The Pumpkin Butter Murder by Meg Benjamin

Roxy Constantine is looking for a way to spend her winter down time.

Welcome to the October 17th stop on the blog tour for The Pumpkin Butter Murder by Meg Benjamin with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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About the Book

The Pumpkin Butter Murder
A Luscious Delights Mystery Book Two
by Meg Benjamin

Published 2 October 2023
The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Page Count: 259
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Their gourmet dinner turned deadly. And now the murderer is after her. Roxy Constantine is looking for a way to spend her winter down time. Her true love Nate Robicheaux has a suggestion: she can serve as his sous chef when he prepares a dinner party for possible investors. But when several guests become ill and the hostess herself dies after eating their food, Roxy and Nate could be in deep trouble. Now they need to find out what really happened, and who wanted their hostess dead, before their culinary reputations go down in flames and the murderer turns his attention to Roxy herself.

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Excerpt

I grabbed her arm. “Susa, what happened? What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. I don’t…they all started throwing up and groaning. Maybe it was something they ate?” She gave me an anguished look as a stream of ice promptly slithered down my backbone.

Nate looked up at me, tossing his phone in his pocket. “Aid car’s on its way. Let’s see what we can do to help these people.” He knelt beside Tera, turning her gently onto her back. She turned to her side, doubling up again, bringing her knees to her chest and moaning.

I turned and ran to the kitchen. I knew nothing about treating what looked like food poisoning, but I knew people who vomited needed water and I’d seen a case of bottled water in Tera’s pantry. I grabbed four or five bottles and ran toward the dining room again.

Siggi stood just inside the door, looking almost as terrified as Susa had. I pressed a bottle of water into her hands. “Give this to one of those men and help them lie down.”

I knelt beside the nearest guy, who looked to be around Uncle Mike’s age. “Here.” I propped him up a little. “Drink some water. Let’s get you away from all this.” All this was, of course, the now disgusting circle of furniture where the sick people were huddled.

Alex grabbed another of the bottles of water and gave it to the guy who was still clutching his middle and groaning. After a moment, Susa took the other bottle of water away from me and tended to a guy propped against the wall.

Nate was still bending over Tera. I pushed a bottle of water into his hands, and he unscrewed the top quickly. Tera was still doubled up on the floor. I wasn’t sure she was conscious. She didn’t seem aware of anything Nate was doing or saying.

The man I was helping stared up at me blearily. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. I was off in the kitchen. I guess something made you sick.” I helped him drink a little more water.

He stared at me again, his eyes a little sharper. “What did you put in the food?”

“In the food?” I shook my head. “Nothing. It was food. That’s all.”

He took another sip of water. “Doesn’t look that way.”

My heart thumped hard. Until that moment, I hadn’t actually taken in the level of disaster we were facing. “We didn’t poison you. I don’t know what happened, but it wasn’t us.”

About the Author

Meg Benjamin is an award-winning author of romance. Meg’s Konigsburg series is set in the Texas Hill Country and her Salt Box and Brewing Love trilogies are set in the Colorado Rockies (all are available from Entangled Publishing and from Meg’s indie line). Her new cozy mystery series, Luscious Delights from Wild Rose Press, concerns a jam-making sleuth based in the mythical small town of Shavano, Colorado. Along with contemporary romance, Meg is also the author of the paranormal Ramos Family trilogy from Berkley InterMix and the Folk trilogy from Soul Mate. Meg’s books have won numerous awards, including an EPIC Award, a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion from Virginia Romance Writers, the Beanpot Award from the New England  Romance Writers, and the Award of Excellence from Colorado Romance Writers.

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Giveaway Alert!

Meg Benjamin will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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