June 25, 2025 – M.C.V. EGAN ❧Defining Ways❧

by Joanne Pence

@RABTBookTours #RABTBookTours #TrufflesToDieFor #JoannePence #CozyMystery

The Cook and Inspector Mysteries, Book 9

Cozy Mystery, Culinary Cozy Mystery

Date Published: June 25, 2025

Buried secrets, a killer in disguise, and not even the truffles can be trusted…

When culinary dreamer Angie Amalfi sets her sights on chocolate stardom, her kitchen becomes a cocoa-covered lab of decadent disasters and divine delights. Her goal? To invent the perfect chocolate candy—“angelinas”—a melt-in-your-mouth masterpiece that could finally make her name in San Francisco’s cutthroat foodie scene.

But when Angie donates her “not-quite-there-yet” test batches to a local charity mission, she stumbles into more than gratitude. The mission’s minister seems to have secrets simmering beneath his saintly smile, and when Angie volunteers for their big fundraiser, she’s suddenly stirring up something far more sinister than ganache.

Her fiancé, Inspector Paavo Smith, warns her to stay away—especially with rumors swirling of police corruption and a killer on the loose. But when Paavo is framed and suspended, Angie ditches her spatula for sleuthing gear. Someone’s cooking up a setup—and she’s not about to let Paavo take the fall.

To help clear his name, Angie will need more than her confectionery skills… and the clock is ticking.

Sink your teeth into Truffles to Die For—a deliciously suspenseful cozy mystery. Indulge yourself in murder with a chocolate twist!

The Cook and Inspector Mysteries

Death on a Silver Platter, Book 1

A Quiche Before Dying, Book 2

The Marinara Murders, Book 3

Close Encounters of the Deadly Kind, Book 4

Death by Devil’s Food, Book 5

Blind Date’s Bitter End, Book 6

The Taverna Affair, Book 7

The Music Box Mystery, Book 8

Truffles to Die For, Book 9

Series on Amazon

About the Author

Joanne Pence is an award-winning, USA Today best-selling author of The Cook and Inspector Mysteries, the Inspector Rebecca Mayfield mysteries, the Ancient Secrets supernatural suspense novels (under JM Pence), as well as contemporary romance, historical fiction, romantic suspense, and a fantasy. Her novels present a variety of times, places, and reading experiences from mysterious to thrilling, emotional to lightly humorous, as well as powerful tales of times long past. Her books have won or been nominated for a number of high honors, including the Willa Cather Literary Award for Historical Fiction; North American Book Award for Mystery; Idaho Top Fiction Award; The Golden Quill, RWA’s Rita and Golden Heart Awards, Daphne du Maurier Award, Independent Bookseller’s Golden Scroll, and Romantic Times Career Achievement Award and Best Amateur Sleuth Award.

“Joanne Pence is a master of the mystery genre. She pulls the reader in and sets the roller coaster in motion.”–Carolyn Haines, USA Today bestselling author

“Joanne Pence provides laughter, love, and cold chills.” —Carolyn Hart, NY Times bestselling author

“Angie Amalfi is the Queen of the Culinary Sleuths” —RT Book Club

“Joanne Pence is a master chef”–Mystery Scene magazine

“Pence’s tongue-in-cheek humor keeps us grinning.” —San Francisco Chronicle

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by David H. Millar

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Blood is the link between humans, demigods, and demons

—and is the Blood Queen’s domain.

Brianag

The Blood Queen Chronicles Book 2

by David H. Millar

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Three childhood friends meet in the Scottish Highlands. Two hold secrets. One may be a monster.

As Gràinne reached for the still warm heart, tendrils of the red mist preceded her. When they touched the heart, she felt power drawn from the blood. She steeled herself and bit into the organ. Such was the curse of the Blood Queen.

Brianag is the sequel to The Blood Queen. It is 384 B.C. Ten years have passed since Sidheag’s execution. Gràinne Ni Fearghal, the Blood Queen, has ruthlessly consolidated her grip on the eastern tribes and reigns as High Queen. Meanwhile, her daughter imprisoned in a gilded cage grows in beauty and power and terrifies her guardians—the demigods of the Aes Sídhe. She must escape. Her grandma, the powerful Sídhe, Mongfhionn, agrees.

Brianag trembles at two questions: how will her mother receive her, and can she be redeemed?

Sidheag, was not the only Blood Drinker. Two others, Áine and her daughter, Leannán want vengeance for Sidheag’s death. Both claim to be Sidheag’s mother. Yet is Sidheag dead?

Can Cassán, Dùn Brion’s king, control his temper and work with the demigods to defeat the Blood Drinkers? Will the beast known as the Hound destroy every living being with three barks or will the ancient Cait People awaken and intercede?

Content warning: Brianag: The Blood Queen Chronicles contains scenes of sex and violence appropriate to the time it is set in (400 B.C.). It is not recommended for readers under 16 years of age without parental agreement.

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A ‘Bhanrigh Fuil

The Blood Queen Chronicles Book 1

“It is a king’s decision,” said Brion.
“It will not be you who deceives and delivers the lamb to the butcher’s block,” retorted Eimhir.

True evil is a persistent and tenacious beast. Its desire for existence is eternal and insatiable. It needs to infect only one mind for its insidious philosophy to take root and spread.

It is 394 B.C. At a remote loch in the highlands of Northern Albu, a priest sacrifices nine innocents. Below the water’s surface, a shape feeds on their blood and begins to take form. Soon, it becomes sentient and begins to hunt. Sidheag has risen.

Humans cannot defeat the abomination. Neither can Mongfhionn, the powerful demi-goddess of the Aes Sídhe.

The only remedy is the Blood Queen, and Gràinne is the reluctant heir to that throne. Will the Blood Queen stand alongside Mongfhionn to confront Sidheag? The cost for Gràinne may be too much—unless her daughter, Brianag, is in jeopardy.

Passions, always near the surface of the Gaels, burst into flames in The Blood Queen, where father is pitted against son, mother against daughter, sister against sister, brother against sister, and father against daughter.

The Blood Queen contains scenes of sex and violence and uses language appropriate to the period it is set in, i.e., 400 B.C. It is not recommended for those under 16 without parental consent.

5/5 ★★★★★
Genre: Fantasy, Historical fiction
Review by Jan Foster/History Quill: Last updated Jun 12, 2023

A must-read Celtic ‘Game of Thrones meets Bernard Cornwell’, blending history with dark fantasy and a truly terrifying villain. The Blood Queen will keep you turning the pages deep into the night.

The Blood Queen is a dark fantasy nominally set in 400 B.C. Scotland, wherein a misguided priest sacrifices innocents in the hope of bringing forth an entity that will do his bidding. This starts a tale of ‘be careful what you wish for’, as the entity – Sidheag – forms a corporeal being and a consciousness complete with dark desires for domination. No one can resist Sidheag’s allure and subsequent enslavement, and few will survive her rampage across the land as she builds an army to fulfil her calling.

Aside from the descriptive prose and the brilliant battle scenes, the equality of the sexes feels genuine rather than a nod to political correctness. Women rule, fight, murder and fornicate as violently and passionately as the men and the female characters are badass!

I thoroughly enjoyed The Blood Queen, even at its most uncomfortable. The historical accuracy of weapons and battle strategies blended perfectly with the epic and fantastical storyline. I loved the tiny moments of humanity within the bleakest moments. Reading the novel felt like watching a horror movie unfold, compelling you to turn the pages in the hope that somehow, against the odds, humanity will win.

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Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, internationally published and award-winning author David H. Millar is the founder, owner, and author-in-residence of A Wee Publishing Company—a business formed to promote Celtic authors and literature.

David is the author of the five-volume, ancient Celtic-based Conall series and the spin-offs The Dog Roses, The Dog Roses: Resolution, The Blood Queen and Brianag: A Blood Queen Novel.

David resides in Houston, Texas, with his family and two recent family members, tuxedos Beau and Stiletto.

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