Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Blog Tour: Fillet of Murder by Linda Reilly (Review/Book Giveaway/Guest Post)



About the Book

Genre: Cozy Mystery, #1 in A Deep Fried Mystery Series
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Mystery
Release Date: May 2015


Synopsis from Goodreads...

FIRST IN A NEW SERIES!

Talia Marby serves up delectable English deep fried fare in the heart of the Berkshires—but she soon discovers there’s something fishy going on…

Sometimes in this life, you have to fish or cut bait. After walking away from a miserable job and an even worse boyfriend, Talia Marby has no regrets. She’s returned to her hometown and is happy to help her dear friend Bea Lambert by working at Lambert’s Fish & Chips, a cornerstone of a charming shopping plaza designed to resemble an old English village.

But not all the shop owners are charming. Phil Turnbull has been pestering Bea to sign a petition against a new store opening up, and his constant badgering is enough to make her want to boil him in oil. When Talia and Bea stumble upon Turnbull murdered in his shop, the police suspect Bea. Now it’s up to Talia to fish around for clues and hook the real killer before her friend has to trade serving food for serving time…

Includes delicious recipes!


My Review

Things weren’t looking good for Talia Marby after she left a job she hated. Her fiancĂ© didn’t support her decision and they eventually broke up. Looking to start over, Talia moves back to her hometown in the Bershires and helps her friend Bea Lambert at her fish & chips restaurant. Lambert’s Fish & Chips is set in a small town set to look like an old English village complete with cobblestones. Talia figures this is just for a short time while she figures what she really wants to do with her life.

When a fellow shop owner, Phil Turnbull, approaches Bea to sign a petition protesting the opening of a comic book store, things turn nasty when Bea refuses to sign. It’s not long after they fight when Talia and Bea discover Phil’s dead body. He had been murdered in his own shop and Bea is the number one suspect. Talia’s not about to see her friend spend the rest of her life behind bars. She investigates and learns that Bea wasn’t Phil’s only enemy. It’s up to Talia to find the real killer.

First a warning – This book made me hungry right from the start. All I could think about was having deep fried foods and I don’t even eat deep fried foods anymore! LOL

I adored the main character, Talia. She’s strong, intelligent and realistic. Her loyalty to Bea is admirable – it shows she’s a true friend. It’s always nice when the amateur sleuth has a good reason to be sticking her nose into things. In this case, it was to help her best friend.

The setting in New England is quaint and made me want to visit. It’s the perfect setting for a cozy mystery. The secondary characters are vividly portrayed and come to life on each page.

The mystery had me guessing to the very end. This is an excellent start of a brand new series. I love getting in on the ground floor of these cozy series. I feel as if I’m meeting a whole new set of friends and I look forward to my next visit to the Berkshires.



For reading challenges:

2015 Foodies Read Reading Challenge
2015 My Kind of Mystery Reading Challenge
Where are you reading? challenge (Massachusetts)

FTC Disclosure: The publisher provided me with a copy of this book to review for this blog tour. This did not influence my thoughts and opinions in any way. All opinions expressed are my own.



Author Guest Post
by Linda Reilly


It’s all about comfort . . .

What does the expression “comfort food” mean to you? Is it the enticing whiff of a tray of chocolate chip cookies emerging from a warm oven? The aroma of homemade chicken soup simmering in the pot? Or could it be the heady scent of deep-fried goodies fresh from the fryer?

When I was a kid, I was probably one of the pickiest eaters on the planet. (There are those who will tell you I haven’t changed, but don’t listen to them . . . they’re just trouble-makers  :) ) The hit parade of foods I liked consisted of toast with butter, grilled cheese or peanut butter sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, and spaghetti with plain tomato sauce. Oh . . . and chocolate. How I loved my chocolate! I suspect many of my childhood favorites are among yours, too.

So how did I go from turning up my nose at nearly everything to writing a cozy series about an eatery that specializes in delectable, deep-fried fare? It starts, I think, with one basic concept—any food that’s been swirled through batter and fried in sizzling hot oil can’t possibly be anything but scrumptious!

When the Deep Fried series begins, the eatery featured in Fillet of Murder is pretty much a fish and chips shop. Swish a slab of haddock around in batter, plunge it into the deep fry, add some crispy, hand-cut “chips” and a side of tangy coleslaw, and you have yourself one heckuva delicious meal. But in Fillet of Murder, a happy accident occurs. A common side treat offered in most eateries finds its way into the batter, gets fried up nice and golden, and then gets eaten by an unsuspecting character. His first reaction is horror . . . until he pauses to savor the taste.

With that, the eatery’s menu begins to morph from primarily fish and chips into one that offers a variety of deep-fried side dishes. But it also means that my main character, Talia Marby, has to scramble to dream up some new deep-fried recipes! Guess who has to help her? Yup. Me.

Thinking about all the new recipes sent my brain (and Talia’s!) into overload. But then it occurred to me—I was making it all too complicated. The reality is that you can deep-fry almost anything. I was flipping through TV channels recently, and landed on a show in which entire sticks of butter were being dipped in a batter and deep-fried. At first the sheer decadence of it astounded me, but then it struck me . . . gee, I wouldn’t mind trying that. (but not the entire stick . . .)

After a lot of brainstorming, Talia and I came up with some fun, deep-fried side dishes. Deep-fried meatballs drizzled with marinara became one of the first concoctions, along with deep-fried pickle rounds. There are so many more recipes to explore. Gradually we’ve been plumping up the menu, but the possibilities are endless.

So tell me, what are some of your favorite comfort foods?





BOOK GIVEAWAY!!!!

Now it's your chance to win a paperback copy of Fillet of Murder by Linda Reilly? Thanks to Berkley, I have one paperback to giveaway to one lucky winner.

Just a few simple rules...

1) You must fill out the rafflecopter form below.

2) Contest is open to anyone over 18 years old

3) US Residents Only

4) For one extra entry: Tweet about this giveaway.

5) For one extra entry: Tell us your favorite comfort food.

6) For one extra entry:  Follow this blog...old followers, too!  Just let us know how you follow and under what name.

7) For one extra entry: Follow me on Twitter.

8) For one extra entry: Follow or friend me on Goodreads

No purchase necessary.  Void where prohibited.

The giveaway begins on May 13th (midnight est) and ends on May 20th (midnight est).

The winner will be chosen randomly by Rafflecopter. The winner will be notified by email and has 48 hours to respond, otherwise a new winner will be chosen. I will announce the winner here on my blog.

Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

41 comments:

  1. I do love a mystery that keeps you guessing

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  2. looks great, thanks for the chance :)

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  3. anything chocolate is comforting :)

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  4. Just the title of the book made me hungry. Sounds like a good read. My favorite comfort food is cream cheese and jelly then pretzels with a coke a cola.
    Carol Smith
    penelope223(at)yahoo(dot) com

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  5. macaroni and cheese.
    It's soft and warm and gooey.
    Always makes me feel better.
    thanks for the chance to win the book. I'm looking forward to reading it.
    txmlhl@yahoo.com

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  6. My favorite comfort food is easy. It's any kind of mac & cheese. I've been trolling the web looking for the old Horn & Hardart's Mac & Cheese recipe.

    I used to love having lunch there when I worked in the city.

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  7. One comfort food is either cream of mushroom soup or tomato rice soup, especially when I am not feeling well and it is cold and damp out. Kuzlin @aol.com

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  8. Ice cream and cookies.
    CABWNANA1@bellsouth.net

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  9. My favorite comfort food is cheese!

    skkorman AT bellsouth DOT net

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  10. This thoughtful review and all the talk of food make me want to read this book right now. Comfort food for me is macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, and a quick trip to the local McD's used to be needed. Thanks for the giveaway.

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  11. I'd probably have to say vanilla ice cream is my comfort food. The coolness and smooth texture is a wonderful feeling. Thanks for the review. robeader53@yahoo.com

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  12. I have two favorites: macaroni and cheese or chicken and dumplings.... :)

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  13. My favorite comfort food is chicken and dumplings.
    suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com

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  14. The one sounds right up my alley! It calls out to the foodie in me, with a good mystery thrown in.

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  15. My favorite comfort food is Roast Beef and mash potatoes covered with my dark rich gravy! Oh supper!

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  16. Comfirt food? Snow's ® Clam Chowder

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  17. This sounds great...it's going to make me hungry you say, I think that I'll take that risk, LOL. I love your review.

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  18. Oops forgot to mention my favorite comfort food, I have many, I love soft pretzels, but if I'm making dinner it is usually baked mac and cheese.

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  19. This one of the ma.y cat books I have been wanting to read.

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  20. Southern fried chicken&mashed potatoes,

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  21. My favorite comfort food is mac & cheese, but I also love fried chicken.

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  22. Looks really good.mthanks for the chance at a new book.

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  23. My favorite comfort food is mashed potatoes. Second would be chocolate.

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  24. Book sounds wonderful. Thanks for the chance to win.

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  25. One of my favorite comfort foods is lasagna. Thanks!

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  26. My favorite comfort food is chicken and dumplings.

    Nancy
    allibrary (at) aol (dot) com

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  27. I like home made soup, usually wild rice.

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  28. My grandmother's meatloaf is my go to comfort food. I follow the blog via email (dotkel50@comcast.net), bloglovin, and goodreads (Dotty Kelley)

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  29. Favorite comfort food is bacon and eggs! Yum!

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  30. I was so pleased to read all your comments today! Thank you for posting about your favorite comfort foods. Not surprisingly, mac and cheese seems to be a big favorite! I love cheese so much I think of myself as a "cheesehead."

    Good luck to everyone in the giveaway ~
    Linda Reilly

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  31. Looks like great cozy mystery.

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  32. Chocolate is my favorite comfort food. Nice yummy chocolate! ;)
    Thank you for the giveaway.

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  33. Pasta and/or cheese are my favorite comfort foods. This sounds like a great start to a cozy series.

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  34. Well I'm Southern so that would be fried green tomatoes or salmon croquettes.
    Marilyn ewatvess@yahoo.com

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  35. Southern so that would be fried green tomatoes or salmon croquettes if I am really needing comfort...but I do love fish and chips...
    Marilyn ewatvess@yahoo.com

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  36. Macaroni and cheese is my favorite comfort food

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  37. My favorite comfort food is cookie dough ice cream. Thanks for having the giveaway.

    ayancey1974(at)gmail(dot)com

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  38. Potato Kluskis (dumplings)...my Mom still makes them for me if I'm having a bad day.

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  39. French fries, chocolate, pizza!!

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