A Holland Reads: Till Dirt Do Us Part by Teresa Trent

Book Details:

Till Dirt Do Us Part by Teresa Trent

Cozy Mystery

Pecan Bayou #7

Approximately 219 pages

About the book:

Not everything stays buried. When Betsy, a notorious brown thumb gets roped into a gardening contest sponsored by the Pecan Bayou Gazette, she finds herself digging up more than weeds. She is ridiculed by the garden club ladies, and now her heart breaks for a newly single mom whose world has just collapsed. The Happy Hinter is back so take some time to revisit the cozy little town Pecan Bayou, Texas. Grab a glass of sweet tea before you turn the dirt in the garden and sit a spell with all your favorite characters who dole out heartfelt caring and compassion with a side of humor. Till Dirt Do Us Part

includes bonus recipes and helpful hints from Betsy’s column!

Meet the author - Teresa Trent:

Teresa Trent lives in Houston, Texas and is an award-winning mystery writer. She writes the Pecan Bayou Mystery Series, is a regular contributor to the Happy Homicides Anthologies. Teresa is happy to add her Henry Park Mystery Series to her publishing credits with Color Me Dead

, the first book in the series. Teresa has also won awards for her work in short stories where she loves to dabble in tales that are closer to the Twilight Zone than small town cozies. When Teresa isn’t writing, she is a full-time caregiver for her son and teaches preschoolers music part-time. Her favorite things include spending time with family and friends, waiting for brownies to come out of the oven, and of course, a good mystery.

Author Links
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/teresatrentmysterywriter
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/ttrent_cozymys
BLOG: https://teresatrent.wordpress.com/
WEBSITE: http://teresatrent.com

Purchase Link
Amazon

Character Guest Post:

A Visit With Aunt Maggie from the Pecan Bayou Mystery Series

By Teresa Trent

Howdy everybody. Aunt Maggie here from Pecan Bayou, Texas. I have lived in this little town my whole life. I married Jeeter when I was just twenty years old and we had one son, our beautiful Danny. He has Down syndrome but that sure never slowed him down any. Growing up, he and my niece Betsy were more like brother and sister than cousins. My Jeeter has passed and like so many families, Betsy, Judd, Danny and I have only grown closer, maybe to fill the hole he left in my heart when he died.

So, now that you brought it up, let’s talk about Betsy. Can I get you another cup of coffee? I made some of my special apple walnut cake when I found out we were going to be visiting. I even wrote down the recipe for you. A well-made cake contains flour, sugar, real butter and love.

Betsy has had some ups and downs in her life. First she married that scoundrel Barry who left her when she was nine months pregnant. That boy spent all the money and then left town. He was afraid our precious Zach would have birth defects. When it comes to new babies, it doesn’t take long to separate the men from the boys. You can figure out which column he landed in. But don’t you worry, Betsy found another man who is all the things Barry wasn’t. Leo is a meteorologist whose heart is as warm as a sunny day. He brought his son Tyler into the marriage and together they had little Coco. Now that’s a story. Coco was born during a hurricane after Betsy chased down a killer.

That’s right. A killer. When Betsy isn’t writing her tip column, The Happy Hinter, she’s solving murders with her dad Judd Kelsey, a lieutenant on the Pecan Bayou police force. See, Betsy has an eye for details and the girl has a helpful hint for everything. She also seems to stumble on more than her fair share of bodies. Did you know in her latest adventure, she actually digs one up? Well, sort of. Read the book and all the answers will come to you like a fortune teller at the fair.

First of all, her boss, Rocky Whitson of the Pecan Bayou Gazette plunks her down in the first annual Pecan Gazette Gardening Contest without even asking her if she can keep a house plant alive. She has a beautiful garden if you count weeds as plants. Then she gets in with those, shall we say, thorny roses who don’t have a good word to say about a beginning gardener. Everyone has to start somewhere. She ordered enough dirt to fill a dump truck and then my beautiful great niece spilled the seeds, but this is business as usual for this crew. Of course, when she found that poor Mr. Atwood, we had no idea the planting he’d been doing. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

Another piece of cake? Best when it’s fresh. I’m hoping you have a real good day, and remember you have a friend in Pecan Bayou, Texas.

Apple Walnut Cake With Cream Cheese Icing 3 eggs, beaten
2 c sugar
½ c vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
4 c apples, peeled and diced
1/3 walnuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 325. Beat eggs, sugar oil and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix into liquid ingredients. Fold in apples and nuts. Spread into a greased 9x13 inch pan and bake 50-60 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting
2 pkg (3 oz each) cream cheese, softened
¼ c butter
1 ½ c confectioners sugar
½ tsp vanilla
Combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Whip until smooth and spread over cake.