A is for Anglophile, which Penelope Parish is fast becoming.
D is for the Duke of Upper Chumley-on-Stoke who has become engaged to Charlotte Danvenport, an American romance writer, much to the dismay of the townspeople.
E is for England where Penelope hopes to recapture her muse.
A is for the accidents Penelope nearly has when forgetting to drive on the left side of the street.
D is for the dreamy detective Brody Maguire who immediately catches Penelope’s eye.
L is for Lady Fiona Innes-Goldthorpe, aka “Figgy” who runs the tea shop inside the Open Book Bookstore and who quickly becomes fast friends and partners in crime with Penelope.
Y is for the young kids shouting “a penny for the guy” at the Guy Fawkes Celebration.
D is for Danvers as in Mrs. Danvers, Penelope’s prickly tuxedo cat.
E is for the English language, which Penelope soon discovers contains words and phrases she’d never heard before like tickety-boo (everything is fine,) bangers and mash (sausages and mashed potatoes) and knackered (very tired.)
D is for the dead body Penelope stumbles over at the Guy Fawkes Day celebration.
I is for India Culpepper, the distant relative of the Duke of Upper Chumley-on-Stoke and a favorite customer of the Open Book’s.
C for Chum, the affectionate name for Upper Chumley-on-Stoke, a delightful town with a cobblestoned street and half-timbered Tudor buildings.
A is for the Aga stove that keeps the kitchen in Penelope’s quaint little cottage warm.
T is for tea, which the British drink all the time (fancy a cuppa?) especially at afternoon tea with assorted dainty sandwiches and pastries. It can also mean someone’s supper.
I is for Icing on the Cake, Upper Chumley’s pastry shop.
O is for the Open Book bookstore on Chumley’s High Street with its diamond paned windows and beamed ceiling.
N is for nothing as in nothing is going to stop Penelope from solving the latest murder even if it means she, herself, nearly gets killed.
Open Book #4
When murder taints writer-in-residence Penelope Parish’s charming British bookshop, she must follow the clues to catch a killer before tempers boil over.
Penelope Parish thought she’d turned the page on her amateur sleuthing days but when the owner of Upper Chumley-on-Stokes’ proposed first high-end gourmet shop is poisoned, the American novelist starts to wonder if she and her quaint British town are in for another rewrite. It turns out that not everyone was a fan of Simeon Foster’s farm-sourced charcuterie and imported pastries—many of the locals were outraged by the potential new competition.
With a full menu of suspects on her hands, this just might be Penelope’s toughest case yet. Luckily, her friends at the Open Book are there to help with every twist of the poisoned pen.
Mystery Cozy | Mystery Book Lover | Mystery Woman Sleuth [Berkley, On Sale: August 1, 2023, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593547175 / ]
Margaret Loudon is the national bestselling author of the Farmer's Daughter Mysteries, the Cranberry Cove Mysteries, and the Gourmet De-Lite Mysteries, written under the name Peg Cochran. She also wrote the Sweet Nothings Lingerie Mysteries under the name Meg London.
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