A Holiday Homicide (A Secret Bookcase Mystery Book 4) by Ellie Alexander

Author:Ellie Alexander [Alexander, Ellie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Storm Publishing
Published: 2024-11-20T00:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

Pri had already arrived and was nearly set up when I finished my conversation with Dr. Caldwell.

“You ready for some serious caffeination?” She looked adorable with her long, dark hair tied into two braids with peppermint-striped ribbons. She wore a matching red and white long-sleeve T-shirt under her Cryptic apron. Her heart-shaped cheeks glowed underneath the incandescent lights.

“You’re festive this morning,” I said, greeting her with a hug.

“It’s all part of my caffeinated Christmas theme.” She spread her arm over the coffee-tasting display. Carafes of different holiday blends were intermixed with pitchers of cream, eggnog, oat milk, and various house-made syrups. Flickering tea lights and bundles of mistletoe gave the table an extra special touch.

“It looks like you brought the entire store with you.” I wafted the scent of the strong cinnamon spice coffee closer to my nose. “That, or you’re setting up Santa’s own roastery here, which, by the way, I would not complain about.”

“I sort of did. I couldn’t skimp. We promised the people holiday coffee and holiday coffee they shall get.” She filled a cup and handed it to me. “Try this. It’s my Plum Pudding with notes of plums, cranberries, and warming spices. I’ve been drinking it nonstop the last few days.”

Drinking her coffee was an otherworldly experience. I closed my eyes and drank in the bright notes of the jammy fruit. “I’ve never had plum pudding, but I would bet this is exactly how it tastes.”

“We’ll have to ask Hal. I got the recipe from him.” Pri arranged tasting cups and pretty snowflake napkins. “How long do you want me to talk? You know me, once I get started on coffee, I can go forever, so rein me in. Rein me in.”

I chuckled. “I have you slotted for thirty minutes. If you’re up for it, we can open the floor for questions, and then Dayton will do his gingerbread demo after you.”

“Is he actually baking live? How?” She shot a glance at the empty table nearby. “Is he bringing an Easy-Bake Oven?”

“No. He pre-baked everything. He’ll go over techniques with a slideshow.”

“Okay, that makes so much more sense.” She poured herself a cup of the holiday blend. “Have you heard the fallout from him posting his recipe?”

“What fallout? No.” I shook my head, my curiosity piquing.

“Yeah, I follow him on social because he’s sent quite a few students our way for jobs. He did a collection of posts about the competition. There were a bunch of photos of the students prepping their gingerbread bakes in the high school culinary kitchen and pictures from yesterday. He also shared his recipe, but then he got a ton of backlash and ended up taking it down.”

“What kind of backlash?”

“Backlash from Lily’s fans.” Pri knocked back her coffee like it was a shot. “They railed on him for stealing her recipe.”

“Stealing her recipe?” I sipped my drink. The longer I tasted it, the more flavor came out on my tongue. I picked up a hint of honey and warming spices.

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