Stake & Eggs
Authors: Laura Childs
PRAISE FOR
Bedeviled Eggs
“Childs dishes up plenty of small-town charm.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A recipe for success from a talented author.”
—Richmond Times-Dispatch
“As warming as a mug of hot chocolate on a cold evening.”
—RT Book Reviews
Eggs Benedict Arnold
“A delicious platter of thrilling whodunit, with a side of friendship and humor for
dessert.”
—Las Vegas Review-Journal
“Extremely entertaining amateur-sleuth mystery wrapped inside a sisterhood tale.”
—Genre Go Round Reviews
“Another tasty treat.”
—Richmond Times-Dispatch
Eggs in Purgatory
“Tasty and fun.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“With a plot that holds interest and characters who are well-envisioned and well-executed,
Childs will have readers planning another trip to the Cackleberry Club and its treats.”
—Richmond Times-Dispatch
“Childs excels at creating comforting settings in which to put her characters, and
the Cackleberry Club is a place you’d like to visit.”
—St. Paul Pioneer Press
“Has plenty of humor, emotion, good food (with recipes), and fantastic plotlines to
make it another success story.”
—Fresh Fiction
PRAISE FOR THE
SCRAPBOOKING MYSTERIES
BY LAURA CHILDS
“Childs rounds out the story with several scrapbooking and crafting tips plus a passel
of mouthwatering Louisiana recipes.”
—Publishers Weekly
“The heroine is a plucky, strong, and independent woman who takes charge when necessary
as she is the original steel magnolia.”
—The Best Reviews
“If you are a scrapbooker and like to read, then Laura Childs’s Scrapbooking Mystery
series is for you! These books are so great that I just couldn’t put them down! I
just can’t wait for the next one to be released.”
—BellaOnline
“Scrapbook aficionados rejoice! Ms. Childs creates a charming mystery series with
lively, quirky characters and plenty of how-to…Serving up some hors d’oeuvres of murder
and mystery, creativity and fashion, she has a winning formula to get even the laziest
of us in a scrapbooking mood.”
—Fresh Fiction
“An entertaining who-done-it.”
—Midwest Book Review
“Childs does an excellent job of weaving suspense with great tips for scrapbooking
and crafting aficionados.”
—I Love A Mystery
PRAISE FOR THE TEA SHOP MYSTERIES
BY LAURA CHILDS
Featured Selection of the Mystery Book Club
“Highly recommended” by the Ladies’ Tea Guild
“A delightful read…Childs has an eye for great local color.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A paean to Charleston, the genteel enjoyment of tea, and the tasty treats that accompany
it.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Murder suits Laura Childs to a Tea.”
—St. Paul Pioneer Press
“Tea lovers, mystery lovers, [this] is for you. Just the right blend of cozy fun and
clever plotting.”
—Susan Wittig Albert, bestselling author of
Cat’s Claw
“It’s a delightful book!”
—Tea: A Magazine
“Will warm readers the way a good cup of tea does…A delightful series that will leave
readers feeling as if they have shared a warm cup of tea on Church Street in Charleston.”
—The Mystery Reader
“This mystery series could single-handedly propel the tea shop business in this country
to the status of wine bars and bustling coffee houses.”
—Buon Gusto
“If you devoured Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden, this new series is right up your alley.”
—The Goose Creek (SC) Gazette
“Gives the reader a sense of traveling through the streets and environs of the beautiful,
historic city of Charleston.”
—Minnetonka (MN) Lakeshore Weekly News
Berkley Prime Crime titles by Laura Childs
Tea Shop Mysteries
DEATH BY DARJEELING
GUNPOWDER GREEN
SHADES OF EARL GREY
THE ENGLISH BREAKFAST MURDER
THE JASMINE MOON MURDER
CHAMOMILE MOURNING
BLOOD ORANGE BREWING
DRAGONWELL DEAD
THE SILVER NEEDLE MURDER
OOLONG DEAD
THE TEABERRY STRANGLER
SCONES & BONES
AGONY OF THE LEAVES
Scrapbooking Mysteries
KEEPSAKE CRIMES
PHOTO FINISHED
BOUND FOR MURDER
MOTIF FOR MURDER
FRILL KILL
DEATH SWATCH
TRAGIC MAGIC
FIBER & BRIMSTONE
SKELETON LETTERS
POSTCARDS FROM THE DEAD
Cackleberry Club Mysteries
EGGS IN PURGATORY
EGGS BENEDICT ARNOLD
BEDEVILED EGGS
STAKE & EGGS
Anthology
DEATH BY DESIGN
•LAURA CHILDS•
Stake & Eggs
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the
product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance
to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is
entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume
any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as
written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs
that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse
reactions to the recipes contained in this book.
STAKE & EGGS
A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with the author
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Berkley Prime Crime mass-market edition / November 2012
Copyright © 2012 by Gerry Schmitt & Associates, Inc.
Excerpt from
Sweet Tea Revenge
by Laura Childs copyright © 2012 by Gerry Schmitt & Associates, Inc.
Cover illustration by Lee White.
Cover design by Annette Fiore Defex.
Interior text design by Kristin del Rosario.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or
electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy
of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized
editions.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
ISBN: 978-1-101-61330-6
BERKLEY
®
PRIME CRIME
Berkley Prime Crime Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
BERKLEY
®
PRIME CRIME and the PRIME CRIME logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is
stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither
the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
| ALWAYS LEARNING | PEARSON |
For my husband, Dr. Bob,
who was scheduled to retire, but taught
an additional six years so I could have my shot
at mystery writing.
Heartfelt thanks to Sam, Maureen, Tom, Niti, Jennie, Dan, Dawn, and all the designers,
illustrators, writers, and sales folk at Berkley Prime Crime. You all do so much!
And a special thank-you to all the booksellers, reviewers, librarians, bloggers, and
wonderful readers who have helped put
Eggs Benedict Arnold
and
Bedeviled Eggs
, the previous books in this series, on the
New York Times
bestsellers list. Who would have ever thought a couple of funky little cozies about
three middle-aged women would land
there
?