The Pickled Piper

By Mary Ellen Hughes

FIRST IN A NEW SERIES!

After her dreams of romance are crushed, Piper Lamb decides to pursue her dream of opening her own shop of pickles and preserves, called Piper’s Picklings, in the idyllic small town of Cloverdale. But she isn’t in town long before she encounters a barrelful of trouble…
 
The Cloverdale fair offers Piper a sweet opportunity to promote her business. With her new assistant, Amy, she sets up a booth centered around an eye-catching display of the ever-popular dills in an old-fashioned barrel of brine.
 
But things soon turn sour when fairgoers witness a fight between Amy’s boyfriend, Nate, and town council blowhard—and bagpipe player—Alan Rosemont. When Rosemont is found floating in Piper’s barrel, Nate becomes the prime murder suspect. With Amy’s boyfriend in a pretty pickle, there’s no time to dillydally. But as Piper searches for the real killer, she needs to be careful to preserve her own life…or she may end up a pickled Piper herself.

INCLUDES RECIPES
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: May 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781101592816

Mary Ellen Hughes

I'm a Milwaukee, Wisconsin native but have lived in Maryland since college. RESORT TO MURDER, originally published by Avalon, is set in Maryland, as are my Craft Corner mysteries, (published by Berkley Prime Crime) WREATH OF DECEPTION, STRING OF LIES, AND PAPER-THIN ALIBI. I love tennis, both playing and watching, and enjoyed writing the scenes on the tennis courts in RESORT TO MURDER. My books are cozy mysteries and appropriate for all ages. I hope you'll enjoy them.

Reviews for The Pickled Piper

[nlb1050 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A great start for a new series.

[lisaksbookreviews · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have to start by saying, this is one of the best new books I have read this year! I couldn't put it down. THE PICKLED PIPER hooked me on page one and just kept pulling me in!Piper Lamb has opened her dream store, Piper's Picklings in the small town of Cloverdale where she sells not only the multitude of delightful items that she has pickled and preserved herself, but also pickling spices, supplies, and cookbooks. And she can't think of a better way to promote her business than setting up her wares at the Cloverdale fair. Well, it was a great idea until Alan Rosemont, a local town councilman is found head first and dead inside her old-fashioned pickle barrel with Piper's assistant's boyfriend the prime suspect!Right away I felt Piper, her Aunt Judy and Uncle Frank, her assistant Amy, and the rest of the cast of characters were close friends. Like I had always spent my days in Piper's shop. Author Mary Ellen Hughes writes with a simple flair that makes reading a real joy. Her characters are very likeable and fun, the setting enjoyable and the mystery first class. I thought I knew who did it, but I was wrong. Then I suspected someone of something else...I was wrong. When the reveal of the killer came, it all made prefect sense. Another sweet and spicy surprise was how interesting I found the process of pickling. It's not something I've ever had an interest in, but as I read this treat of a book I found myself wishing I had paid more attention to my mother when she made and canned her pickle relish. Congratulations to Ms. Hughes on this wonderful first book of what is sure to be a hit series! My appetite has certainly been wetted for more!Lisa Ks Book Reviews

[starrreina · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

“The Pickled Piper” by Mary Ellen HughesPiper Lamb is starting new. After leaving her fiancé—well, actually he left her to travel the world to ‘find himself,’ which gave Piper the out she needed—she moves and sets up shop in Cloverdale. Thinking she’d have a quiet life running her pickling shop, Piper’s world is anything but quiet.She decides to join other shop owners and sets up a pickling booth at the town’s fair and does pretty well. Until a dead body—Alan Rosemont’s—is found in her pickle barrel. To say that it kind of sours her pickling is yes, a pun and probably crass, but it’s also the least of her worries.Her only and faithful employee Amy is seeing Nate, who gets accused of murdering Alan. Piper tries to help Amy by helping Nate prove his innocence. But apparently, someone doesn’t want Piper figuring out too much. She becomes the target of some annoying and then deadly warnings. Then it gets worse for Nate when more dead bodies are found. Piper figures they have to relate to each other and doesn’t stop trying to convince the sheriff and everyone else that Nate is not guilty. Running a pickling shop and hunting down a killer keep her busy during the day. But so does trying to make her ex-fiancé understand they are over while getting cozy with a new man.You’ll smile, you’ll root for Nate, you’ll tell Piper to move on with her new life and leave the old behind, and you’ll turn the pages while tension mounts up as one person after another becomes suspect—at least in Piper’s eyes. And you will not, assuredly, figure out who the actual murderer is until after Piper does.Lots of fun. It makes for a great beach read! Reviewed by Starr Gardinier Reina, author of “The Other Side: Melinda’s Story”