Blog Tour: Not Mushroom for Death (A Right Royal Cozy Investigation #3) by Helen Golden

Posted December 16, 2022 by Lisa Mandina in Blog Tour / 2 Comments

Blog Tour:  Not Mushroom for Death (A Right Royal Cozy Investigation #3) by Helen GoldenNot Mushroom For Death by Helen Golden
Series: A Right Royal Cozy Investigation #3
Published by Drew Bradley Press on December 14, 2022
Genres: Adult Cozy Mystery
Pages: 350
Goodreads

Blurb:

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?

Purchase Links

Amazon – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BFBMT9BP (UK)

and https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFBMT9BP (US)

Extract

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 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 is now very ill in the hospital…

Extract

Flicking through the photos posted on The Daily Post Online, Detective Chief Inspector Richard Fitzwilliam of the Protection and Investigation (Royal) Services, PaIRS for short, drummed his fingers on his desk and frowned. What does she see in him? He swiped to the next picture of Lady Beatrice and Sebastiano Marchetti. This one was grainy and had clearly been submitted by an amateur. Taken from behind, the picture showed the pair sitting at a table with two others, whom Fitzwilliam recognised as Perry Juke and Simon Lattimore. Lady Beatrice was leaning into Seb, her hand on his back. The caption read, ‘Lady Beatrice comforts her amore as news breaks that Luca Mazza is seriously ill in the hospital’. Peering closer at the screen, he huffed. Crocodile tears, no doubt, just to get her sympathy.

He started as the office phone on his desk beeped, and a green button lit up. He closed his browser and picked up the handset. “Yes, Carol?”

“Chief inspector, I have Superintendent Blake on the phone for you,” his PA informed him.

Richard sighed. It was never good news when he got a call from his boss.

“Okay, Carol, please put him through.”

The phone clicked, confirming the line was connected.

“Nigel, what can I do for you?”

“Richard, we have a problem at Fenn House.”

Fitzwilliam frowned. Isn’t that where Lady Beatrice is working on a refurbishment project? She better not be involved with whatever this problem was. He suppressed a sigh. Who was he kidding? If there was trouble, then she was bound to be embroiled in it somehow. She was like a trouble magnet when it came to murder…

“The doctors have told Mike Ainsley from Fenshire CID that Luca Mazza, one of those chefy types, who took ill at the show there, isn’t going to make it.”

“You mean he’s going to die, sir?”

“Exactly. They think he’s eaten death cap mushrooms. He’s in multiple organ failure, and it’s too late for them to do anything to save him.”

Fitzwilliam shuddered. Not a nice way to die.

“The Countess of Rossex is on-site at Fenn House doing her decorating thing, and through her beau, Sebastiano Marchetti, was mixing with the victim. I need you to go up to Fenn House and make sure she’s in no danger. Mike’s heading up the local investigation, and they think the victim ate the mushrooms sometime in the days leading up to the show’s opening.”

“So it was an accident then, sir?”

If so, why do you need me there? The last thing Fitzwilliam wanted was to go to Fenn House and watch that smarmy Italian, Sebastiano Marchetti, creeping around Lady Beatrice. 

“They can’t be sure yet, Richard. That’s why I want you there. It shouldn’t take more than a few days to sort out.”

Fitzwilliam suppressed a huff. “Of course, sir. I’ll make the arrangements now, and we’ll be there later today.”

“Good-o. Keep me posted. Oh, and Richard?”

“Yes, sir?”

“This time, see if you can solve this before her ladyship does, will you?” His boss chuckled, then the line went dead.

Slamming down the receiver, Fitzwilliam felt the blood pulsing in his temples. They all think it’s a joke! He launched himself out of his chair and, stomping across his office, grabbed the coffee pot from a table by the door. He sloshed steaming black liquid into the mug Carol had bought him for Christmas with ‘You must be exhausted from watching me do everything’ plastered on the side and stormed back to his desk.

Blake should try telling Lady Beatrice to keep her nose out! Knowing her, she’d probably ignore the superintendent the same way she’d ignored Fitzwilliam during the last two cases he’d investigated up in Fenshire. He puffed out a breath. How could they investigate a threat to Lady Beatrice when she kept sticking her royal nose in and putting herself in danger? I’m the one who needs protection — from her!

He took a gulp of hot coffee, the heat soothing him somewhat, then as he placed the cup down he recalled he was supposed to be having dinner with his sister and her husband tonight. Blast! Elise had only just started properly talking to him again after the unfortunate misunderstanding he’d had with her friend, Hayley, a month ago. And now he was going to upset her by cancelling the plans they had at the last minute. Picking up his mobile, he found his sister’s number and dialled. It’s all the fault of that snake, Sebastiano Marchetti, and his stupid show.

About the Author

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

Social Media Links –

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