School Mysteries, Dan Andreasen, and the interior design artist, Laura K. Corless. I love the way you both “see.”
Jessica Faust and Michelle Vega. You are simply the best.
Matthew Barney of Seiren Hair Salon who helped me get the Funeral Potatoes recipe just right. For years we’ve talked about food and recipes. Thank you for all your fun and interesting
ideas and for never chemically burning off a big chunk of my hair like that other stylist did.
Sabrina Ogden, Leah Anderson, and Ginger Beck who have not only helped me with legal terminology but have also become great friends.
My sister-in-law Fran McCorkel for making the best twice-baked potatoes ever.
The late actress Elizabeth Montgomery who truly bewitched me when she portrayed Lizzie Borden.
My parents and my fellas—always and forever.
Chapter 1
“They want us to keep them all here?” Gram said. “Where
in the Sam Hill do they expect everyone to sleep?”
“On the floor, I guess,” I said.
“On the floor? In the kitchen? I don’t understand, Isabelle. How in the world did they even think to ask us? This is a cooking school, not a hotel, for Jack’s sake.”
Gram had been cleaning. Her short gray hair was hidden by a red bandana, and her Harvard T–shirt had a giant wet spot right in the middle. She wore bright yellow rubber gloves and smelled of bleach. We were conducting our annual midsummer ritual of scrubbing every single spot of her cooking school. Midsummer was the perfect time. We were on a one-week hiatus from our nighttime classes, and our daytime classes weren’t set to begin for another month and a half. We’d already sent out acceptance letters to our fall students, and we had this small break before our night class on everything
potatoes, “Mash Away, but Respect Me in the Morning,” was to begin.
“I believe it was Jake’s idea,” I said.
Jake was my best friend and Broken Rope’s fake sheriff and town historian. He was very active with the tourism bureau as well. When you’re a self-made millionaire you can do pretty much whatever you want.
“Jake? What was he thinking?” Gram said as she snapped off one of the gloves.
“He thought it would be bad business to turn away a tour bus. It’s only for one night and then the hotel will have the rooms available. Someone messed up the reservations. The tour group was going to cancel their stop, but Jake heard they were a bunch of foodies on a trip across country. He told them your school was here and thought we might work in a free lesson of some sort and have a sleepover.”
Gram blinked. “I’ll ask again, what was he thinking? Sleeping on the floor and offering a lesson? Won’t we be breaking about a thousand food safety regulations? Come on, Isabelle, you should know this stuff.”
Gram was referring to my short and incomplete time in law school.
“I didn’t make it to the food safety stuff,” I said. Food safety wasn’t a part of law school, so even if I hadn’t dropped out I wouldn’t have been any better versed in the ins and outs of slumber parties held in cooking schools, but I didn’t want to go into detail when she was so riled up.
