Why Is Murder On The Menu, Anyway?

Why Is Murder On The Menu, Anyway?
Stevi Mittman

What is it with you and murder victims?When Drew Scoones asks the questions, Teddi Bayer listens. Her latest decorating job for a restaurant spoiled by a murder, Ms. Bayer might just have to submit to the detective's line of interrogation. After all, her life depends on it.With a mafia don who's a little too interested in our crazed housewife, it seems as if everyone's got their eye on the Long Island spitfire. Observe the Botoxed mother who can still wound at thirty feet with just a look and a daughter whose bat mitzvah is a disaster in the making.If Teddi can't save herself, then the dreamy detective slowly putting the screws to her is the next best thing. But she's got questions of her own. Like, where are the handcuffs, anyway?

Praise for the writing of bestselling author Stevi Mittman

“Humor, excitement, a good mystery and romantic uncertainty make this series a winner.” Top Pick! 4½ stars

—Romantic Times BOOKreviews on What Goes With Blood Red, Anyway?

“A vibrant, funny story that wraps around your heart— Mittman makes you laugh, makes you think, makes you feel…and always makes you smile.”

—USA TODAY bestselling and RWA Hall of Fame author Jennifer Greene on Who Makes Up These Rules, Anyway?

“Don’t miss this book—it has all the heart that her historicals held, as well as Stevi’s wonderful and wacky sense of humor.”

—USA TODAY bestselling author Elizabeth Boyle on Who Makes Up These Rules, Anyway?

“Who Makes Up These Rules, Anyway? is filled with humor. Teddi jokes even while her life is falling apart, and there’s a great surprise ending. A keeper.” Top Pick! 4½ stars

—Romantic Times BOOKreviews

“If any writer is going to sit on the throne so recently vacated by the wonderful LaVyrle Spencer, it just may be Stephanie Mittman…. She can spin a story of real people dealing with genuine problems as love—not fantasy love, but true love—grows between them.”

—Barnesandnoble.com on A Kiss To Dream On

Stevi Mittman

has always been a decorator at heart. When she was little she cut the butterflies from her wallpaper and let them fly off the walls onto her ceiling and across her window shades. She remembers doing an entire bathroom in black-and-white houndstooth patent leather contact paper and putting strips of trim on her cupboards.

The Teddi Bayer murder mysteries have allowed her to combine her love of writing and her passion for decorating, and she couldn’t be happier. As a fictional decorator she doles out advice on Teddi’s Web site, TipsFromTeddi.com, and receives and responds to e-mails on behalf of Teddi.

Decorating is a third career for the prolific Mittman, who is also a stained-glass artist with work in the Museum of the City of New York and private commissions around the country and, of course, an award-winning author. Watch for another of her Teddi stories in the NEXT summer anthology, coming later this year.

In her spare time (you must be kidding) she also makes jewelry and indulges in gourmet cooking. Visit her at www.stevimittman.com.

For those of you who are putting any TipsFromTeddi.com advice to use, please e-mail her your successes and failures at Teddi@TipsFromTeddi.com, and be sure to visit Teddi’s Web site, www.TipsFromTeddi.com, for more murder, mayhem and sage advice on decorating!

Why Is Murder on the Menu, Anyway?

Stevi Mittman

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

This book is dedicated to all the usual suspects: my wonderful husband, Alan; my terrific agent, Irene Goodman; my fabulous editor, Tara Gavin; my oldest and dearest friend, Janet Rose; and especially to my Ithaca family, Miriam, Isaac, Glenn and Cathy, who helped me give birth to Why Is Murder on the Menu, Anyway?, named it and made me want to write it. Special thanks have to go to Janet, Miriam and Cathy for their ability to still laugh on the fourth and fifth reads, and to gently point out any inconsistencies the plot may have. I love you all.

Contents

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER 1

Design Tip of the Day

“Ambience is everything. Imagine eating foie gras at a luncheonette counter or a side of coleslaw at Le Cirque. It’s not a matter of food, but one of atmosphere. Remember that when planning your dining room design.”

—TipsFromTeddi.com

“Now, that’s the kind of man you should be looking for,” my mother, the self-appointed keeper of my shelf-life stamp, says. She points with her fork at a man in the corner of The Steak-Out Restaurant, a dive I’ve just been hired to redecorate. Making this restaurant look four-star will be hard, but not half as hard as getting through lunch without strangling the woman across the table from me. “He would make a good husband.”