A Dead Red Cadillac - R. P. Dahlke, Author

SWISS GREEN BEAN SALAD

 (A favorite recipe from R. P. Dahlke)

1 ½ lbs fresh green beans-stringed

1/3lb. julienned cheddar cheese

½ C. slivered almonds

½ C. chopped each: olives, green bell pepper & red bell pepper

DRESSING:

5 T. Lemon juice

2 large cloves garlic

½ olive oil

½ tsp Tarragon

1 tsp. dill week

Dash pepper and salt

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

½ C. fresh parsley

Steam green beans until dark green but still crisp—drain and cool

Add dressing, cheese, etc.

Cover and chill overnight

Lasts in Fridge until your friends eat it all gone! 

A Dead Red Cadillac – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

‘I hung up, and with hands that palsied, I grabbed the nearest set of keys and drove our old farm truck into Modesto.  I ignored the familiar rattling of the loose drive shaft, the torn vinyl headliner, the missing door handle, and the growing spider web of broken windshield on the passenger side.  The drive was a no-brainer, one where I can easily divide my attention between the road and work schedules before hitting the outskirts of the nearest mall.  But, not today.  I couldn’t stop thinking about Caleb’s words.  Of all the answers to the whereabouts of my car, not in a million years would I have guessed that my Caddy would be found tail fins sticking out of the shallow end of Turlock Lake.  And behind the wheel, neatly buckled into her safety belt, was none other than the blue ribbon winner in this year’s county fair’s jam making contest, Patience McBride.’

Lalla Bains has had a few mishaps in the last few days.  Her Ag-CAT plowed into a row of tomatoes while making an emergency landing, breaking her leg.  Her dad, who owns the plane and the crop dusting company that she was flying for, would never believe it wasn’t pilot carelessness that caused her to make a crash landing.  And now her best friend Caleb, who is also the sheriff, has just informed her that he has found her bright red Caddy in the lake with a dead body in the driver’s seat.  So she can’t fly and now she can’t even drive her luxury car around town.

Patience McBride was a widow who kept to herself and never bothered anyone, so why would anyone kill her?  Well, since it was Lalla’s car she was in and she herself has become a suspect, Lalla has decided to find out.  Her first suspect becoming Patience’s nephew who appears in town around the same time as her murder.  He seems to be quite a smooth talking con artist, especially with the women, Lalla included.  Making him less and less of a suspect in her eyes but not in Caleb’s.  The confusion really starts when Eddy steps into the picture.  After taking a couple of shots at Lalla, in her own home, she is able to knock him out with a book end only to have her own father Noah turn him lose.

Another roller coaster ride of suspects and murders.  Author R P Dahlke has given us the works with A Dead Red Cadillac – murder, mystery, suspense and humor.  About half way through the book I was given 1 clue that lead me to the person I felt was the killer.  The more I read, the more I doubted my conclusion.  It wasn’t until the end the last few pages that I was able to determine if I was right or wrong.

Amazon page for A DEAD RED CADILLAC, available as Kindle @$2.99 and as a trade paperback @$12.95 http://tinyurl.com/675v9bc

 

The Fasion Police - Sibel Hodge, Author

• From The Fashion Police
• Amber's Mum's recipe for
• Marinara Pasta
• (by author Sibel Hodge)
•  
• 2 tbs olive oil, plus extra to toss
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 cup (250ml) dry white wine
• 3 tbs tomato paste
• 2 x 410g cans crushed tomatoes
• 500g spaghetti
• 500g mixed seafood (squid, prawns, scallops)
• 300g black mussels, washed, de-bearded
• 2 tbs chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, add onion and cook for 3-4 minutes or until softened.
2. Add garlic and wine, and simmer 2 minutes. Add paste and crushed tomatoes, and simmer 15-20 minutes further, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened. Season well.
3. Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente. Drain and toss in a little olive oil.
4. Add marinara mix and mussels to tomato sauce, cover with lid and cook 3-4 minutes over medium-high heat, discarding any mussels that do not open.
5. Stir in parsley, then toss the sauce through the pasta and serve 

The Fashion Police – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

‘This was going to be a piece of cake.  I would just sneak around, posing as an inconspicuous shopper, and snap a few pictures of Clark stacking shelves.  Why had I been so worried about this job?  It was ridiculously easy.  I heaved through the horde of shoppers, scanned the crowd for signs of any shelf-stocking activity.  There was nothing going on in the fruit and veggies aisle, so I picked up a bag of bananas and wandered off in search of Clark.  The bakery section was quiet and boring, except for the yummy smell of freshly baked bread.  Ditto for the condiments aisle, the dairy isle, and the cereal aisle.  Maybe there was a special time of day when all the shelf-stockers were let out in a frenzy, and I’d missed it.  I stood in front of the toiletries with the idea that if I stood there long enough, Clark would come to me.  I could wait until closing time if need be, no problem.  As it turned out, I lasted about ten minutes.  I was reading the directions on a box of teeth-whitening strips when I heard a rustling sound coming from my bag of bananas.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the bananas begin to move.  Wait a sec, bananas don’t move.  I stared at the bag as my hands shook.  Nope, the bananas weren’t moving at all.  It was a ginormous tarantula inside the bag that was moving, tapping on the plastic with its hairy foot.  I froze, hardly daring to breath.  Omigod!  Spider!  In my mental world, I was screaming my head off, but in the real world, I think my mouth was just wide open with no sound coming out.  I threw the bag on the floor and rocketed out to the parking lot faster than the speed of light, probably warp factor ten at least…Paul Clark and Brad would just have to wait.

Amber Fox is a former Detective Sergeant who was given the choice by Detective Chief Inspector Janice Skipper to either resign or be “resigned.”  This all took place after Amber accidently shot Janice in the rear while both were on the firing range one day.  Janice said it was intentional, Amber said it was an accident.  Either way, Amber resigned and went to work for her former fiancé Brad who was owner of Hi-Tec Insurance.  Brad hired Amber to do check out some of the insurance claims he had received by a few clients that weren’t exactly reputable.  One claim was by Paul Clark who insisted that he had hurt his back and could no longer work.  That’s when Amber discovered him working as a stocker at the local grocery store.  Through her surveillance she also discovered that she probably wouldn’t be buying bananas from this store in the future.  Added to her work load was the job of planting “bugs” hidden in pens throughout the offices of fashion designer Umberto Fandango.  This job turned out to be a bummer too when it was discovered that the pens weren’t working correctly.  And Amber’s decision to go back to the offices to replace the pens, she discovers that Fandango is missing and due to the amount of blood at the scene, he just might possibly be dead.

The Fashion Police is one of the funniest murder mysteries I’ve ever read.  Amber isn’t a klutz but she sure finds herself in some really dangerous but funny situations.  Amber finds her dad, recently retired from the police force, dressed in women’s clothes.  His former drug sniffing police dog has some really strange commands.  And when she runs into a couple of goons named Sally and Tracy, she inflicts problems on them that will have your laughing out loud.   But I didn’t tell you the best part.   Her former ex Brad and her policeman boyfriend Romeo are both in love with her and want her for themselves.  Amber has decided that she actually loves both and just in case one doesn’t work out she might better hang onto both.  Oh yeah, Janice has made it known that she will stop at nothing to wreak havoc on Amber’s life and see that she loses everything, especially Romeo in the process.

So, if you like a good laugh along with your murder, The Fashion Police is a book you don’t want to miss out on.

2009