Being Irish

by special guest Kylie Logan.

According to statistics, there are more than 33 million people in America–a little more than 10% of the population–who lay claim to Irish ancenstors.

I am not one of them.

My bloodlines are strictly eastern European and I will take pierogi over corned beef and cabbage any day, a shot of vodka (it has to be from Poland) instead of a beer, a plate of the fruit-filled pastries called kolachki over . . . well, pretty much over anything!

So why begin my new Ethnic Eats mystery series with "Irish Stewed" and Irish food?

The answer is really pretty simple. In the book, the heroine, Laurel Inwood, meets a man named Declan Fury who comes from a big, boisterous, rollicking Irish family. It’s no coincidence that my husband, David, comes from a big, boisterous . . . well, you get the picture.

David’s ancestors were railroaders, firemen and housekeepers. Our current circle (it’s a big one) of relatives includes bagpipers and cops and any number of in-laws, nieces and nephews who will argue politics passionately with you one moment, then drape an arm around your shoulders and give you a hug the next.

One of our best family traditions is a huge (we’re talking more than 100 people) St. Patrick’s Day party where David and I are always in charge of the colcannon. Ever have it? For the uninitiated, colcannon is simply mashed potatoes (the more butter added, the better) mixed with chopped steamed cabbage and kale. For our crowd, we start with fifty pounds of potatoes and every last bit of it is eaten.

Ah, if Laurel only had to worry about the Irish food she’s decided to add to the menu at her aunt’s restaurant! Life would be good if she could concentrate on boxty and soda bread, not on the body she finds in a booth her first day on the job. Serving up plates of Irish stew would be easier if she wasn’t so busy tracking down suspects, and since the victim is a TV investigative reporter, there are plenty to be had.

In addition to giving me the chance to craft a fun mystery, writing about ethnic food has allowed me to explore heritage and how our sense of self is wrapped up in memories and memories often come with the aroma of home cooking. How about you? What ethnic foods did you grow up eating?

Kylie Logan has a degree in English, experience as a journalist and writing teacher, and lots of ideas about interesting ways to kill people. When she's not writing, she knits,  weaves, and keeps bees.  

She can usually be found with her amily and their two dogs, Ernie, an adorable Airedale, and Oscar, a Jack Russell rescue.

Kylie also writes cozy mysteries as Casey Daniels (Pepper Martin Mysteries) and Miranda Bliss (Cooking Class Mysteries).

Cozy Monday

Irish Stewed (Ethnic Eats Mystery #1) by Kylie Logan (Berkley Prime Crime mass market paperback, 3 May 2016).


After losing her job as a personal chef in Hollywood, Laurel Inwood goes to tiny Hubbard, Ohio, to help out her foster-aunt Sophie, who's having knee surgery.

She expects to be running a quiet, elegant restaurant with linen tablecloths and candles, not the train station diner she finds.  Although she's (understandably) annoyed that Sophie lied to her, Laurel finds herself agreeing to stay.  

Firstly, she really has nowhere else to go.  Secondly, when Sophie shows Lauren around Terminal at the Tracks for the first time, they find a dead television reporter at one of the tables.  Because the restaurant was locked up, Sophie at first becomes a "person of interest".  

Besides, Declan, the handsome guy whose family runs the Irish gift shop across the street is interesting, and very good-looking, and Lauren is intrigued despite herself.   Then, when Laurel is attacked, she takes it personally, and decides that she will solve the mystery before she leaves.

Irish Stewed is a bit different from many cozy mysteries in that the protagonist is not running home after being disgraced, and so forced to endure the pity and condescension of her old friends.  Laurel knows no one in Hubbard, so she has no preconceived expectations to overcome.  She also is not a completely sympathetic character at first, coming  across as a bit of a cultural and culinary snob.  

But she is intelligent and resourceful, and she manages to unravel a complicated mystery filled with red herrings, and at the same time adjust to life in a small, Midwestern town, even if it's not an easy process.

The recipe for the titular Irish stew is included at the end of the book, along with a preview of the next book in the series, French Fried.





The publisher has generously offered a copy of Irish Stewed to one of my readers. Please comment below by 12:01 a.m. on Monday, May 16th. Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win. Entries from the U.S. only, please.


FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy of the book.

Nose in Book Just Naturally Leads to Murder

A guest post by Kylie Logan..

Back in the day (and I do mean back!) our local grocery store ran a promotion that these days, sounds pretty odd.

For every purchase you made, you could choose a framed print of an art masterpiece.

I don’t know how many of the pictures my mother ended up with, but I do clearly remember one of them, "A Young Girl Reading," painted by Jean-Honore Fragonard, a French artist, in 1776. Aside from the fact that it’s a pleasant picture, that the colors are warm and easy on the eyes and that the girl looks so content and so downright comfortable, there is a reason this particular pictures stays in my mind–my mother always said it reminded her of me.

Nose in book.

When I was a kid, I always had my nose in a book.

At the time, I wasn’t much for contemporary authors. Maybe that’s because back then (there’s that phrase again!) there weren’t many authors who catered to the YA market. That left me at my favorite place–the library–with a whole host of possibilities, most of them classics of literature.

I read Lorna Doone (I don’t recommend it), and Scaramouche (all because of the movie, of course, and the crush I had on Stewart Granger). I devoured Prisoner of Zenda (see the last comment) and The Scarlet Pimpernel and all of Jane Austen, and Conan Doyle and Dumas (pere and fils). When I went to college, I majored in English. How else could I justify my nose constantly being in one of those books?

All that being said, I guess it’s only natural that when I was looking for a hook for a new mystery series, the idea of classical literature popped into my head. Books . . . ah, there was something I was comfortable with, something I knew readers loved to learn more about, something that would surely get my creative juices flowing.


It worked! From that idea grew the concept for the League of Literary Ladies mysteries. The League is based on South Bass island off the Ohio mainland in Lake Erie, and consists of four members: Bea Cartwright is new to the island and owns a B&B. Chandra Morrisey is the island kook, a tarot and crystal reader. Kate Wilder is all business. Since she owns the island’s biggest winery, it’s no wonder. Elderly Luella Zak has taken over her late husband’s fishing charter business. She’s as tough as any Great Lakes skipper ever was.

Four different women, with four different tastes. Brought together by one thing–books.

Well, that and the fact that they’re always feuding and the judge gets so tired of them taking each other to court, he orders them to get to know each other better by sentencing them to become a book discussion group.

The results are anything but predictable, especially when in the first installment of the series, Mayhem at the Orient Express, the Ladies discover a body and must use the Christie classic they’re reading as a blueprint for finding the killer.

This month, the League of Literary Ladies is back in action with A Tale of Two Biddies. It’s summer, and the islanders are marking Bastille Day with a week-long celebration. What better choice for reading than Charles Dickens’s "A Tale of Two Cities" with its French Revolution background and its story of secrets, lies and people who might–or might not–be what they seem.

In the confusion, somebody’s bound to lose their head!

To indulge my inner book geek I also added a Charles Dickens look-alike and trivia contest. It’s only natural–this time, the League must turn to Dickens as a guide to solving the murder of the island nobody who might not be as much of a nobody as everyone thought.

I don’t know about where you are, but here in Ohio, it’s gray, gloomy and cold. I can’t promise summer weather to go along with my summer story, but I can say an adventure with the League of Literary Ladies is bound to be a Dickens of a good time!



Kylie Logan is a full-time writer who has loved mysteries since she was a kid. 

She has a degree in English, experience as a journalist and writing teacher, and lots of ideas about interesting ways to kill people. This makes her an excellent guest as cocktail parties, but she's noticed that the hostess doesn't always trust her near the food.

She  began her career writing historical romance and her book Devil's Diamond was nominated for a RITA award as historical of the year by Romance Writers of America.She has  also written contemporary romance, young adult horror (as Zoe Daniels and Connie Laux), and one children's book, Fright Knight, in the RL Stine's Ghosts of Fear Street series.

Kylie also writes mysteries under the names Miranda Bliss and Casey Daniels.  Visit her website at www.kylielogan.com.