A Jenna Dubois Cozy Mystery!
Most who have sampled La Petite Brioche’s flaky, aromatic croissants that melt in your mouth like buttery ice cream and – sorry, just let me wipe these crumbs from my - where was I? - right: anyone who has eaten at La Petite Brioche Patisserie and Café will tell you that their croissants are to die for; but when one young woman takes it quite literally, bakery owner Jenna Dubois must uncover who exactly has dared to commit crime by croissant, and save her bakery's reputation in the process.
Also includes a Pastry Glossary and a KILLER recipe!
"Rats." It was my first thought when I saw the mess in my usually pristine kitchen. Well, pristine at 3:30 in the morning, anyway, which was later than I usually start because I had worked on a special order late yesterday afternoon with Steven and slept in.
And there it was. My beautiful pièce montée, once a succulent pyramid of puff pastries filled with perfumed crème patissière - a sweet cream flavored with orange-blossom, rose water, pistachio, raspberry, nougat, vanilla - was in ruins, the delectable little balls scattered like marbles all over the marble counter, the high stool I use when I decorate, the tiled floor and the young woman lying there.
Rats. That was it, I had rats, I was going to have the little sign that said "Health Inspection Notice" on my front window and I would die still in debt for all those clever time-saving machines I had bought rather than start my working life armed with nothing but a rolling pin and a pastry bag.
No, wait, wait. Why was there a woman lying face-down on the floor of my kitchen? My kitchen floor was usually woman-less.
How did she get in? What was she doing here? And - oh, no, why wasn't she breathing?
I stepped in carefully, trying to avoid treading on the chou pastries scattered everywhere. I don't know why. I couldn't sell them anymore. But hard, round choux are easier to clean up than mushy, flat choux smearing their cream filling everywhere, and anyway it seemed disrespectful. I positioned myself so I could squat down next to the woman and check her pulse.
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Italian
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Translation in progress.
Translated by beth Rossi
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Spanish
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Translation in progress.
Translated by LIZBETH RODRIGUEZ
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