02 Murder at the Mansion (15 page)

CHASTE CHIA SEED AND COCONUT MACAROONS

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup shredded coconut

1 tablespoon chia seeds

Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Put the egg in a mixing bowl. Beat the sugar into the eggs with a fork, then stir in the coconut and chia seeds. Press the mixture, a few spoonfuls at a time, into a small eggcup, then turn upside down and tap out onto a baking sheet to form small rounds.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden-brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 7-8.

ANGELIC ALMOND CUPCAKES with ABUNDANT ALMOND BUTTER FROSTING

For the cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons almond butter

1 cup vanilla flavored almond milk

1 pinch salt

For the frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons almond butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons water (or as needed for consistency)

1/4 cup almond slivers

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line cupcake tins with paper liners. In a bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.

In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together the sugar and butter until well blended. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and stir in the vanilla. Gradually beat in the flour mixture, slowly adding in the almond milk, almond butter, and salt. Make sure all the ingredients are well blended. Spoon mixture into each paper liner, filling them about ¾ full.

Bake the cupcakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Leave to cool completely.

To make frosting, sift powdered sugar and beat together with butter. Add almond butter to sugar and butter mixture. Add vanilla extract. Add water, one tablespoon at a time, until mixture is fluffy and creamy. Top cupcakes with frosting and add almond slivers for decoration.
Makes approximately 16 cupcakes.

All ingredients are available from your local store or online retailer.

You can find links to the ingredients used in these recipes at
http://cozymysteries.com/murder-at-the-mansion-recipes/

REVEREND ANNABELLE DIXON WILL RETURN…

Would you like to find out what happens next for Annabelle? Find out in the subsequent book in this fun, cozy mystery series,
Body in the Woods
. You can find an excerpt on the following pages.

CHAPTER 1

IT HAD BEEN a tough week for young Master Douglas “Dougie” Dewar. It had begun with him tearing his school uniform during a particularly ambitious tree-climbing adventure, continued with reprisals about his over-active imagination from his teacher Ms. Montgomery, and reached its peak when Aunt Shona discovered he had been trying to rustle sheep by training none other than the church cat, a ginger tabby named Biscuit.

How could they blame him? He had been in Upton St. Mary for only four months since his mother had sent him there from their home in Edinburgh, and he still found the village and the vibrant countryside surrounding it full of possibilities. 

He would trek the rolling hills armed only with a trusty stick and an insisted-upon sandwich, imagining himself a brave adventurer on a quest to find a wise wizard. He would creep through the dense forest, envisioning it as some deep, exotic jungle on a strange new planet, while encountering delicate, well-camouflaged wildlife that demonstrated all the curiosity and tentative nervousness of alien visitors.

For Dougie was not just energetic and rambunctious of body, but of mind as well. When he wasn’t scampering through the rolling countryside in search of inevitable adventures, he was poring over the pages of the most astonishing and outlandish tales he could find, stoking the fires of his imagination before he lived out his fantasies against Cornwall’s glorious pastoral background.

Oh yes, it had been a tough week indeed, but it had also been an incredibly fun one.

Now it was Friday, and the glorious feeling of being on the precipice of the weekend’s adventures had Dougie running wildly through the forest on his way home from school. After his mishap earlier in the week, Aunt Shona had insisted he change out of his uniform before embarking on his adventures. It was a small price to pay, thought Dougie, as he darted, jumped, and swerved around the various tree trunks.

“No more school,” he shouted, as he deftly switched his weight from one foot to another to avoid slipping on a tree root. “No more Ms. Montgomery. I’ll meet the boys to play football tomorrow, and then Aunt Shona promised a trip to the bookstore. Gonna get the next in the ‘Reptiloid Hunter’ series. Woo-hoo!”

His imagination ran wild with excitement. He ducked his head and imagined himself a spaceship shooting through an asteroid field. He skipped off a bank and pictured himself upon a flying carpet. He spread his arms and banked sharply like a fighter jet, his school satchel sailing behind him like a tail.

Just as he was about to turn sharply and release another barrage of missiles however, Dougie found himself genuinely floating in mid-air, his feet up in the air behind him. For a split second, he almost believed he was flying.

“Oof!” he grunted as he landed on his chest atop the tough summer soil.

Dougie bounced back up almost immediately, his youthful exuberance overwhelming the sharp pain in his elbow and the winded sensation in his chest.

“Oh no! Aunt Shona’s going to ground me for a week!” he cried as he looked down upon the dirt and grass firmly embedded into his school uniform. Cautiously, he checked the spot where the stinging sensation was coming from on his elbow.

“Noooooo!” was all Dougie could muster – not even his isolation being enough to forget his good manners and utter anything ruder – however much the frayed tear on his blazer warranted it.

He spun around, his pained expression turning into one of anger. Whichever tree root was responsible for this was going to get it. He took a few steps toward the spot at which he tripped and scanned for the offending object.

The thin, bar-like protrusion which jutted out of the ground at a low angle was not like any tree root Dougie had ever seen. In fact, he had never come across anything like it on his treasure hunts across the forest. He knelt beside it and brushed some of the dirt away.

As he uncovered more of the thin, white oddity, Dougie’s heart seemed to sink lower, until it turned a somersault. He knew what this was. They had studied the human skeleton just last week.

Dougie’s mouth opened slowly as he stared at the bone, his mind searching for another, less terrifying prospect. Suddenly, he found himself out of other potential explanations and incredibly afraid. He hopped to his feet and sprinted toward Aunt Shona’s cottage once again – only this time he was trying to stifle his imagination rather than explore it.