On Friends and Sidekicks – and a New Cover!

by Posted on

News Flash: Christina Lorenzen is our lucky winner! Congratulations, Christina, and please check your email.

Edith writing from north of Boston, where Fall has fallen upon us.

Yes, yesterday was the Fall Equinox, the day when the dark gradually overtakes the light until things flip on the winter solstice, and then on the Spring Equinox the days take over the role of being longer.

The change into autumn always makes me pensive. Today was also my mother’s birthday, and she’s been gone for twelve and a half years now. More to make me pensive.

I was going to write a long post about friends. Long-time adult friends, childhood friends, writer friends, friends no longer of this world. And about the fictional friends I write, both now and in the past, and the idea of sidekicks.

Five very real friends in Maine last weekend, missing only Sherry, who had the nerve to be traveling in Australia.

I will write that post sometime soon, but it’s come to my attention that I haven’t yet revealed the cover of Scone Cold Dead, the 13th Country Store Mystery! Without further ado, take a look at this gorgeous thing.

Here’s the blurb: After a body is found in a local farmer’s field, country store and café owner Robbie Jordan suspects that a newcomer in South Lick, Indiana, may not be a stranger to everyone in town . . .

Robbie is just weeks away from giving birth. While her husband Abe scrambles to get the house ready for their baby’s arrival, Robbie makes last minute arrangements to keep her shop and restaurant, Pans ’N Pancakes, up and running when she’s on maternity leave. And it seems Robbie and Abe aren’t the only ones grappling with anxiety—a stranger is causing a stir in town and Robbie’s Aunt Adele appears unusually preoccupied at the baby shower . . .

But when someone finds a body in the ram field on Adele’s sheep farm, it’s Robbie’s turn to be worried. Especially after Chief Buck Bird uncovers a troubling link between Adele and the possible murder victim. Robbie has no choice but to knit the clues together and solve this mystery before anything else gets flocked up . . .

I love the cover – what do you think? The story opens the day after a baby shower that Robbie’s Aunt Adele and Abe’s mother, Freddy, threw for the couple. Scone Cold Dead will be out at the end of March and, in case you were wondering, yes, there is a recipe for Cinnamon Pecan Scones in the back of the book! It would be a perfect treat to bake up for your own friends next time you have a brunch, to have around for when friends drop by, or to nibble on with coffee and the Sunday paper – or a good mystery.

The book is up for preorder everywhere books are sold.

Readers: Tell us about a friend – fictional or real – who is dear to you. Also, are you caught up on the Country Store Mysteries? I’ll send one commenter a copy of book #12, Deep Fried Death!

Unknown's avatar

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.

59 Thoughts

      1. I love the cover for the new book. No I’m not caught up yet but plan to be. My friend is one of my coworkers who I miss dearly. We are both retired now and don’t see each other as much.

        Like

  3. Edith,

    I love the cover and can’t wait to read Scone Cold Dead!

    As for a friend that’s dear to me, well you’ve met her!

    Ann’s my best friend. Which is why when she takes off on her global trek in November I’ll be missing her a lot.

    Like

  5. LOVE – LOVE – LOVE the new cover! Can’t wait to catch up on the goings on in Robbie’s life as well as all the wonderful residents of South Lick.

    My BFF or sister my choice, as I call her, is extremely special to me. We became friends too many years ago to count, but it was during a stressful time in my life that she showed me and the world how extra special she was. Being full-time caregiver for my mom with Alzheimer in our home for several years took it’s toll on body, mind and spirit. Although she couldn’t help with the body part, it’s due to her that the mind and spirit parts were well taken care of. She reminded me that to take care of another that I had to take care of myself. She was there when many “friends” and even a few Christian organizations just disappeared into the woodwork. She’d lift me up when I was down, have me laughing when all I wanted to do was cry, she’s remind me of the good times with my mom and how fortunate I was to have her with me and when I was at the end of my rope she was only a phone call away – because we lived in different states. When that wasn’t enough she would show up or arrange for a girls night out on a meet in the middle weekend, where hubby could take over full force. Mom’s been gone now since 2014 and our bond has just continued to increase in strength. Everyone needs a friend like her. I’m blessed she’s my BFF!

    Since I’ve read ALL this series waiting excitedly for this new addition, I’ll not enter the contest leaving it open for another to have the thrill of reading this amazing story.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

    Like

  6. Love the cover and I do have some catching up to do! I’ll have to check my book list, but I know I missed the wedding. Time for a binge.

    I’m lucky to be part of a tight group of women friends. Some of our friendships date back to high school, others are newer. It’s a group that precious to me, and no matter how many miles or how much time separates us, we’re always ready to pick up as if we last saw each other yesterday.

    Like

  7. I love the picture of your friends gathered at the table and love the cover of your latest book. I have a tendency to pick up the cozy books with cats on the cover and that cat reminds me of my long gone tuxedo cat, Soxx. I’ve read your Cozy Capers series but I’ll definitely add the Country Store series to my TBR list. It sounds like a great read.

    Like

  9. Yes I am caught up in the series. Love the cover. As for best friend I meet her at work in the 90’s. When we were working went to lunch together and on some weekends we would meet up and just walk and talk. She was there for me when I was sick and she went to the doctors with me. She was also there when my dad died. I have seen her daughter grow up. She is sweet and kind but now we live far apart.

    Like

  12. I am blessed to have several trusted and much loved BFFs. One has been my alter-ego for the last 40 years. Even though we live 500 miles apart these past 30 years, we can not talk for weeks, then pick up as if we just finished a conversation 10 minutes ago. We have gone through broken bones, joint replacements, job changes, deaths of both sets of parents, major moves and so much more. So excited she is coming to visit in a month or so. Face to face conversation is so much more satisfying than the phone these days as hearing loss is one of our new

    Like

  13. Well, not sure what happened there! Continuing the previous …challenges (hearing loss).
    I love the cover of the new book and am caught up with Robbie and her adventures. No need to enter me in the drawing.

    Like

  14. The cover is beautiful…I can’t wait to read the book! I’m all caught up with the series, so I’m trying to wait patiently. I have several long-tenured friends. The longest is my best friend. We’ve been friends since junior high school. I won’t say exactly how long, but it’s over 50 years. She’s like a sister to me. We’ve been there for each other through happy times and sad times. I couldn’t do life without her!

    Like

  15. Thank you for the fun blog today, Edith!!! The cover is mazingly beautiful, and it hints at a story…especially the creature behind the window… This will be a fun book to read, and I am looking forward to catching up with Robbie and the gang. I already have won, read and posted highest praise for the previous book: DEEP FRIED DEATH, which was a hoot, and the plot was very cleaver…thank you so much! If I have to name just one dear friend, then the answer can only be: My dear wife of 55 1/2 years! How blessed I am!!! JOY! Luis at ole dot travel

    Like

  17. Hello Edith! I have real-life friends in Switzerland, England, and the US, but I like the idea of choosing a fictional friend, as you suggested. I was a dedicated reader of the Brother Cadfael books by Ellis Peters, and I loved spending hours in the company of that kind, tolerant, deep-thinking Benedictine monk. The last of the twenty books came out in 1994. When Ellis Peters died in 1995, and I knew there’d be no more Brother Cadfael novels, I felt I’d lost a friend.

    Like

  20. That is a great cover! And 13 books? It’s great to see a series going so long. (No need to enter me in the giveaway.)

    Like

  23. Like others here, I have a BFF from forever who lives too far away. But, we email every day and always support each other through everything.

    I hate the whole concept of gender reveal parties so I love that your cover shows a stork with a “It’s a Baby” sign. I eagerly await this next book in the series, which I love, as I do all of your books.

    Like

    1. Aww. I’m with you about those gender reveal parties, Ginnie. I wrote Robbie and Abe into the story as knowing the gender but doing their best to keep it a secret except for a couple of people!

      Like

  24. Yes, I am all caught up! The cover is gorgeous! I have a friend for almost 50 yrs that is very dear to me. The emotional connection we have is unique. We had our 4 sons together and we have lost 2 of them together. She is always there for me when I need to talk or cry, and I try hard to be the same for her. She has helped me in so many ways and never has complained or brought it up. She is just a real good person, and I love her dearly. Belinda Mann blin0123@att.net

    Like

  25. I love the new cover. My Mom was my best friend. She died in January 2023. I miss her everyday. She knew my secrets as well as being my biggest cheerleader. She always had a caring heart for everyone. She tried to be there to help anyone in need. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you. dpruss@prodigy.net

    Like

  26. My friend, Greer, who I grew up with, then we hit and miss through the years and now we are close again. Her father pass away when he was 40 yrs old with a heart attack. When she was 40 yrs old she had a triple bypass. I make sure to visit her each year and we exchange gifts as well. We both just relax and enjoy each other’s company and I am so glad that she is doing well.

    Like

  28. Love the cover! I’m caught up on the series. I think. It’s one of my favorites. My bestie is my sister. The way we carry on sometimes has her adult children just shaking their heads at us. LOL

    Like

  31. I am very lucky to have 2 friends in my life who have been here for the biggest part of my life, one since grammar school in the early 1950’s and the other who has been a dear friend since her first day at the high school that we attended in our sophomore year, 1964! I would love to be the lucky recipient of your book since I have not read that one as yet.

    Like

Comments are closed.