Throughout the year, each new month honors many different industries, people, things, concepts—if you can think of something, it’s no doubt honored during one of our twelve months. In addition to October being noted for Halloween, it also celebrates National Chess Day, National Pasta Day, National Walk to School Day, and … drumroll, please … National Cookie Month. Not just one day, but the whole month!
Who doesn’t love a warm chocolate chip cookie (or snickerdoodle, or gingersnap, or …) and a cup of tea or glass of milk when you’re settling down with your brand new mystery, fresh from the book store and ready to challenge your inner sleuth?
In fact, there’s a scene in Vengeance at the Vineyard when orange marmalade biscuits—cookies, in American parlance—played an important role in the story:
He crossed to where she was sitting and offered the gift. She raised an eyebrow and took the present, then adjusted the red bow so it was a little perkier. “Is this from you?”
“It is not,” he lied. “Ms. Conway, I am here for two reasons. The first is to bring you these marmalade biscuits from your mother. I understand they are your favorites.”
In spite of herself, Olivia looked like a child as she pulled the tail of the ribbon, eyes glistening, lips slightly parted. It came easily undone. Wallace watched as she opened the box and a smile of anticipation tugged at her lips. She looked up at Wallace then back at the box and plucked a cookie from the package. His eyes were riveted to the pastry as she brought it to her mouth. He watched her teeth bite into the biscuit and her full lips close over the bite.
Ooooh, I wonder what happens next! 😉
For a recent “Book Signing and Bubbly” for Fortune’s Final Frenzy, the last in the Crosswick Mystery series, we had the loveliest cookies made by a talented local artist, who recreated the book cover in sugar cookie form. They were a huge hit and perfect accompaniment as readers joined my husband Tom and me for a cozy evening with Philip and Genevieve Warwick’s final adventure, as they chase a murderer and uncover stolen art during a blizzard in the Austrian Alps.
