Not
Mushroom For Death
TV Chef Luca Mazza Dies After Collapse at Food Show on the
King’s Private Estate
Luca Mazza (38), who was taken ill during a food demonstration
at the Fenn House Food and Wine Festival two days ago, is now known to have ingested
poison. Lady Beatrice (36), the king’s niece, who is working on a refurbishment
project at Fenn House with her business partner Perry Juke (34), is believed to
be comforting Luca’s boss and close friend Sebastiano Marchetti (38), who she
began dating last month.
Is he crazy? Why else would Detective Chief Inspector Richard Fitzwilliam suggest that Sebastiano poisoned Luca without any evidence? So now, with the help of her little dog Daisy and her best friends Perry and Simon, Lady Beatrice will have to prove to Mr Know-it-all Fitzwilliam that Seb is innocent. But with so many people having access to the food preparation area at the show how will she find out who did murder Luca before Fitzwilliam lets his personal dislike get the better of him and arrests Seb?
Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BFBMT9BP (UK) and https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFBMT9BP (US)
Intro
Lady
Beatrice, the Countess of Rossex, and her business partner Perry Juke are at
Fenn House, the private country estate of Lady Beatrice’s uncle, King James, to
manage the redesign and refurbishment of ten guest suites and four sitting
rooms. At the same time the Fenn House Food and Wine Festival is taking place
in the grounds of the estate organised by Lady Beatrice’s new beau (who she is
now having second thoughts about) Sebastiano Marchetti, known to his legion of
fans as Chef Seb. Perry’s crime-writer partner, Simon Lattimore, who was last
year’s winner of Celebrity Elitechef, is also on-site hosting cooking
demonstrations. One of the other big names from the world of food, Chef Seb’s
very good friend Luca Mazza, collapsed during the opening demonstration and later
died in the hospital from ingesting death cap mushrooms.
Chief
Inspector Richard Fitzwilliam and Detective Sergeant Tina Spicer from Protection
and Investigation (Royal) Services, PaIRS for short, have been called in to
assist Fenshire CID with their investigation and make sure Lady Beatrice is in
no danger. When their previous case together had wrapped up the month before,
Fitzwilliam’s parting comment to Lady Beatrice, much to her indignation, had
been to be wary of Seb’s intentions…
Extract
Head
down, following the low hedging that framed the formal gardens, Lady Beatrice
headed towards Fenn House, her mind drifting to Seb. I hope he’s finding
some comfort being with Luca’s family. She grimaced. How was she going to
tell him she wanted to slow things down when he was so clearly devastated by
Luca’s death…
Someone
forcefully cleared their throat, and startled, Lady Beatrice ground to a halt.
Raising her head, she was confronted by a man and a woman. She suppressed a
groan as she recognised them.
The
tall man with short brown hair slightly greying at the temples stared at her
grimly while the pretty fresh-faced woman next to him smiled and held her hand
out.
“Hello,
Lady Rossex,” DS Spicer said.
Taking
a deep breath in, Lady Beatrice returned the woman’s smile and shook the
offered hand. “DS Spicer. It seems like only a few weeks since I last saw you.”
Spicer
laughed. “Yes, my lady.” It had, in fact, been only four weeks ago when they
had wrapped up the investigation into the murder of her mother’s friend’s
visiting cook.
Her
blood pressure rising, she felt Detective Chief Inspector Richard Fitzwilliam’s
eyes bore into her forehead.
It’s
no good, Bea. You can’t just ignore him.
She
swallowed. What could she say to the man who, last time she’d seen him, had
told her that her boyfriend was using her and she should dump him? All right,
that hadn’t been his exact words, but the implication had been clear. And
it’s none of his business! She looked up into the brown eyes of the man who
made her madder than any other person she knew. Don’t let him see how much
he ruffles your feathers.
She
plastered on her public ‘how nice to meet you’ smile. “Chief inspector. Here
sticking your nose into other people’s business, are you?”
He
smiled back, but there was no warmth in his eyes. “Yes, Lady Rossex. That’s my
job. We’re here to find out who poisoned Luca Mazza.”
Who
poisoned him? Surely, it had been an accident.
“But
it was an accident, chief inspector. No one deliberately poisoned him.”
“And
you know this how, my lady?” He smirked and held up his hand. “No. Don’t tell
me. You and your pals have already completed your investigation, and you’re on
your way right now to present the facts to Mike Ainsley. Case closed!”
I
bet he thinks he’s hilarious. She wanted to stick
her tongue out at him but knew it would be a childish gesture and likely to
make him laugh at her even more. No, Bea. What’s required is a dignified and
calm response. “Well, it wouldn’t be the first time me and my pals
have solved a case for you, DCI Fitzwilliam.”
Ever
the diplomat, DS Spicer cleared her throat. “We have to consider all avenues of
inquiry, my lady. But it looks like it was an accident.”
“Unless,
of course, your boyfriend killed off his rival for the crown of cheesy
television chef of the year.” Fitzwilliam chuckled.
What?
Was he accusing Seb of being a murderer? Her
body tensed. Oh my gosh, what happens if he frames Seb just to prove a
point?
She
wouldn’t put it past him. Her arms twitched. I need to get out of here. But
first she racked her brain for a suitable put-down. “You… you…” She came up
blank. “You idiot!” she cried as she turned on her heels and stormed off
without saying goodbye.
Classy,
Bea! You called him an idiot. She raised her chin
to catch some of the chilly breeze on her face to cool down the heat flushing
across it. That hadn’t been her finest hour.
Hello. I’m Helen Golden. I write British contemporary cozy
whodunnits with a hint of humour. I live in small village in Lincolnshire in
the UK with my husband, my step-daughter, her two cats, our two dogs,
sometimes my step-son, and our tortoise.
I used to work in senior management, but after my recent job came
to a natural end I had the opportunity to follow my dreams and start writing.
It's very early in my life as an author, but so far I'm loving it.
It’s crazy busy at our house, so when I’m writing I retreat to our caravan (an impulsive lockdown purchase) which is mostly parked on our drive. When I really need total peace and quiet, I take it to a lovely site about 15 minutes away and hide there until my family runs out of food or clean clothes
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