If Cooks Could Kill (28 page)

Authors: Joanne Pence

BOOK: If Cooks Could Kill

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For once Angie's newest culinary venture, “Comical Cakes,” seems to be a roaring success! But in
BELL, COOK, AND CANDLE,
there's nothing funny about her boyfriend Paavo's latest caseâa series of baffling murders that may be rooted in satanic ritual. And it gets harder to focus on pastry alone when strange “accidents” and desecrations to her baked creations begin occurring with frightening regularityâleaving Angie to wonder whether she may end up as devil's food of a different kind.

Angie was beside herself. She'd been called to go to a house to discuss baking cakes for a party of twenty, and yet no one was there when she arrived. This was the second time that had happened to her. Was someone playing tricks, or were people really so careless as to make appointments and then not keep them?

She really didn't have time for this. But at least she was getting smart. She'd brought a cake with her that had to be delivered to a horse's birthday party not far from her appointment. She never thought she'd be baking cakes for a horse, but Heidi was being boarded some forty miles outside the city, and the owner visited her on weekends only. That was why the owner wanted a Comical Cake of the mare.

Angie couldn't imagine eating something that
looked like a beloved pet or animal. She was meeting real ding-a-lings in this line of work.

Still muttering to herself about the thoughtlessness of the public, she got into her new car. A vaguely familiar yet disquieting smell hit her. A stain smeared the bottom of the cake box. She peered closer. The smell was stronger, and the bottom of the box was wet.

She opened the driver's side door, ready to jump out of the car as her hand slowly reached for the box top. Thoughts of flies and toads pounded her. What now?

She flipped back the lid and shrank away from it.

Nothing moved. Nothing jumped out.

Poor Heidi was now a bright-red color, but it wasn't frosting. The familiar smell was blood, and it had been poured on her cake. Shifting the box, she saw that it had seeped through onto the leather seat and was dripping to the floor mat.

About the Author

JOANNE PENCE
was born and raised in San Francisco, the setting for her Angie Amalfi mystery series. A graduate of U.C. Berkeley with a master's degree in journalism and a Phi Beta Kappa key, Joanne has taught school in Japan, written for magazines, and worked as an operations analyst. Her background, as well as her Italian and Spanish heritage, is reflected in her series. She lives in Idaho with her husband, sons, and a multitude of pets.

For information about Joanne, her books, and some great recipes, visit Joanne's website at
www.joannepence.com
. She would love to hear from you via e-mail at [email protected], or by writing to PO Box 64, Eagle, ID 83616-0064.

Visit
www.ÂAuthorTracker.Âcom
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Praise
for Joanne Pence's
Angie Amalfi Mysteries

“A winnerâ¦Angie is a character unlike any other found in the genre.”

Santa Rosa Press Democrat

“Deliciously wickedâ¦Don't miss one tasty bite.”

Jacqueline Girder

“High energy and a high fun factorâ¦Joanne Pence has an amazing knack for building fascinating characters and compelling plotlines.”

Romantic Times

“[Pence] titillates the sense, provides a satisfying read, and arouses a hunger for yet another book in this great series.”

Crescent Blues Reviews

“If you love books by Diane Mott Davidson or Denise Dietz, you will love this series. It's as refreshing as lemon sherbet and just as delicious.”

Under the Covers

“Pence's tongue-in-cheek humor keeps us grinning.”

San Francisco Chronicle

Other Angie Amalfi Mysteries by
Joanne Pence

B
ELL
, C
OOK, AND
C
ANDLE

T
O
C
ATCH A
C
OOK

A C
OOK IN
T
IME

C
OOKS
O
VERBOARD

C
OOK'S
N
IGHT
O
UT

C
OOKING
M
OST
D
EADLY

C
OOKING
U
P
T
ROUBLE

T
OO
M
ANY
C
OOKS

S
OMETHING'S
C
OOKING

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

IF COOKS COULD KILL
. Copyright Â© 2003 by Joanne Pence. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Library of Congress data available upon request.

EPub Edition JANUARY 2012 ISBN: 9780062191151

Print Edition ISBN: 9780060548216

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Publisher

Australia

HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street

Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

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Canada

HarperCollins Canada