In April, I had the opportunity to meet author Cindy Brown at Malice Domestic, and to pick up a signed copy of her Agatha Nominated MACDEATH! As a playwright, theater teacher, and mystery writer, her books are clearly right up my alley. Cindy Brown’s most recent humorous mystery novel OLIVER TWISTED (Henery Press, June 21, 2016) was released yesterday, and I am delighted to welcome her to my blog today!
Who is your main character? What is she like?
Actress and part-time PI Ivy Meadows is a sort of Nancy Drew Barrymore. She’s sweet, smart, and a little screwball.
What would Ivy choose for her last meal?
As befits her budget, Ivy eats a lot of beans and pasta, so for her last meal she’d want some expensive food she’d never had a chance to try–but she‘d want the comfort of something familiar, too. I think her ultimate meal would be gourmet comfort food: a big plate of lobster mac and cheese, preceded by a salad with heirloom tomatoes and truffle oil dressing, and finished with a chocolate soufflé for dessert.
How about you? What would you choose for your last meal?
Because of a jaw issue, I’ve had to eat soft foods for the last seven years, so for my last meal, I’d love a rather odd combination of all the crunchy, chewy foods I miss. I’d begin with a big bowl of popcorn, with lots of real butter. A little dish of warm spiced nuts would come next, followed by a crisp salad with lots of cucumber. Dessert would be a fudge-covered apple (not caramel but fudge. Soooo good). I’d also have a cheese plate—not because I can’t eat cheese, but because it is the best food in the world.
Why should someone bite into OLIVER TWISTED?
Like all the Ivy Meadows books, OLIVER TWISTED is a mystery wrapped in silly theatrical fun. Sure, Ivy’s onboard the S.S. David Copperfield in order to catch a band of thieves, but she also has to act in the shipboard musical, Oliver! At Sea!, where she sings a rather ridiculous parody of “Where is Love?” from Oliver!:
“Whe- eh-eh-eh-ere…is food?” Not exactly the poignant song Oliver sang in the movie. “Are the pork chops any good?” I sang. “Should I drink my tea, or maybe see…if coffee’s freshly brewed?” I guess Oliver! At Sea!’s lyricists had decided that food was the one thing that the story and the ship had in common. “Whe-eh-eh-eh-ere…is pie? Should I order ham on rye? Or fish and chips, or Spotted Dick, or a pasty with fungi?”
“Really?” I stopped. I couldn’t stand it anymore. “I’m afraid the audience will throw things at me.”
“Don’t worry,” my director said. “They eat it up.”
Do you have a recipe you’d like to share?
I decided to make a pasty with fungi (a mushroom hand pie) in honor of Ivy’s song. I made it from a 14th century recipe (cool, huh?), but used this pastry recipe. The filling was great. The pastry is supposed to be tougher than a typical piecrust so you can take the pasty to go, but was a little too tough for my liking. I’ll cheat and use frozen puff pastry the next time I make it.
(I took this pic of some of the ingredients because I wasn’t sure how the final product would look, and so you could see the cool book cutting board my dad made.)
This sounds yummy…and the book sounds hysterical! I can’t wait to read it! And that is an incredibly cool cutting board. Wow!
You can connect with Cindy Brown on her website, cindybrownwriter.com and on Facebook and Twitter. You can find OLIVER TWISTED on Amazon, Barnes and Noble (Nook), iTunes and Kobo.
Fun post. I’d at least give these books for the titles alone.
Thanks, Sandra! I have a blast coming up with the titles. The next one? “Ivy Get Your Gun”:)
Nina, great to meet you at Malice.Thanks for having me here!
Great meeting you too! And I am thrilled that you are here!