Spotlight, Excerpt & Giveaway: GUILTY AS CHARRED by Devon Delaney

As part of a blog tour organized by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, today’s post shines a spotlight on Guilty as Charred, A Cook-Off Mystery, by Devon Delaney.

About the Book

Sherry Oliveri has attained celebrity status after winning the America’s Good Taste Recipe Contest with her delectable New England Crab Cake Sliders. But now that she’s back home in Connecticut, she’s got to deal with something else fishy . . .

Sherry’s making a guest appearance on a local radio show when the news comes in: Poppy Robinson has been found dead in the town’s community garden. Sherry was supposed to be taking questions about her win in the national cooking competition, but instead the callers start dishing dirt.

Poppy and Sherry were both involved in the vegetable garden, and while Poppy may have been a bit priggish, it wasn’t anything that called for a shovel to the back of the head. There was already trouble brewing, with the owner of the land threatening to renege on their agreement, and this murder has taken tensions to a new level. Now while Sherry’s organizing a Fourth of July cook-off event, she’s also got a murder investigation on her plate . . .

Includes Recipes from Sherry’s Kitchen!

Scroll to the bottom of this post to read an excerpt.

Giveaway

Enter a rafflecopter for your chance to win one of three print copies of Guilty as Charred.

About the Author

Devon Delaney is a wife, mother of three, accomplished cooking contester, recent empty nester, and lifelong resident of the Northeast. She has been handsomely rewarded for her recipe innovation over the last twenty-plus years, including a full kitchen of major appliances, top cash prizes, and four trips to Disney World. She has also won the Grand Prize in a national writing contest for her “foodie” poem “Ode to Pork Passion.”

Check out Devon’s website at: www.devonpdelaney.com and find her on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/devonpdelaney/

Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Google Play – IndieBound

Follow the tour here for reviews, recipes, guest posts and more.

Read an excerpt:

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 1

“Ma’am, sorry to wake you, but a fellow passenger would like a pillow from the overhead compartment and your trophy is resting on it. Would you mind if I pull the statue down from its comfy spot so I can get the pillow for her?”

Sherry’s eyes opened to the sight of a stewardess hovering over her. Before Sherry could respond to the question, the woman in the blue and gold uniform removed her hand from the storage bin and waved the shiny replica of the United States map mounted on a pedestal.

“Sure,” Sherry answered as she blinked the sleep haze from her eyes.

A man seated across the aisle exclaimed, “Now that’s what I call a trophy.”

Sherry delivered a smile his way. Blushing, he elbowed the woman sporting a navel-orange-size knot of hair on the crown of her head seated beside him.

The woman gasped. “I recognize that trophy. You must be Sherry Oliveri. My husband and I were in the audience at the America’s Good Taste Cook-off and Sherry Oliveri was the name they called to receive that winning trophy. Such a fun name. I must say, even though you were sitting right there, I wouldn’t have known it was you. You don’t look familiar without your cooking apron on. Your hair looks different too. Not as stylishly coiffed as you wore it onstage.”

Sherry reached up to locate the direction her bedhead locks might have oriented themselves during her nap.

“We were so excited when our state won. And excited for you, too, of course. Can I get a picture with you? Herb, get up and take our picture, will you, please?” The woman jabbed Herb’s shoulder repeatedly with the tips of her fingers as if she were poking an avocado to test for ripeness. After Herb hauled himself out of his seat, the woman followed her husband out to the plane’s narrow aisle.

“Me too. I’d like a picture with the winner,” exclaimed a female voice in the neighboring row. She waved her hand frantically.

A man beside the waving woman catapulted out of his seat. The headphones he wore took flight and landed on one of the stewardess’s black flats. He scrambled to collect them and cozied up behind Herb in the increasing queue.

In the midst of shaking off her abbreviated nap hangover, Sherry was helped to her feet by the stewardess, who had taken the liberty of unfastening the seat belt that was the last line of defense against the gathering crowd. Sherry was handed her trophy and guided into the aisle, where she squeezed herself in amongst the bodies. She fidgeted with a snarl of hair that tumbled across her forehead, in hopes of detangling the mess, but gave up the effort when her fingers became ensnared.

She crouched down toward the line leader, whose arm stretched skyward to reach around Sherry’s shoulders.

With Sherry’s back wedged painfully against the edge of another passenger’s seat, Herb clicked his phone’s camera. He pumped his arms in triumph.

“Perfect picture. Thank you so much. My wife had us fly all the way down to Florida to watch the cook-off, and we were so tickled one of our fellow Augustinians took home the grand prize. We’ve been following your cooking career for years. Herb McDonald’s the name, and the woman clutching you like you were the sole remaining slice of bacon at the hotel’s continental breakfast is my wife, Bea. Guess I should learn to be a better cook and she’d hold me that tight more often.”

“Herb, that’s enough. Sit down so Sherry can give her other fans a chance for a picture.”

Excerpt from Guilty as Charred.