Kate Carlisle’s A Cookbook Conspiracy {+Giveaway}

I’m delighted to welcome author Kate Carlisle here today to celebrate the mass market paperback release of A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY, book #7 in her Bibliophile Mystery series.

Kate is joining us to talk about ‘Joy of Life.’ In addition, thanks to Kate and the lovely Danielle at Penguin Group, I have a copy of A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY to give away. Please see the end of the post for details.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the book …

It’s a recipe for disaster when bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright is asked to restore an antique cookbook....
        Brooklyn’s sister Savannah and her former culinary school classmates all became successful chefs, especially Savannah’s ex-boyfriend Baxter Cromwell, who went on to culinary superstardom. When he invites the old gang to the gala opening of his new restaurant in San Francisco, Savannah asks Brooklyn to restore a rare antique cookbook as a present for him.
        The night they all gather, Baxter is found dead, the cookbook has disappeared, and Savannah becomes the suspect du jour. But Brooklyn knows her sister is innocent, and there are plenty of old grudges simmering among this backstabbing bunch. Now she’ll have to turn up the heat on the investigation before Chef Savannah finds herself slinging hash in a prison cafeteria. 

Please join me in welcoming Kate.

Did you watch the Oscars earlier this year? In her acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress, Lupita Nyong'o thanked her director with a luminescent smile and tears in her eyes. "This has been the joy of my life," she said.

Happiness radiated from her and lifted the mood of everyone who watched.

I could relate to what she was feeling. Writing the Bibliophile Mystery novels has been the joy of my life. I get to immerse myself in everything I love—rare books and bookbinding, history, food, romance, humor, and whodunits. (I was going to say "murder," but saying I love murder makes me sound like a psychopath. I don't love murder, but I've always enjoyed books in which a murderer is caught. Justice… served.) Plus, in writing the books, I get to connect to a community of readers who love the same things that I love, and who enjoy books that both entertain them and make them think.

Joy. Of. My. Life. 

A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY was released in hardcover and eBook last year and is now available in mass market paperback. It's a perfect example of all of my great loves coming together in one story. Rare books, history, food, romance, humor, and a whodunit that will keep you guessing until the end.

Bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright is stunned when her sister Savannah, a chef, asks her to restore the one-of-a-kind journal and cookbook of an indentured servant who came to America before America was a country. In fact, this woman lived during the time of the Revolution, and symbols scribbled in the margins of the journal lead Brooklyn to believe that she may have been a spy.

One of the things I love best about writing the Bibliophile Mysteries is being able to research whatever historical time period captures my fancy, through the appearance of a rare and precious book from that time period. While writing A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY, I delved into the American Revolution, and particularly the fascinating spy craft of the time. Imagine trying to communicate across vast distances in a time of war, before the existence of the internet or telephones or even telegrams. Any message you sent could be intercepted, and the messenger killed. So how do you organize? Secret codes and ciphers were born of necessity.

For the story, I invented Obedience Green, a young English woman who came to America as an indentured servant. Through brief passages from her journal, Obedience comes to life for the reader as a woman who nearly lost her life on the ship to the New World, and went on to become the trusted cook for a British general. But was she using the recipes in her journal to transmit secret messages to the other side? Which side was she fighting for, and how is it possible that a twenty-first century celebrity chef was murdered the very day that this 240-year-old journal came into his possession? Brooklyn doesn't know, but she's determined to find out because her sister is the prime suspect in the chef’s murder. Savannah was discovered with his body… and a bloody fish knife in her hand.

I like my mysteries with a lot of humor, and I hope you do, too. A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY is available now wherever books and eBooks are sold. I'd love to hear from you! You can contact me via my website, www.katecarlisle.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/katecarlislebooks.

Have you experienced the joy of your life in your personal or professional life? Share a moment that made you feel happy.

Kate, thanks for sharing this look into your research for this book. The joy you have for your books definitely shines through in your writing.

If you’re not familiar with Kate, here’s a bit of background on her.

Golden Heart and Daphne du Maurier Award winning author Kate Carlisle spent over twenty years working in television production as an Associate Director for game and variety shows, including The Midnight Special, Solid Gold and The Gong Show. She traveled the world as a Dating Game chaperone and performed strange acts of silliness on The Gong Show. 

She also studied acting and singing, toiled in vineyards, collected books, joined a commune, sold fried chicken, modeled spring fashions and worked for a cruise ship line, but it was the year she spent in law school that finally drove her to begin writing fiction. It seemed the safest way to kill off her professors. Those professors are breathing easier now that Kate spends most of her time writing near the beach in Southern California where she lives with her perfect husband. 

A lifelong love of old books and an appreciation of the art of bookbinding led Kate to create the Bibliophile Mysteries, featuring rare book expert Brooklyn Wainwright, whose bookbinding and restoration skills invariably uncover old secrets, treachery and murder. Kate is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers and Romance Writers of America^®. She loves to drink good wine and watch other people cook. 

Despite the appearance of overnight success, Kate's dream of publication took many, many years to fulfill. If you're wondering why, here's the real scoop.

A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY is available through these sites: 



GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

This giveaway is for one print copy of A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY. The giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. only and will end on Monday, May 19. To enter, just click on the Rafflecopter widget below and following the instructions. The widget may take a few seconds to load, please be patient.


Everyone, thanks so much for visiting today. I’m curious if you’ve thought about Kate’s question. So … Have you experienced the joy of your life in your personal or professional life? Share a moment that made you feel happy. And, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!


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