by: Lena Gregory
Series: All-Day Breakfast Café Mystery
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release Date: January 23, 2018
Publisher: Kensington ~ Lyrical Underground
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | Google | Goodreads
For Florida diner owner Gia Morelli, there’s no such thing as too much breakfast—unless it kills you . . .
When Gia Morelli’s marriage falls apart, she knows it’s time to get out of New York. Her husband was a scam artist who swindled half the millionaires in town, and she doesn’t want to be there when they decide to take revenge. On the spur of the moment, she follows her best friend to a small town in Central Florida, where she braves snakes, bears, and giant spiders to open a cheery little diner called the All-Day Breakfast Café. Owning a restaurant has been her lifelong dream, but it turns into a nightmare the morning she opens her dumpster and finds her ex-husband crammed inside. As the suspect du jour, Gia will have to scramble fast to prove her innocence before a killer orders another cup of murder . . .
She pulled the door shut behind her to keep the steam in, then grabbed pajamas from the suitcase on her bed. They were the same ones she’d slept in last night, but who cared? It was better than searching through boxes for something clean.
A loud crash shattered the silence.
Gia dropped her pajamas. Where was her cell phone? She patted her pockets but came up empty. Her purse. She’d thrown it in her purse before she’d left the shop. And her purse was in the kitchen. Even though the house was small, the kitchen seemed a million miles away. She looked around for something she could use as a makeshift weapon and saw her cordless phone sitting on its base on the nightstand.
Oh, thank you, Savannah!
She grabbed it and punched in 911, then waited in the silence.
Silence. Except for the sound of the bath water running, complete silence enveloped her. Having lived her whole life smack in the middle of New York City, silence was a new concept. One she wasn’t sure she liked.
“Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?”
She jumped, startled by the voice in her ear. What was she doing? This was ridiculous. She couldn’t call 911 every time she heard a noise.
“Hello?”
She was living on the outskirts of a forest. Certainly there were animals that made noise. What had Savannah said? Bears? Bears were big. They probably made a lot of noise. She swallowed the lump clogging her throat and hit the button to end the call.
That was it. Since she couldn’t open the shop anyway, first thing on tomorrow’s to-do list was go to the shelter and pick out a dog. A big dog. She clutched the phone and started down the hallway. She’d just double check everything was locked, then go take her bath.
She could tell from the kitchen doorway the deadbolt on the back door was turned, but she crossed the room and checked it anyway. Maybe she’d dig out the teapot after all. Not like she had to get up early for anything. A warm bath, a pot of tea, and her new book. Sounded like the perfect night.
Three heavy thuds stopped her short. The phone slid out of her sweat-soaked hand and hit the tile floor with a crack. She scrambled to pick it back up.
A loud crash shattered the silence.
Gia dropped her pajamas. Where was her cell phone? She patted her pockets but came up empty. Her purse. She’d thrown it in her purse before she’d left the shop. And her purse was in the kitchen. Even though the house was small, the kitchen seemed a million miles away. She looked around for something she could use as a makeshift weapon and saw her cordless phone sitting on its base on the nightstand.
Oh, thank you, Savannah!
She grabbed it and punched in 911, then waited in the silence.
Silence. Except for the sound of the bath water running, complete silence enveloped her. Having lived her whole life smack in the middle of New York City, silence was a new concept. One she wasn’t sure she liked.
“Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?”
She jumped, startled by the voice in her ear. What was she doing? This was ridiculous. She couldn’t call 911 every time she heard a noise.
“Hello?”
She was living on the outskirts of a forest. Certainly there were animals that made noise. What had Savannah said? Bears? Bears were big. They probably made a lot of noise. She swallowed the lump clogging her throat and hit the button to end the call.
That was it. Since she couldn’t open the shop anyway, first thing on tomorrow’s to-do list was go to the shelter and pick out a dog. A big dog. She clutched the phone and started down the hallway. She’d just double check everything was locked, then go take her bath.
She could tell from the kitchen doorway the deadbolt on the back door was turned, but she crossed the room and checked it anyway. Maybe she’d dig out the teapot after all. Not like she had to get up early for anything. A warm bath, a pot of tea, and her new book. Sounded like the perfect night.
Three heavy thuds stopped her short. The phone slid out of her sweat-soaked hand and hit the tile floor with a crack. She scrambled to pick it back up.
Pre-Order Scone Cold Killer from:
The All-Day Breakfast Café Series:
The second book in the series, Murder Made to Order, releases June 19, 2018.
Lena lives in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island with her husband and three children.
When she was growing up, she spent many lazy afternoons on the beach, in the yard, anywhere she could find to curl up with a good book. She loves reading as much now as she did then, but she now enjoys the added pleasure of creating her own stories.
Places to find Lena Gregory:
Follow
Thank you so much for sharing the release of Scone Cold Killer!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. Congratulations on the release. I can't believe you have two books coming within about two weeks!
DeleteThank you. I know! I can't believe they ended up releasing so close to each other. It's going to be a crazy two weeks for sure. Lol
DeleteWell, I'm definitely looking forward to reading both books.
DeleteThank you for featuring SCONE COLD KILLER!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome.
Delete