Lemon Tart

A recipe for murder!

•5 families living on Peregrine Circle
•1 flowered curtain tieback
•1 missing child
•1 body in the field

Mix with a long list of suspects and top with two very different detectives. Increase heat until only the truth remains.

Award-winning author Josi S. Kilpack introduces a new series of culinary "cozies" that is sure to tantalize mystery lovers. In this debut volume, cooking aficionado-turned-amateur detective, Sadie Hoffmiller, tries to solve the murder of Anne Lemmon, her beautiful young neighbor - a single mother who was mysteriously killed while a lemon tart was baking in her oven. At the heart of Sadie's search is Anne's missing two-year-old son, Trevor. Whoever took the child must be the murderer, but Sadie is certain that the police are looking at all the wrong suspects - including her!

Armed with a handful of her very best culinary masterpieces, Sadie is determined to bake her way to proving her innocence, rescuing Trevor, and finding out exactly who had a motive for murder.


Mom’s Lemon Tart
Crust
1 cup all- purpose flour
1/3 cup powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter (cut into smaller pieces)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a food processor or mixer, combine ingredients for crust. Pulse together until a dough starts to form in clumps. Press into tart pan, making sure to cover bottom and sides evenly. Pierce the bottom of the crust with a fork and place in freezer for 10 to 15 minutes. Place tart pan on a cookie sheet and bake until crust is a golden-brown color, approximately 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Filling
5 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 large lemons—DO NOT use concentrated lemon juice)
2 large eggs
Zest from one lemon (get zest from lemon before juicing)

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Mix cream cheese with electric beaters until smooth. Add sugar. Mix until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each egg. Stop and scrape bowl halfway through. Add the lemon juice and zest and mix until smooth.

Pour filling into tart crust and bake on cookie sheet for 20 to 30 minutes or until filling is set. Let tart cool on wire cooling rack. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled. Use whipped cream as an optional topping. It can be piped on instars or served on top with each piece. For extra flavor in the whipped cream, add a teaspoon of lemon zest..

I thought I had reviewed this book when I read it back in April? March? But I guess I didn't. So here you go.

I loved this book. Sadie is your standard neighborhood busy body. But not the kind you don't like. In fact, she is the one that everyone relies on to know things or to help out. She doesn't mean to get involved in a murder investigation. It just sorta happens. Can Sadie help it if she noticed something strange at Anne's house and walked in on a murder investigation? Or that she becomes a suspect because she notices things that others don't? Or that the murderer is not who you think it is?

I am usually pretty good at guessing who the bad guy is fairly early in the book. Imagine my surprise when it wasn't who I thought.

This genre is a departure for Josi. And I think she did a great job. Even though you will find this series of culinary mysteries at Deseret Book, it is not a Mormon book in the sense of the characters being Mormon, because they are not.

I have always loved Josi's writing. She has a way of telling a story that makes you love her characters and you feel as if you know them all personally. You can find my reviews of others of Josi's books here, here and here. You can purchase them here. Read Josi's blog here or go to
Josi's website here.

While you are at the website, you can preorder book two in the series, and read chapter 1.

Then when you get your copy of book 2, turn it over and open the back cover. Read about the author then turn the pages until you get to page 351. Notice that it is chapter one of book 3. Don't stop to read it yet because you need to turn the page two more times. See the top of page 347? Where it says Acknowledgements? yes? Scan down to the bottom of the page then back up one line. See that second word? Sandra? Woo Hoo!! that would be me.

And how do I know that it is on that precise page in that precise spot. Because I have my copy of the book sitting right next to me and I am headed to my room to do some serious reading.

Oh, and the reason I didn't tell you the title of book 2? Because it is the location of the next Where in the World?

Last time we were in Scotland and today we are headed not very far away from there. Here we can eat scones and crumpets, take the Jack the Ripper tour, see the changing of the guards. Hopefully we don't discover a dead body like Sadie does in book two of Josi's series. If you are my family you know that my sister, Sharon, (and I think my brother in law as well?) went there on her mission. Or you may know that President Hinckley went there, too.

But the easiest way to know, Head over to Josi's and read the first chapter.

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Indeed.