Still Life in Brunswick Stew

“Reinhart’s country-fried mystery is as much fun as a ride on the Tilt-a-Whirl at a state fair. Her sleuth wields a paintbrush and unravels clues with equal skill and flair. Readers who like a little small-town charm with their mysteries will enjoy Reinhart’s series.”

— Denise Swanson,

New York Times
Bestselling Author of the Scumble River and Devereaux’s Dime Store Mysteries

“Still Life in Brunswick Stew proves beyond doubt that Larissa Reinhart and her delightful amateur sleuth Cherry Tucker will be around to entertain us for many books to come.”

– Lois Winston,

Author of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series

“Cherry Tucker finds trouble without even looking for it, and plenty of it finds her in Still Life in Brunswick Stew…this mystery keeps you laughing and guessing from the first page to the last. A whole-hearted five stars.”

– Denise Grover Swank,

New York Times
and
USA Today
Bestselling Author

“Reinhart lined up suspects like a pinsetter in a bowling alley, and darned if I could figure out which ones to knock down... Loaded with Southern charm. Can’t wait to see what Cherry paints herself into next.”

– Donnell Ann Bell,

Bestselling Author of
The Past Came Hunting

“The hilariously droll Larissa Reinhart cooks up a quirky and entertaining page-turner! This charming mystery is delightfully Southern, surprisingly edgy, and deliciously unpredictable.”

– Hank Phillippi Ryan,

Agatha, Anthony and Macavity Award-Winning Author

PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY

“
Portrait of a Dead Guy
is an entertaining mystery full of quirky characters and solid plotting…Highly recommended for anyone who likes their mysteries strong and their mint juleps stronger!”

— Jennie Bentley,

New York Times
Bestselling Author of
Flipped Out

“Reinhart is a truly talented author and this book was one of the best cozy mysteries we reviewed this year…We highly recommend this book to all lovers of mystery books. Our Rating: 4.5 Stars.”

—
Mystery Tribune

“The tone of this marvelously cracked book is not unlike Sophie Littlefield’s brilliant
A Bad Day for Sorry
, as author Reinhart dishes out shovelfuls of ribald humor and mayhem.”

– Betty Webb,
Mystery Scene Magazine

“
Portrait of a Dead Guy
is pure enjoyment, a laugh out loud mystery with some Southern romance thrown in. Five stars.”

— Lynn Farris,

National Mystery Review Examiner at Examiner.com

“Larissa Reinhart’s masterfully crafted whodunit,
Portrait of a Dead Guy
, provides high-octane action with quirky, down-home characters and a trouble-magnet heroine who’ll steal readers’ hearts.”

—Debby Giusti,

Author of
The Captain’s Mission
and
The Colonel’s Daughter

“A fun, fast-paced read and a rollicking start to her Cherry Tucker Mystery Series. If you like your stories southern-fried with a side of romance, this book’s for you!”

— Leslie Tentler,

Author of
Midnight Caller

A Cherry Tucker Mystery

Part of the Henery Press Mystery Collection

First Edition

Digital Kindle edition | May 2013

Henery Press

www.henerypress.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Henery Press, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Copyright
©
2012 by Larissa Hoffman

Cover illustration by Jessie Porter

Author photograph by Scott Asano

This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ISBN-13: 978-1-938383-43-4

Printed in the United States of America

I would like to thank the following:

John Peterson for your expertise in poisonous farming substances.

Vicki Locey and Cheryl Crowder for your goat expertise.

Officer John Upole for giving me such great information about the life of a rookie officer in small town Georgia. And to Mayor Jim Sells of Grantville, Georgia for helping me find a police officer willing to listen to my odd questions.

Palmarin Merges, a real-life Cherry Tucker, for sharing your gallery knowledge.

D.P. Lyle, MD, for teaching such a wonderful class about toxins it made me wish to poison people in every story I write (but I won’t).

Dan McIntosh for teaching me about insurance fraud.

The Hen House girls for all the laughs and hand holding. Special hugs to authors LynDee Walker and Gretchen Archer who make me giggle every day.

Terri L. Austin for keeping me sane and giving me opportunities to make you snort.

Denise Plumart for being such a supportive critique partner and to Jen Tanner for her wealth of information about everything.

My cheerleaders in Andover, Peachtree City, Highland, Orion, New

Bern, and Dallas, particularly the Funks, Niebrugges, Reinharts, Hoffmans, Walkers, Concepcion-Metzlers, Johnstons, and Wituckis.

Linda, Chris, Gina, and Mom for subjecting yourselves to my early drafts and for your support.

Art Molinares for all your support, willingness to help, and general marketing guruship.

Kendel Flaum, my extraordinary editor, for believing in me and Cherry. Thank you for teaching me how to be a better writer. You blow me away with your genius.

And to Trey and the girls. I cannot do this without you.

They should’ve kept the mud pit.

That was my first thought when I heard another brawl had ensued, the second or third of the day by my count. This happens when festival committees get all high-brow and replace four-wheeling with an arts and crafts display. What kind of crazy wants to walk around an old cotton field to shop for macramé pot holders and corn husk dolls? Or even quality art, like my Cherry Tucker still life oil paintings. Or exquisite Raku pottery from my buddy, Eloise Parker.

That’s my opinion, anyway. Based on the fact that the Annual Sidewinder Brunswick Stew Cook-Off took place smack dab in the middle of a Georgia summer when you needed activities like mud pits to cool off the locals.

Bad enough the hundred year old argument over the origin of Brunswick Stew breaks out every time you get Virginians and Georgians together. And we all know there is only one town of Brunswick with a giant iron kettle for a landmark. Which would be in Georgia.

Sidewinder’s also in Georgia, but a tenth of the size of the Golden Isle of Brunswick. Sidewinder’s not even a town. More like a spit in the road farming village that once was a plantation burned down by Sherman. My hometown of Halo is bigger, and we aren’t even big enough for a Walmart. Some might say Halo’s not big enough for my art studio, but I’m not much on what folks say.

Unless they’re customers, of course.

Eloise begged me to participate in this cook-off turned art festival, which is why I’m spending my weekend slumped in a camp chair, drinking tea by the jug, and sweating up a storm. And not selling any paintings. People come to taste stew, eat pulled pork, and watch the rednecks churn up the Georgia clay with their four-by-fours. So when the guy hawking koi ponds in the booth opposite leaned into our tent to report the newest altercation, I jumped at the chance to break my boredom. Actually, my jump was more of a sweat-soaked slide out of my seat.