- Format: Kindle Edition
- Print Length: 304 pages
- Publisher: Berkley (June 7 2016)
- Sold by: Penguin Group USA
- Language: English
- ASIN: B016JPTP4G
Book Description
The first book in the delicious new Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery series from national bestselling author Laura Bradford.
With her rent rising faster than her pie crust, bakery owner Winnie Johnson had hoped to be rescued by an inheritance from her wealthy friend and neighbor Gertrude Redenbacher. Instead all she inherits is the widow’s hostile hissing tabby, Lovey, and a vintage ambulance, restored by Gertrude’s late husband. As her dream crumbles, Winnie makes her final delivery—a peach pie to an elderly widower. But she finds Bart Wagner lying on his kitchen floor, smothered by a pillow.
To comfort her frightened and grieving neighbors, Winnie comes to the rescue with her baked goods—and an idea is born: dessert delivery via her ambulance and a new business called the Emergency Dessert Squad. When she’s not speeding to the scenes of dessert emergencies, Winnie is also racing to track down Bart’s killer—before she needs to call a real ambulance for the next victim...
About the Author
Aka Elizabeth Lynn Casey.
While spending a rainy afternoon at a friend's house nearly forty years ago, Laura Bradford fell in love with writing over a stack of blank paper, a box of crayons, and a freshly sharpened number two pencil.
Those early attempts at the craft had her writing and illustrating stories for young children. Wise beyond her years, Laura saved her first writing attempt in a hand decorated shoe box (complete with sparkly stickers) and moved on to her next idea. Her second book—O’Casey’s Wish—was so utterly brilliant, she sent it off to a well-known New York publishing house at the tender age of ten, confident she was on the verge of becoming the next Don Freeman (Corduroy) or Shel Silverstein (Giving Tree).
Months later, she received her first form letter rejection.
While she wasn’t of the mindset to save that first crushing blow for posterity, Laura did save the original copy of this particular literary masterpiece in the event the letter was a mistake.
Desperate to prove her flexibility as a writer, Laura soon found herself dabbling in jokes (for her Girl Scout troop’s newsletter), stories of angst (a somewhat autobiographical look at her teenage years), movie reviews (for the Xavier University Newswire), and countless news and feature articles (for newspapers in CT, SC, TN, and MO).
It wasn’t until Laura was home raising children of her own though, that she was finally able to dust off that rainy day dream and bring it back to its original form—writing fiction. Today, she is a bestselling mystery author with Berkley Prime Crime (Penguin Publishing), and an award winning romance author with Harlequin American. She lives in New York with her family.
Oh, and if you meet Laura at a book event in the future, ask her about O’Casey’s Wish. It tends to travel with her everywhere she goes.
My Review
Éclair and Present Danger is the first book in the Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery series by Laura Bradford. I find it is always more fulfilling if you have read all the books in a series so I am glad to start this series with the first book.
Éclair and Present Danger has bakery owner Winnie being unable to afford the rent on her bakery due to rising rental fees. Luckily she has just inherited an ambulance (and a cat) from one of her elderly neighbours. She comes up with the idea of utilizing the ambulance for an Emergency Dessert Squad service. And it is a hit. But what is going on with her elderly neighbours? When she finds her neighbour Bart dead on his kitchen floor she cannot help wondering who had something to gain.
Éclair and Present Danger is well written and it is an original concept. There are recipes at the end. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
Great cozy mystery. I know you'll enjoy Éclair and Present Danger.
