The
Killer Wore Cranberry: A Sixth Scandalous Serving leads off with a very poignant
introduction. In a note that honors the pain that many of us deal with this
time of year, the loss of a loved one, Editor Jay Hartman honors author and
friend, Earl Staggs. Earl was, and still is as his legacy lives on, a
consummate storyteller. More importantly, at least to me, he was a good friend.
Earl thought the world of my late wife and went out of his way to spend time
with her and me. He was still present months after she passed as he checked on
me and pushed me to get back to writing, reading, and more importantly living
and staying sober. He was there for many folks in many different was as Jay
notes in the introduction. This latest in the series from Untreed Reads pays
homage to Earl in every short story in the book. A fitting tribute to a friend
to all to all and a man who preferred the short story format.
The read
kicks off with “Let’s Talk Turkey” by Herschel Cozine. Ulysses, the turkey, is
missing and the young boy has come to the police for help finding him. Rick raised
the turkey from an egg and wants the help of the police. The case of the
missing turkey is going to become very personal by Sergeant Mills.
In “Drunk
Raisins” by Karl Wainwright, 31-year-old Sheila would prefer not to go out to
her grandparents’ farm and deal with all the relatives. Uncle Bob is boring,
Grandpa Elliot is a misogynist, and Aunt Livia is convinced that our narrator
is gay because she never brought a man. Truth be told, she would not bring
anyone she liked or cared about to one of these holiday dinners. While the men
watch football, the woman are in the kitchen doing the work and not getting
along very well. That bitterness is going to carry over to dinner with wide ranging
repercussions.
Thanksgiving
2017 find our narrator part of a task force chasing counterfeit currency in
“Dinner with the King” by Joseph S. Walker. With her parents out of town and
spending the holidays with his brother and his family, and having been dumped
by her boyfriend not even a month earlier, New Orleans Detective Sarah Mason
had done the personal and professionally smart thing and accepted the dinner
invitations from New Orleans Legend Louis Cassel. The man is connected and is a
legend in New Orleans. The fact he has invited her to dinner is her first clue
that things are about to get very interesting in so many ways.
Stan the Dentist
is not intending to go to Moe’s dinner this year. Moe and his mob buddies are
going to have to do without him since Moe skipped his yearly checkup. Of
course, it will not work out that way in “Some More Good Times” by Steve
Shrott. You Do not tell Moe no.
Thanksgiving
1973 is the setting for “A Fowl Play Holiday” by Lesley A. Diehl. While it is
true that a lot of the husbands in the extended family die young, but that is because
the women are badasses and males are genetically weak. Things just happen that
way. Our narrator is coming home for the week as she has been asked to come by
Aunt Nozzie who has promised that nothing will go wrong this year. Obviously,
it is not going to work out that way as it never does.
Vivian
Witherspoon is the wealthy ruler of her extended family and others. With just
weeks to live, she continues to rank her family members on a number scale that
only she knows. While each person knows what their number is, they do not know
why they are at that number or what it would take, short of killing others, to
move up in the ranking. The nine family members all want that coveted number
one spot in “A Very Darwin Family Thanksgiving” by Trey Dowell. 200 million
dollars and everything in the estate is a powerful incentive to be truly number
one in the winner take all tournament.
“Nameless Adventure
of the Red Carbuncle Or Who Snatched Aunt Jewel’s Jewel” by Bobbi A. Chukran
comes next where Henderson’s Jewelry Shoppe has been hit in Nameless, Texas.
Kendra O’Keefe had just brought in the piece of costumed jewelry on behalf of
her Aunt Jewel. Nearly 100 degrees and almost
Thanksgiving, Kendra O’Keefe is hoping the piece fixed will lift Aunt Jewel’s
ongoing awful mood. A gift from her late husband, the piece has sentimental
value and is literally falling apart. It is not the kind of thing that Dennis
Henderson would normally work on, but for Aunt Jewell who he went to school
with, he is happy to work on it. Of
course, it goes missing during the daring daylight robbery. If that is not bad
enough, Aunt Jewel is refusing to cook Thanksgiving dinner this year. Can
Thanksgiving be saved? Can the brooch be recovered?
It should
have been the real deal, but instead the senior citizen residents of the High
Towers are getting a tofu turkey. Thirty pounds of Tofu shaped like a turkey
and tasting nothing like turkey. While that is a crime on its own, it is not
the primary one in “That’s No Turkey, It’s Murder!” by Bert Paul. The reason
they are having a tofu turkey is complicated. The reasoning goes back weeks and
involves the supreme commander of High Towers, Mrs. Plaid.
Kenzie’s mother
has a lot of money and the interest accrues nicely each day in “Cranberry
Beret” by Steve Liskow. Harry isn’t thrilled they are going to his mother in
law’s house for Thanksgiving, but you do what you have to do. Vanessa Van Essen
is 63 and on her sixth husband. While he loves Kenzie deeply, the rest of the
family is horrible. This dinner is a reminder of that fact in multiple ways.
Detective
Carl Todd is at work in the Homicide Department of the Dallas Police in “Pecan
Pie Sacrifice” by C. C. Guthrie. He has two women at his desk who believe the
recent death of 82-year-old Caroline Elliot was more than an accidental fall.
The detective that originally investigated the death is off for Thanksgiving,
so Carl Todd is talking to them two days before the big holiday. Jessica and
Ashley are sure the woman at the house is not Caroline Elliot’s out of town
daughter. They think she is there to loot the house. Dallas Detective Carl Todd
is not sure they really know anything, but figures it does not hurt to do a little
follow up on what he has been told. After all, a death in Preston Hollow gets
news coverage and they have to be right.
They are
making a movie of the novel, Justified Action by Earl Staggs, and
a company known as “Fight Corps” is handling the fight chorography. Owned by Domingo
Jack who is working on the set and wanting things to be going better in “Shaky
Cam” by J. B. Toner. It is enough to cause a man to pour bourbon into the
pumpkin flavored coffee that he loves. It is past time to really take control
so that the fight scene is done correctly.
Vonda used to
love the clubs. In her thirties now, going clubbing is not so much fun in “a
ghost turkeys, and a pretty holiday sweater” by Catina Williams. It is the
night before Thanksgiving and she is out on the town with her best friend Albert
who goes by “Ab.” It is only because of him she is out. She is in a club where
none of the guys are age appropriate and she feels like she is being stalked.
It does not help that she is being haunted by a ghost who is choosing to make
her presence known again to Vonda and Ab. Ten years later and the ghost,
Kendra, has yet to move on in this final story in the anthology.
In addition
to the author bios at the end of the book, there are once again numerous
recipes scattered throughout the read. The recipes come from Jay’s sister, Lisa
Wagner. With the pandemic raging this year, the focus in these dishes is to use
supplies you probably already have in your pantry so you do not have to do
extra shopping.
The
Killer Wore Cranberry: A Sixth Scandalous Serving is another fun read in this long running
and tasty anthology series. Each title is a good one where a mystery is always
present and humor occasionally appears. Not only is the read a good one, the
book also pays a wonderful homage to our friend, Earl Staggs.
The Killer Wore Cranberry: A Sixth Scandalous Serving
Editor Jay Hartman
Untreed Reads
https://www.untreedreads.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2234
September 2020
ISBN#: 1949135772
eBook (also available in print format)
189 Pages
Editor Jay Hartman provided an eBook ARC for this read several weeks ago with no expectation of a review.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2020
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