by: Joyce Tremel
Series: Cider House Mystery
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release Date: January 16, 2024
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Perfect for fans of Amanda Flower and Julie Anne Lindsey, when Kate Mulligan inherits her great uncle’s fruit orchard, she quickly realizes that apples aren’t the only thing that can have rotten cores.
After losing her husband in a terrible car crash, thirty-five-year-old Kate is left to pick up the pieces of her life alone. Although she has physically recovered, she worries her spirit never will. But when she learns that she has inherited a fruit orchard in a small town just outside Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, from her great uncle Stan, she takes this as an opportunity ripe for the picking. Kate knew immediately what to do with it: open a cider house. Her hopeful plans fall far from the tree when she finds the body of the orchard manager, Carl Randolph, leaving her to figure out who is at the core of this murder.
She had been in correspondence with Carl, who had agreed with her brilliant idea of opening a cider house. But not everyone is so quick to buy what she was selling—Uncle Stan’s lawyer, Robert Larabee, paints a less rosy financial outlook of the orchard’s past, present, and future.
Kate discovers that Carl had large, unexplained deposits to his bank account and it becomes clear that either he was blackmailing someone, or someone was paying him to keep quiet. Meanwhile, Kate and her neighbors receive offers to buy their property from a mysterious buyer. And there’s more than meets the eye with the neighboring orchard owner, Daniel Martinez, although Kate can’t quite put her finger on if it’s sweet or sour.
Will she be able to pick out the bad apple among the bunch before it’s too late?
I’m doing well! How about you?
I’m good. Thank you. You are a new to me author. Could you please tell me about yourself?
Sure. I’ve been writing for a lot of years. My first series was the three book Brewing Trouble mysteries. To Brew or Not to Brew—the first in the series—was published in 2015. I also wrote the Homefront News historical mystery series under the pen name Joyce St. Anthony. Both of those books were published in 2022. Personally, my husband and I live in the Laurel Highlands of PA with our two cats, Hops and Lager. We have two sons, two daughters-in-law, and three rambunctious grandsons.
I love the names of your cats. Let’s talk about your Cider House Mystery series. What is the overall series about and what can readers expect from the first book, Deadly to the Core.
So far, I’m only contracted for the first book, but I’m definitely hoping to write more. In Deadly to the Core, my protagonist Kate is making a new start after the tragic death of her husband in a car accident. Kate was seriously injured in the accident. It’s a year later, and she’s still getting used to living without Brian. When her great-uncle wills his fruit orchard to her, she figures it’s just the new start she needs. But of course, someone is murdered and Kate needs to get to the bottom of it.
Tell me about some of the characters readers will meet Deadly to the Core.
I’ve already mentioned Kate above so I’ll jump to the others. Carl Randolph is the orchard manager who has gotten an old barn on the property ready for Kate to open her cidery.
Robert Larabee is the attorney who handled Kate’s uncle’s estate. He’s not keen on Kate’s plans and tells her he has a buyer for the orchard if she’s interested.
Daniel Martinez owns the orchard next door to Kate. He’s a great guy but Kate doesn’t know that at first. After Kate finds the dead victim, she wonders if Daniel had something to do with it since he seems to know an awful lot about dead bodies. Will there eventually be a romance between the two? I won’t tell!
Marguerite Yost is Kate’s childhood friend who owns the café in town. Kate spent summers with her grandmother and great uncle and she and Marguerite were inseparable. They take their friendship up just where it left off.
Can you give me a preview of one of your favorite scenes from Deadly to the Core, and why is it a favorite?
You’re going to make me remember what I actually wrote, lol? One of my favorite scenes takes place in a restaurant with Marguerite and her boyfriend Noah. A character by the name of Cherry Perry (she owns the tea shop in town) comes in and sits with them. She starts spouting off her theories of murder which are totally ridiculous. She’s a really quirky character and they are loads of fun to write. It seems like all my books have at least one quirky character.
When it comes to writing your stories do you begin writing already knowing who the killer is and why they killed or is it a surprise for you?
Sometimes I know and sometimes I don’t. I start with a general outline of a book, but it usually changes a lot as I write. Often, I’ll think I know who the killer is, but then it will change before I get to the end.
What’s next for you and Kate?
I wish I knew! I have an outline for a second book if the publisher gives me the go ahead to write it. I also have an outline for a third Homefront News book. And I’ve started writing a book set in a bed and breakfast.
Thank you so much for your time, Joyce.
Thanks for having me! It’s been fun!
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