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Behind the Writing of A Caterer’s Guide to Valentines and Violence

Tell us about the background for the theme, what inspired it or why you wanted to write in this setting, or with play with these tropes?

I love writing about Austin. I’ve loved it since I visited in high school, and when my husband and I moved here after college I only fell more in love. I also love writing about real places that I can visit. I know more cozies are in small towns, but every city has close-knits communities and groups within, right?

Are any of your characters based on real people you know?

Physically, Violet is my sister when she was 20ish, but mentally she’s more like a neat freak version of me. I’m not neurotic about dirt, in fact I should try to be cleaner, but like Violet I was dirty and very rough and tumble as a kid.

What special knowledge or research was required to write this book?

I researched the setting by organizing a writing retreat there. We stayed across the street from the old Pearl brewery and explored the event venue that used to be the stables, the chef’s school there, and the restaurants that I mention. Where Violet was proposed to is a real and enchanting spot along the river. I even used our rental as Violet’s apartment!

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Synopsis:

Feel the love … with a caterer, a captain, and a criminal.

“Hey, gorgeous!”

As Violet waffles over whether to stick with her cheating fiancé, she and her friends must cater his formal military dinner. When an officer is found beaten, and not with a whisk, her fiancé is the prime suspect and temperatures rise in and out of the kitchen.

Can Violet and the handsome investigator crack the criminal before the tension boils over?

A Caterer’s Guide to Valentines and Violence is a culinary mystery you’ll fall in love with!

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