Edith/Maddie here, from a suddenly chillier north of Boston.
Perfect mittens weather, you might think. Well, it’s not quite that chilly yet, but we’ll get there.
And I admit I’m a confirmed mittens gal, having chronically cold hands (Hugh claims I have no circulatory system). I can’t wear gloves. They just make my poor isolated fingers freeze. Believe me, I’ve tried gloves of all kinds.
No, we’re here to celebrate today’s release of Christmas Mittens Murder , the novella collection that includes my “Murderous Mittens” novella!
I’m delighted to share the collection with the acclaimed and popular Lee Hollis and Lynn Cahoon. Here’s the blurb for my novella:
A quiet Christmas in north of San Francisco Colinas, California, at her twin sister’s charming B&B is exactly what Cece Barton needs during the holiday hustle of Los Angeles. But the morning after a lovely evening at the local wine bar, Cece learns that the bar’s proprietor, who sells mittens in her spare time, has been found dead. Her horrified twin becomes one of the main suspects. Can Cece, with the help of visiting farmer-sleuth Cam Flaherty from Massachusetts, unmask the merry murderer before this becomes a holiday from hell?
So, yes – the novella actually debuts my new Cece Barton Mysteries. “Murderous Mittens” introduces the town of Colinas, twin Allie and her family, the wine bar called Vino y Vida, and the opportunity for Cece to move north to Colinas from her home in Pasadena.
Additional yes, that’s Cam Flaherty from the Local Foods Mysteries (originally written as Edith Maxwell books) mentioned in the blurb. Cam is visiting California farms to pick up some new techniques. When my editor at Kensington suggested I might want to include Cam, I jumped at the chance. (For readers who haven’t read the Local Foods series yet, Kensington has re-released them as Maddie Day ebooks .)
As I might have mentioned before, I like the novella length, which is approximately a third of a novel. I don’t hesitate when my editor asks if I can fit writing one into my schedule.
In the novella, Cece’s adorable nephews bake Christmas cookies with their dad. In further celebration of release day, I baked some mitten-shaped cookies.
I used my grandmother Ruth’s English Butter Cookie recipe, which I copied onto a recipe card in high school, now well-used, and my brand-new mitten cookie cutter. And the cookies came out crisp, sweet, and buttery.
I wish I could share the cookies with all of you, but instead I can send a US commenter one of my special new wine tote bags! (If you don’t drink wine, you can carry anything in it. How about a baguette and a bouquet of flowers?) Wine not included…
Readers : What’s your favorite holiday sweet? What do you think of novellas? And are you a mittens or a gloves person when the weather turns cold?
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