Dear ,

I love when cool weather really settles in. It's so nice to curl up with a good book ... and maybe a good snack.

I've been trying out new, easy recipes lately and stumbled upon a super sweet cinnamon roll recipe posted at Sally's Baking Addiction that not only cuts down rising time, but explains the best way to manage it. After kneading the dough once, you roll and cut, then let them rise before baking. More important than that recipe, though, was the coffee glaze Sally adds to the top.

Simply mix 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar with 2 Tablespoons of strong coffee.

My husband would love that, but me, not so much, so I started to think about which teas would, along with finely chopped walnuts or pecans, make the best cinnamon roll topping. English Breakfast made the perfect blend in our house. Then, of course, I thought about the books it'd go with the best.

A Spoonful of Sugar...

To me, one function of cozy mysteries, besides being fun mysteries for readers to work out, is that they give readers a safe space to explore some of the most dangerous matters of the heart.

Something present in nearly all of Agatha Christie's cozy mysteries are tales of family dysfunction, broken hearts, betrayal. That might be hard to see in today's paracozies, but many of them begin with a marriage ending.

In the case of my main character, Lindsey Dell, it was a long engagement that ended in infidelity, after which she realized the emotional abuse that had been present in her relationship almost from the beginning.

There is a persistent conflict with her mother, Lillian, that plays throughout the series. It comes to a head in Creeper in the Sleeper. While she and her friends are tracking down whatever is killing campers at a luxury lakeside resort, she's also quietly unpacking the impact generational abuse has had on her life.

Cozy mysteries are a threat -- and a promise. No matter what quaint little town you hide yourself away in, life will always be there to deliver a critical hit. But, the brave, persistent, clever hero or heroine (or both!) still wind up stopping the bad guys by the end of each book.

Nowhere is safe, but justice prevails.

You're invited to read the final installment of the Designer in the Dead series now.

Creeper in the Sleeper

Designer to the Dead, Book 3

by Katie O'Keene

If you haven't done so already, you can pick up the first book in the series, Apparition in the Kitchen, free as part of the ...

Until next time,

Katie O'Keene ☆