Cover Reveal – Biscuits and Slashed Browns

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Edith, with some delightful news, and a giveaway!

I have, that is, Maddie Day has, a cover for Book Four in the Country Store Mysteries. The book is called Biscuits and Slashed Browns, and it takes place during maple sap season in Brown County, Indiana. The book releases January 30, 2018. It is, of course, available for preorder wherever books are sold, and preorders really help the author. I’m giving away an apron and a signed cover flat to one lucky commenter today (US aprononly)!

Here’s the cover blurb:

For country-store owner Robbie Jordan, the National Maple Syrup Festival is a sweet escape from late-winter in South Lick, Indiana—until murder saps the life out of the celebration . . .

As Robbie arranges a breakfast-themed cook-off at Pans ‘N Pancakes, visitors pour into Brown County for the annual maple extravaganza. Unfortunately, that includes Professor Connolly, a know-it-all academic from Boston who makes enemies everywhere he goes—and this time, bad manners prove deadly. Soon after clashing with several scientists at a maple tree panel, the professor is found dead outside a sugar shack, stabbed to death by a local restaurateur’s knife. When an innocent woman gets dragged into the investigation and a biologist mysteriously disappears, Robbie drops her winning maple biscuits to search for answers. But can she help police crack the case before another victim is caught in a sticky situation with a killer?

So, without further ado, I present the cover:

Biscuits and Slashed Browns

Don’t you love it? We have the bottles of syrup, the sugaring-off shack, the sap buckets, pancakes, biscuits, a little March snow left on the ground, even the slashing knife.

And on the bench sits Robbie’s cat Birdy. For those of you who didn’t hear, this Birdy is modeled on my real-life cat Birdy, and he died on June 6, just a few weeks ago. I miss him terribly, and am comforted that he’ll live on in this series.

BirdywithFLIPPED
Birdy, the cat in the Country Store Mysteries – literally, in this case!

Readers: To win one of my Edith Maxwell/Maddie Day aprons–which I save for extra-special giveaways–and a signed cover flat, tell me in the comments section what’s your favorite thing to eat using maple syrup. Pancakes? Maple sugar candy? A mapletini? Oatmeal? Maple bars? Dish, gang.

 

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Published by Edith Maxwell

Agatha Award -winning author Edith Maxwell writes the historical Quaker Midwife Mysteries (Beyond the Page) and short crime fiction. As Maddie Day she writes the Dot and Amelia Mysteries, the Country Store Mysteries series, the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, and the Cece Barton Mysteries (all from Kensington Publishing). She lives north of Boston in an antique house with her beau and cat Martin, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook.

122 Thoughts

  1. That is a fun and appealing cover. And I am sorry about real-life Birdy, but am glad fictional Birdy is a comfort….Syrup. Is it bad to say I don’t eat syrup? I take my pancakes and waffles with butter only.

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  2. Yum, I use maple syrup, mayonnaise to coat my chicken then roll in chopped pecans and panko. Bake 350 for 45 minutes to an hour. YUMMY. Getting back into cozy books as they are a great way to escape our sad world and experience new things.

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  3. My favorite thing to eat with maple syrup is French toast. Love it. The book cover looks great and I can’t wait to read the book!!

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  4. My grandmother used to get us little sugar candies, shaped (of course ) like maple leafs, when she went on vacation. We use maple syrup for all those terribly normal things, like pancakes and waffles! The cover is great–the shadows on the house and prominent cat! And I am so sorry to hear about your own Birdy, losing a longtime companion like that is an adjustment Thanks, hope you all Have a good day!

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  5. My favorite is pancakes of course. Growing up in NE I’ve seen the process of maple syrup being made. In Mason, NH is a restaurant Parker’s Maple Barn. Best pumpkin pancakes ever!! On the weekends in the spring they have demonstrations of the process. I lived only a few miles from there. My Mom and Dad’s favorite place to go. Mom liked to eat breakfast for any meal and they served it all day.

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  6. I live in a town that has many people that make maple syrup. When my boys were in middle school, the science teacher had his classes collect the sap from the trees behind the school and he would let the kids take it home. My boys took some home and made syrup for the 2 years they had him. There’s a restaurant near us that makes maple syrup coffee…..heaven in a mug.
    Can’t wait to read this new book!!!

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  7. I love maple products. In the 1950’s my Dad and his brothers ran the Smith Brothers maple museum in Williamstown , Vermont. There is nothing like the smell of maple products being made.

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  8. I love the cover and am happy that Birdy will live on there. Baked beans with maple syrup, not molasses is a nice change.

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  9. Edith – Great cover and can’t wait for the new book. I have fond memories of searching Brown County ravines for geodes on field trips with my fellow Boilermakers (Purdue). I love reading your cozy mysteries, but I am frustrated to not be able to find a local restaurant that has such a welcoming atmosphere and yummy food 🙂 As far as eating syrup – it is yummy on anything, I especially like it on thick cut french toast, or adding it to sweeten fresh whipped cream, but it is most delicious just using my finger to swipe out the last few drops from the pitcher. That way there is no competition for flavor.

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  10. Congratulations on the new book! Sorry about kitty cat- that is sad. I have an 17 year old and I’m holding my breath every day for her. She is our dear little friend. I like maple syrup on my steamed carrots and sweet potatoes. I use it a lot in my crock pot as well. My children’s favorite is a giant pork shoulder slathered in butter, then drenched in maple syrup. Cook it low all day and it just falls apart.

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  11. I love the cover. This sounds like a fun mystery read. I love warm maple syrup on my pancakes!

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  13. Hate to admit that I seldom use maple syrup. It’s not something that
    I’ve used in cooking so I don’t have it on hand. I would probably use
    it in my baked beans if I still cooked. Being widowed I don’t do a lot
    of cooking anymore. When Bob was alive we didn’t eat a lot of
    pancakes (he was a bacon and eggs man) so I didn’t have a chance
    to use it for that either. Sounds like it would be delicious. Will
    be sure to try it the next time I’m in a restaurant that serves it.
    The book sounds like one I would enjoy reading. Going to check
    into the first of the series. Sorry about the kitty. I lost Bear
    (my yorkie) last summer. She ws 11. take care.

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  15. I enjoy the maple sugar candies I get in the New England area.
    It’s pretty good on pancakes, when I use syrup.

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  18. Hi I usually lo be a good mapl candy. I have just found maple bacon popcorn though! Sounds yummy. Maple syrup is always great too. Sorry about Buddy, he was a handsome fellow
    ..hugs

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  19. Wonderful cover.

    When we have overnight guests, in the morning maple syrup is heated and served with Belgian waffles, melted butter, whipped cream, blueberries, strawberries, and bananas. It’s a festive way to start the day.

    I’m so sorry to hear about your loss. Birdy will live on in your heart and in your books as well as on the cover of this book. It’s so hard when we lose our furkids. We recently lost our 14 year old dog and I’m still struggling with the loss. I try to take comfort in these words of wisdom from Dr. Seuss. “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”

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  20. My great grandparents, on my mother’s side, met in America, but both came from Germany, around the late 1880’s. They were millers and made their way toward Lewiston, Idaho, (my home town), where they started a bakery that would last until the mid 1970’s. The bakery made the best maple bars I’ve ever had, from a recipe by my great grandmother, Adeline. Those maple bars were delivered all over the Pacific Northwest, for decades. I still try maple bars, when I can find them, but I miss those particular, warm, fresh maple bars.
    My Black cat, Rosie, and I, send our deepest sympathies to you, on the loss of Birdy. What a lovely immortality to have, in your books. ❤

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  22. The ONLY reason in the world that I buy Organic Maple Syrup is to use on my French Toast. One bottle lasts a very long time because I almost use an eye dropper to put it on each slice.

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      1. I have very few recipes that would include maple syrup in it. Besides, my wife is on weight watchers so I cook for her and make extra for me.

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  24. I live not far from Chardon, OH and every year there is a Maple Syrup Festival. They show how once the sap is harvested how it is cooked down to make syrup. The best part is getting a bowl of the maple syrup and being able to stir it until it cools and makes a maple sugar. When it comes to maple syrup I like to eat it in my oatmeal, on pancakes/waffles or French toast. I also like to add a little to my carrots when I roast them in the oven.

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  26. These! A former co-worker brought them down from Canada on a trip to work in our office for a week and I developed quite a taste for them. For a while, I bought the brand he brought (LeClerc, I think) off the ‘Zon. Then I cound that one of our local grocery stores here had a store brand but their stocking was hit or miss. Then I tried the TJ’s version. Not only are they the most stable supply and the cheapest but they’re also the best-tasting. 🙂

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  27. Hi there! You’re book sounds like a fun read. I live in Clearwater, FL, but back in the late 90’s I lived in Orlando. I worked at Walt Disney World, and we used to go to EPCOT frequently. One of the Countries represented at the time was Canada. There were times when my husband couldn’t come with us, so I would go to the Canada pavilion, and purchase maple leaf candies. They came straight from Canada, and my husband lived in Rochester, NY, so he would go to Canada a lot. Sorry to go on like this. 🌞

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    2. Congratulations, Natalie! You won my author apron and cover flat. Please check your email and respond with your mailing address so I can send them along. And thanks for visiting the Wicked Cozys!

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  28. I love maple syrup on both pancakes and waffles. For some odd reason, I have always eaten french toast sprinkled with granulated sugar.

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  33. Love that cover!

    And I’m not exactly partial. All maple syrup holders are good – pancakes, waffles, cereal, French toast….

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  36. Congrats Edith I so love your books but we put a pinch of maple syrup in our bacon potato salad and the people that attended our church picnic just loved it. In fact ours was the first to go he makes it real creamy and puts things in that others wouldn’t and they love it . He made 23 lbs of it for my sons girlfriend mom she sent a bowl and potatoes and told the kids that she wanted by Sat then this am my girlfriend called and asked me if we were going to the steak feed as the people at the legion wanted my husband to bring his potato salad. So funny she didn’t know he had made a huge batch of it this weekend. peggy clayton ptclayton2@aol.com

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  38. First of all, I want to congratulate you on this upcoming book which I just preordered. I am one of only a few women that I know if who still lives and uses aprons and would be thrilled to wear yourself. That being said, I love this cover. And yes, Burdy will live on in this series. I know how much it hurts to lose our feline companions and I have been so lucky to have had a few who lived to almost 18, another to 19-20, and Gidget our tri collored cat who we inherited when we bought a golf course in 1983, lived to at least 22!!!! My vet can confirm those ages, honest. When we lose kitties at age 8 or 9 it definitely seems way too soon!!!
    As to my favorite real maple syrup item, I make maple sugar candy and that is a family favorite plus very easy to do, but it surely takes a LOT of syrup to cook down to get candy, but it is always a real big treat. I also really enjoy doing a batch of maple fudge each spring after we order our syrup from one of our two favorite maple farms in Vermont if we can’t get up North to pick it up ourselves. I love making and indulging on baked apple (Puffed) pancakes with maple syrup apple slices. Comes out like an upside down cake and is scrumptious. I also make a maple salad dressing that is delicious with an apple slaw or a green salad with toasted pecans and dried cranberries. Best of everything with all of your releases etc. Edith/Maddie.

    Sincerely,
    Cynthia B

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  39. Love the cover and really enjoy this series. Can’t wait for this to be out. My favorite thing with maple syrup is pancakes.

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  42. I was sorry to hear that Birdy went over the rainbow bridge recently, I know you must have a hole in your heart right now. My favorite use of maple syrup is on pancakes or in maple fudge!

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  43. I’d have to say that my favorite maple thing is my Maple Snickerdoodles, which have also become a favorite of my guests here at the Maplewood Inn in Fair Haven, VT (where REAL maple syrup comes from!)

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  44. Biscuits. But my favorite way to use it is in candy. The cover is gorgeous and I am looking forward the Robbie’s next book. So sorry to hear of your loss; they fill our hearts in life and break them in death but so much of them stays with us. Robbie’s Birdie, whom I adore, will mean even more now.

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  46. I love maple syrup in my oatmeal and with biscuits. Plus I use it as a glaze on my ham.

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  48. Great cover! Really makes me want to read the book. I like to dip bacon in maple syrup and brown sugar and bake it in the oven. It’s so good. Also, like the maple filled cookies from Aldi’s.

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  49. Two tours of Quebec took us to a place with homemade bread with maple butter. That was so good. The book is pre-ordered. Also sorry for the loss of Birdie but it is nice that he can live on in fiction.

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  50. Love pancakes with syrup. The book sounds great. Glad Birdie will live on in your books.

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