Sunday, June 22, 2025

Spotlight on VICE AND VIRTUE by @LibbyKlein Plus a #Giveaway #SpotlightSunday

Spotlight on Vice and Virtue 



Layla Virtue

This year we say hello to a new kind of hero. Layla Virtue's career as a cop hit rock bottom in one incendiary moment that will forever live in Potomac County Police infamy. Now she finds herself living in the Lake 
Pinecrest Mobile Home Park trying to launch her backup career as a rock star about twenty years too late. 

Lake Pinecrest

She's competing against high school kids with garage bands who still live in their parent's basements and will work for tacos, while she's trying to pay the lot fees on her run down single wide.

Garage Band

At least she's alone and that's how she likes it. Far away from whispers of judgment and looks of pity. Until three women from her AA group decide to make her their fourth. She tries to shake them, but they are hanging on like Layla is bound to be their new bestie. Then there's this guy who keeps showing up on her front porch out of the blue.

Ringo

Layla's dead broke so she can't afford to say no to any gig. That's how she gets stuck playing guitar for an eight-year old's birthday party surrounded by screaming kids who only want to hear Baby Shark.


Birthday Party

 When the birthday party clown dies on stage, Layla knows she has to get out of there fast. This is her old precinct. She knows what's coming next.

the clown dies


She's too slow to escape the harsh scrutiny of her former colleagues, and before she knows it she's caught up in the world of trophy wives and trust fund kids where everyone has a secret, and a luxurious walk-in closet full of skeletons, trying to find out who killed the clown, and why?

Trophy Wives

 Layla's broken, but strong. Fragile, but fierce. She'll need a lot of help to make it in this life. If only she'd stop shutting everyone out. 

Libbykleinbooks.com


Vice and Virtue is full of humor and my love of Classic Rock, pulling from my life growing up with a musician for a father. 
My Life is Murder meets Mom meets Gilmore Girls meets Spinal Tap

Don't just take my word for it. Here are some reviews by people you might just recognize.

Cleo Coyle

Dru's Book Musings

Laura Levine

Lynn Cahoon

Escape with Dollycas



Read along to the Vice and Virtue playlist on Spotify.

Buy links  including Audiobook



Giveaway



I'll give a copy of Vice and Virtue to a lucky reader who can tell me their favorite classic rock song in the comments below. 


Vice and VirtueLayla Virtue, a blue-haired, 30-something recovering alcoholic and former cop is trying to reinvent herself as a musician—between AA meetings, dodging eccentric neighbors at her trailer park, and reconnecting with her mysterious dad—in this ​unforgettable new mystery brimming with hilarity and heart.


Layla is taking her new life one day at a time from the Lake Pinecrest Trailer Park she now calls home. Being alone is how she likes it. Simple. Uncomplicated. Though try telling that to the group of local ladies who are in relentless pursuit of Layla as their new BFF, determined to make her join them for coffee and donuts.

After her first career ended in a literal explosion, Layla’s trying to eke out a living as a rock musician. It’s not easy competing against garage bands who work for tacos and create their music on a computer, while all she has is an electric guitar and leather-ish pants. But Layla isn’t in a position to turn down any gig. Which is why she’s at an 8-year-old’s birthday party, watching as Chuckles the Clown takes a bow under the balloon animals. No one expects it will be his last . . .

Who would want to kill a clown—and why? Layla and her unshakable posse are suddenly embroiled in the seedy underbelly of the upper-class world of second wives and trust fund kids, determined to uncover what magnetic hold a pudgy, balding clown had over women who seem to have everything they could ever want. Then again, Layla knows full well that people are rarely quite what they seem—herself included . . .

Silly Libby
Libby Klein writes ridiculously funny murder mysteries from her Northern Virginia office with a very naughty calico Persian named Miss Eliza Doolittle, and a sweet black Lab named Vader. She can name that tune for 70s and 80s rock in the first few notes, and she's translated her love of classic rock into her Layla Virtue Mysteries. Libby was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that prevents her from eating gluten without exploding. Because bread is one of her love languages, she includes the recipes for gluten free goodies in her Cape May based Poppy McAllister series. Most of her hobbies revolve around travel, and eating, and eating while traveling. She insists she can find her way to any coffee shop anywhere in the world, even while blindfolded. Follow all of her nonsense on her website www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/



















Saturday, June 21, 2025

Marinara Sauce à la Ina Garten


My daughter had made some delicious meatballs, half of which she froze.  Hubby was craving spaghetti and meatballs so she gave them to me.  I had the meatballs, I had a box of spaghetti, but no tomato sauce.  Personally, I am not a fan of jarred sauces (with the exception of Rao's) but I did have a can of whole San Marzano tomatoes so I decided to make the sauce myself.  I settled on Ina Garten's recipe as the simplest and bonus, I already had all the ingredients on hand.  You can certainly make this with "ordinary" canned tomatoes but all the gourmet chefs recommend San Marzano because the tomatoes are grown in volcanic soil in a specific region of Italy and are sweeter and less acidic.  If your tomatoes are too sour, you can always add a pinch of sugar.

 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 (28-ounce) can of San Marzano tomatoes 

1/4 cup dry red wine  

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped (optional for garnish 

 

Heat olive oil and sauté onion until translucent.  Add garlic and sauté for one minute.


 

Crush tomatoes with your hands and add to pot.  (Careful! They splatter.) Add salt and pepper, oregano and red pepper (if using) and stir to combine.


 


 

Add wine and bring sauce to a gentle simmer. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, occasionally breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon.


 

Serve with pasta of your choice with or without meatballs.

 


 

 



 
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Friday, June 20, 2025

Lemon Chicken with Asparagus from Vicki Delany

Asparagus season is coming to an end, but there’s still time to get in more recipes!



 Lemon Chicken with Asparagus

Ingredients:


  •  bunch asparagus spear (about 1 lb/500 g)
  •  1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
  •  1/4 teaspoon salt
  •  1/4 teaspoon pepper
  •  1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  •  onion chopped
  •  cloves of garlic minced
  •  1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
  •  1 cup sodium-reduced chicken stock
  •  2 tablespoons lemon juice
  •  1 tablespoon cornstarch
  •  1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

Method:

Cut asparagus on diagonal into 1-inch (2.5 cm) lengths; set aside.

Cut chicken into 1-1/2 inch (4 cm) cubes; sprinkle with salt and pepper.

In large skillet, heat half of the oil over medium-high heat; brown chicken, about 6 minutes. Transfer to plate.

Add remaining oil to pan; fry onion, garlic and thyme, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, about 3 minutes.

Return chicken and any accumulated juices to pan. Add asparagus and chicken stock; cover and simmer until asparagus is tender-crisp, about 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together lemon juice, cornstarch and lemon rind; add to pan and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 1 minute.








Follow Vicki at www.vickidelany.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. You can sign up to receive Vicki’s quarterly newsletter at Vicki Delany – Canadian Author of Mystery Novels and Suspense Novels » Contact. She’s on Bluesky at @vickidelany.bsky.social and Instagram as vicki.delany


Shot Through the Book, the 12th Lighthouse Library mystery by Eva Gates, now available from Crooked Lane Books.  Shot Through the Book by Eva Gates: 9798892420440 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

 

  

Thursday, June 19, 2025

Tuna Melts to Celebrate Summer @LucyBurdette


 LUCY BURDETTE: Now that it’s officially summertime, I feel I can indulge in one of my favorite lunchtime treats, the good old-fashioned tuna melt. There are a couple of places near my hometown in Connecticut that do these superbly. The secret might lie in good rye bread, just enough tuna salad, but not too much, and a good dose of melty cheese. I saw a recipe recently that called for adding salt and vinegar potato chips to the mix. This sounded like something I had to try. And here is my stab at the iconic dish…


Ingredients for two sandwiches



Four slices of good quality rye bread.

Eight slices of white American cheese or cheddar.

One can tuna in water. (could be oil if that’s your preference)

Two stalks celery, chopped

Half a cup sweet pickles, chopped.

One heaping tablespoon mayonnaise

Teaspoon Dijon mustard

Handful of salt and vinegar potato chips.



Squeeze the oil or water out of the tuna and flake that up in a bowl. Chop the celery and pickles and add these as well. Add the mayonnaise and the mustard and mix it all together.



Melt a tablespoon or so of butter in a frying pan. Place a slice of bread in the melted butter, and on top of that layer two slices of cheese, a scoop of the tuna salad, enough potato chips to cover, and a second two slices of cheese. Cover this with bread, and fry on medium heat until the bottom is brown, and the cheese is melted. Flip the sandwich and continue to cook until the second side is brown and oozing bubbly cheese.





Remove the sandwich to a plate. Cut in half and enjoy! 



Note from me: I’m not sure the potato chips in the sandwich were necessary as they were missing the appealing crunch. Next time I would serve them on the side. If you wish to add chopped raw onion to the dish, have at it!

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series including USA Today bestselling A POISONOUS PALATE and A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS


Book 15 in the Key West series, THE MANGO MURDERS, will be in bookstores on August 12, but you can preorder now!

The trade paperback edition of A POISONOUS PALATE will be out on July 8.




And the trade paperback edition of A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS is out now!


Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Pistachio Rose Cake #Recipe by @Libby Klein

Libby Klein I am fascinated with exotic flavors in baking. So when I saw the recipe for a pistachio rose cake with cardamom I had to try it. There are several ingredients you might need to order on the internet, like the rose water and edible rose petals. And I always get shelled pistachios because life is too short to try to break those little monsters open to make a cake. If you can find pistachio flour you could just use that because you end up pulsing the nuts into a fine grind anyway.

Let me know in the comments if you would eat a rose flavored cake.

I had very high hopes for this recipe, and flavor wise they did not disappoint. Texture wise... I ended up with a rather dense cake. Which might be due only to the fact that it had to be kept refrigerated because the frosting was essentially rose flavored whipped cream. I could not taste the cardamom at all, so next time I'd add more.

If I had to do things again, I would make a rose water Swiss buttercream that would not have to be refrigerated - so that is what I'm going to give you here even though I actually made the frosting that came with the original recipe. But if you want an easier frosting, make an American buttercream and add rose water in place of the vanilla.

If I were low on time, I would use a boxed pistachio cake mix and just add cardamom and rose water to it. 

Also note, this recipe made a very small cake. Three 7" layers. I had 7" cake pans so I was able to keep true to the recipe's intentions. If you were to substitute a normal 9" cake pan you would only get one layer - so double the recipe if that's what you're using.

The shining star here was the raspberry rose jam. If you can't do the raspberry seeds, buy yourself the Smuckers seedless jam and melt it over low heat in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Then add the rose water and put it back in the jar to cool. The recipe said you'd only use half the jam, but I used every bit of it.

The original recipe was in metric. I have a scale, so that isn't a problem for me. If you don't have a scale you'll want to google the conversions.


Pistachio Rose Cake

Ingredients

Raspberry Rose Jam

250g frozen raspberries 
200g sugar
1 1/2 tbsp rose water
1 tbsp lemon juice

Cake

165g salted butter, softened at room temperature
300g sugar
3 medium eggs
200g flour or one to one gluten free flour
3/4 tsp cardamom powder (I would up this to a teaspoon personally)
85g ground unsalted pistachios (Use whole nuts and grind them in the food processor)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp rose water
1 drop green food coloring
180ml buttermilk
1/4 tsp almond extract

Rose Swiss Buttercream

6 large egg whites (approximately 180g)
2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
1 and 1/2 cups (340g) unsalted butter, softened but still cool and cut into Tbsp size pieces
2 teaspoons rose water
1/8 teaspoon salt

Decoration 

Edible rose petals
Crushed pistachios


Instructions

Make the raspberry rose jam first. You can even make this days ahead.  

 

Add the raspberries to a medium saucepan. Place on a medium heat until the raspberries begin releasing their juices. Once completely squashed, add the remaining ingredients and allow to gently boil for 5 mins. You can test if it’s done by placing a teaspoon of the mixture to a plate then refrigerating for 1min. If it wrinkles when you push it with your finger, it will set perfectly. Pour the jam into a heat safe vessel and let it cool. Store in the refrigerator.

Now for the Cake

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and line 3 x 7-inch baking tins. (or one 9-inch cake pan)

Begin by creaming together the butter and sugar. One by one, add the eggs, mixing well to combine. Mix together the dry ingredients – flour, cardamom, pistachios and baking soda in a bowl. Mix together the wet ingredients – buttermilk, green food dye, rose water, and almond extract. Add a third of the dry ingredients to the butter mix before mixing well to combine. Add half of the wet ingredients to the butter mix before mixing well to combine. Repeat until all ingredients are combined.



Split the batter equally into the prepared baking tins and bake for 25 mins or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from baking tins and cool on a wire rack.

Frosting

Separate the eggs, placing the egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer. 

Whisk sugar into the egg whites, then set the bowl over a saucepan filled with just two inches of simmering water over medium heat. Do not let the bottom of the egg whites bowl touch the water. Whisk the whites and sugar constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture has thinned out, about 4 minutes. The mixture will be thick and tacky at first, then thin out and be frothy white on top. To test that it’s ready, you can use your finger or an instant read thermometer. Lightly and quickly dip your finger (it’s very hot, be careful) and rub the mixture between your thumb and finger. You shouldn’t feel any sugar granules. If using a thermometer, the temperature should read 160°F (71°C).


Transfer the bowl to your stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. On medium-high speed, beat the mixture until stiff glossy peaks form and the meringue is no longer warm to the touch, at least 10-15 minutes. If the bowl and meringue still feel warm, wait until both cool to room temperature (around 70°F (21°C)) before adding the butter in the next step.


Switch the stand mixer to the paddle attachment. On medium-high speed, add the butter 1 Tablespoon at a time. Wait for the butter to fully mix in before adding the next Tablespoon. After all the butter has been added, turn the mixer down to medium speed and fully beat in the rose water and salt, about 30 seconds.

Assembly

Smear a spoonful of frosting onto a cake board before topping with the first layer of cake. Top with a couple of tablespoons of jam. Spread evenly. Add a couple of spoons of frosting on top of that before spreading evenly.


Repeat with the second layer of cake, jam, and frosting.

Top with the final layer of cake and decorate the sides and top with frosting. Top with edible rose petals and chopped pistachios.




Vice and VirtueLayla Virtue, a blue-haired, 30-something recovering alcoholic and former cop is trying to reinvent herself as a musician—between AA meetings, dodging eccentric neighbors at her trailer park, and reconnecting with her mysterious dad—in this ​unforgettable new mystery brimming with hilarity and heart.


Layla is taking her new life one day at a time from the Lake Pinecrest Trailer Park she now calls home. Being alone is how she likes it. Simple. Uncomplicated. Though try telling that to the group of local ladies who are in relentless pursuit of Layla as their new BFF, determined to make her join them for coffee and donuts.

After her first career ended in a literal explosion, Layla’s trying to eke out a living as a rock musician. It’s not easy competing against garage bands who work for tacos and create their music on a computer, while all she has is an electric guitar and leather-ish pants. But Layla isn’t in a position to turn down any gig. Which is why she’s at an 8-year-old’s birthday party, watching as Chuckles the Clown takes a bow under the balloon animals. No one expects it will be his last . . .

Who would want to kill a clown—and why? Layla and her unshakable posse are suddenly embroiled in the seedy underbelly of the upper-class world of second wives and trust fund kids, determined to uncover what magnetic hold a pudgy, balding clown had over women who seem to have everything they could ever want. Then again, Layla knows full well that people are rarely quite what they seem—herself included . . .

Silly Libby
Libby Klein writes ridiculously funny murder mysteries from her Northern Virginia office with a very naughty calico Persian named Miss Eliza Doolittle, and a sweet black Lab named Vader. She can name that tune for 70s and 80s rock in the first few notes, and she's translated her love of classic rock into her Layla Virtue Mysteries. Libby was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that prevents her from eating gluten without exploding. Because bread is one of her love languages, she includes the recipes for gluten free goodies in her Cape May based Poppy McAllister series. Most of her hobbies revolve around travel, and eating, and eating while traveling. She insists she can find her way to any coffee shop anywhere in the world, even while blindfolded. Follow all of her nonsense on her website www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/