The Quandary of Maggie Grady by Ellie Grant

It’s Christmas time at Pie in the Sky pie shop in Durham, North Carolina and I’ve never been so worried in my life. Aunt Clara—my partner in pie—has a new beau, Donald Wickerson. He claims to love her Marvelous Mince pies. But I think he has something else in mind.

My boyfriend Ryan has been writing articles for his newspaper, The Durham Weekly, about this man. He thinks he’s a serial killer. Donald has had several wives in different states who met with unfortunate ‘accidents’ that left him wealthier. Ryan thinks he may be plotting to kill Aunt Clara too.

But what if we’re wrong and we ruin Aunt Clara’s last chance for happiness? Maybe Donald isn’t a killer and Ryan is mistaken. The police haven’t found enough evidence yet to arrest Donald.

Am I willing to take that chance? I’m not sure what to do. I don’t want to alienate my aunt who is more like a mother to me. She and my uncle raised me after my parents died when I was a child. I don’t want to see her hurt, and I don’t want to be the one who hurts her either.

There’s only one thing to do. Ryan and I are going to have to find out for sure about this Donald Wickerson. Is he the killer police are looking for or not? We need hard proof. If he is the killer, I’ll find a way to tell Aunt Clara and hope she’ll understand.

If he’s not the killer—then I guess I’ll keep my mouth shut.

Either way, Aunt Clara has always done her best for me and that’s what I plan to do for her too. I’m not going to let Donald Wickerson or anyone else hurt her or spoil our first Christmas together in years. That’s a promise!

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You can read more about Maggie in Treacherous Tart, the second book in the “Pie Shop” mystery series, published by Simon and Schuster. The first book in the series is Plum Deadly.

GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment by 6 p.m. eastern on October 31 for the chance to win a print copy of both TREACHEROUS TART and PLUM DEADLY. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

About the author
Ellie Grant writes award-winning, bestselling mystery fiction as themselves, J.J. Cook, and Joyce and Jim Lavene. They have written and published more than 70 novels for Harlequin, Penguin, Amazon, and Simon and Schuster along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications. They live in rural North Carolina with their family. Visit them at www.joyceandjimlavene.com.