Jenn McKinlay: Small surprise that I love Halloween. Scary stories, apple cider donuts, costumes, CANDY...what's not to love. And, yes, I'm counting it's only 41 days until my most favorite holiday! So to get us in the mood, here is Catherine Bruns, talking about her love of all things Halloween, which is the foundation of her latest book Dessert is the Bomb.
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Main character Sally Muccio owns a novelty cookie shop in Western New York, and everything is coming up chocolate chips and roses until a competing bakery, It’s The Bomb, moves in across the street. Along with worries that the new bakery will steal her customers, Sal also has to cater a Halloween bash at—of all places—a funeral home.
Sal’s father is a mortician and a loveable guy, but he’s also a bit of a wackadoodle. In his strange mindset, there’s no better place to celebrate the holiday, and the rest of the town agrees. But the party comes to an abrupt halt when the owner of the new bakery is blown away (another pun) while driving off in the Muccio hearse. Of course, Sal and her friend/baker Josie are at the top of the suspect list and soon land behind bars with a murder to solve.
I only went trick or treating twice as a child, but I still remember those horrible masks that smelled of plastic and made breathing and seeing almost impossible. Ironically, I dressed up more often as an adult for home and at-work parties. Still, it wasn’t until after I had children of my own that the holiday took on a whole different meaning. Costume shopping, decorating the house and baking treats for school events made the day even more special because I got to experience the excitement through my children’s eyes. It was the one night a year that they could be any creature or person they wanted to. Batman and Robin? Holy Jackpot! Scooby Doo and Sully? Jinkies!
Halloween activities with my kids (now grown) always included a visit to my in-laws house. My father-in-law was a big kid at heart and nothing pleased him more than to watch dozens of children traipsing their way to his front door. He made a point to talk to each child and had a unique way of making everyone feel welcome and special.
One Halloween shortly after my husband and I were married, we attended a horror film screening with my father-in-law at the town hall. It may have been the only year my mother-in-law was allowed to hand out candy. After the movie, we came outside and found that every car in the parking lot had been soaped, with the exception of my father-in-law’s. I’ll never forget how his big blue eyes shone with unspoken laughter and merriment that night.
Do you have a favorite memory or costume from Halloween? Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Dessert is the Bomb!
About Dessert is the Bomb:
Baker turned sometimes-sleuth Sally Muccio has always loved Halloween, but this year she has more on her mind than ghosts and goblins. In addition to catering a party at her wacky father’s funeral home, a competing bakery has just moved in across the street from Sally’s Samples. The new owner, Celeste Delgado, seems intent on burying Sal’s novelty cookie shop into the ground with her sensational smash cake bombs. Suddenly, the homemade fortune cookies that Sal and her best friend Josie create with loving care are predicting an ominous future for their business.
Before Sal can discover what’s behind Celeste’s grudge, the woman is killed by an explosion. To take the cake, Josie was heard threatening Celeste shortly before her death. A night in the slammer, another deadly explosion, and dangerous family secrets all add to Sal’s growing list of concerns. Like an oven timer, precious minutes of her life are ticking away. Can she find Celeste’s killer before everything blows up in her face? *Recipes Included!*
USA Todaybestselling author Catherine Bruns lives in New York with her very patient husband, three sons, and several spoiled pets. She writes the Cookies & Chance, Italian Chef, and Cindy York mysteries. Her new series, the Maple Syrup Farm Mysteries, debuts in 2022. Catherine’s book, For Sale by Killer, won the 2019 Daphne du Maurier award for Mainstream Mystery/Suspense. When she’s not writing, she loves to bake, read and attend live theater performances.
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