Fete Worse Than Death (9781101595138) (31 page)

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7-MINUTE ICING

Blend all ingredients in a sauce pan. Put sauce pan over boiling water, and beat with electric beater for seven minutes.

Many readers have e-mailed me to inquire about the actual location of Hemlock Falls and Summersville, where Quill and Austin McKenzie have their adventures. They lie somewhere between the real-life villages of Trumansburg and Hector in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. If you check out the map, Hemlock Falls is on the lower northwest side of Cayuga Lake (or would be, if it existed). I’ve located Summersville on the lower southeast side of Seneca. Savvy readers will notice right away that I needed to relocate Dresden to the southeast side of Seneca; for that, I hope you will forgive me!

With its gorges, waterfalls, freshwater lakes, and rich farmland, the Finger Lakes region is extraordinarily beautiful. At the time I write this, the region’s vineyards are producing some of the best Rieslings in the world. The area has bountiful peach, apple, and cherry orchards, cheese- and homemade-ice-cream-producing dairies, and wonderful organic farms that grow a cornucopia of vegetables. Our jellies, jams, and relishes are unique.

We don’t have an annual Finger Lakes Autumn Fete; we do have summerlong festivals showcasing our area’s
rich food and wine bounty. We have wonderful places to stay overnight, even lovelier than the Inn I created for Meg and Quill. And there is a place much like my fictional Bonne Goute Culinary Academy; it’s the New York Wine & Culinary Center, on the shores of Canandaigua Lake. Interested readers can search the Internet for the Finger Lakes Tourism Bureau.

I’ve lived in upstate New York for more than thirty years—and to my amazement, the United States government created an underwater weapons testing facility on the shores of Seneca Lake. It’s tucked away in the little town of Dresden. The facility never tested nuclear weapons—that’s a function of my imagination—but the site exists and is in operation as of this writing.

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Berkley Prime Crime titles by Mary Stanton

DEFENDING ANGELS

ANGEL’S ADVOCATE

AVENGING ANGELS

ANGEL’S VERDICT

ANGEL CONDEMNED

Titles by Mary Stanton writing as Claudia Bishop

Hemlock Falls Mysteries

A TASTE FOR MURDER

A DASH OF DEATH

A PINCH OF POISON

MURDER WELL-DONE

DEATH DINES OUT

A TOUCH OF THE GRAPE

A STEAK IN MURDER

MARINADE FOR MURDER

JUST DESSERTS

FRIED BY JURY

A PUREE OF POISON

BURIED BY BREAKFAST

A DINNER TO DIE FOR

GROUND TO A HALT

A CAROL FOR A CORPSE

TOAST MORTEM

DREAD ON ARRIVAL

A FETE WORSE THAN DEATH

Casebooks of Dr. McKenzie Mysteries

THE CASE OF THE ROASTED ONION

THE CASE OF THE TOUGH-TALKING TURKEY

THE CASE OF THE ILL-GOTTEN GOAT

Anthologies

A PLATEFUL OF MURDER

DEATH IN TWO COURSES