A Second Helping of Murder and Recipes

Reporter Emerald Malloy returns to Minnesota’s Red River Valley to gather more recipes for an encore feature the Minneapolis newspaper plans to run on rural cooking. This time around, Margie Johnson, the owner of Hot Dish Heaven, the local cafe, surprises her with unusual recipes, including Sauerkraut Hot Dish, explaining that man cannot live on Tuna Noodle Hot Dish alone. While intrigued by Margie’s efforts to expand her “culinary horizons,” Emerald has no interest in looking into the murder of a farmhand whose body is found at a local sugar beet piler. Instead, her plans focus on getting more “intimately” acquainted with Randy Ryden, the deputy she met when last in town. Those plans change, however, when someone close to Margie is arrested for the crime, and Emerald and friends must investigate their way through a blizzard, a fish fry, and a whole lot more to discover the real killer.

Jeanne Cooney of Kennedy, MN Jeanne Cooney grew up Minnesota's Red River Valley, where she recently returned after forty years away. She loves to read, write, bake, and spend time "at the lake" with family, friends, and her little dog, Gus.  Keep in touch with Jeanne via Facebook and her website. www.jeannecooney.com, where you can also post your favorite recipes and Ole and Lena jokes, along with your name. Then watch to see if they make it into an upcoming book.