Autumn Adventure

A fire.A fatal car accident.A picturesque weekend-getaway town threatened.Melody's first autumn trip to Apple Haven goes from serene to disturbing as she witnesses a fatal car accident and unexpected fire. An arsonist is running rampant, lighting the fires of multiple properties of Apple Haven and no one seems to know who it is or why they are doing it. Irma Callahan, the manager at Tree Top Orchards hears of Melody's sleuthing and calls her for help, shoving several threatening letters addressed to Eric Beaumont, the handsome, but brooding boss, into Melody's hands.Trying to find out who is behind the attacks on Apple Haven is no small task. The residents are as quiet as the town they live in. Eric Beaumont refuses to ask the police for help and he pushes Melody away every time she approaches him. Genevieve Leporp, the survivor of the car crash lies to the police and isolates herself from nearly everyone. Even Irma, the manager who first reached out to Melody, begins to withdraw in her support and help.Threatening letters begin to come Melody's way as she searches out the attackers on Apple Haven. Instead of fighting to beat the deadline for her next cookbook, she's fighting a mysterious arsonist and the threat of ruin looming over the town.Melody Note once again jumps in to solve the mystery, but not without the help of her Friday Night Dinner Club friends and the very attractive -and attentive- Detective MacKenzie. Is there anything better than a dangerous mystery book along with something tasty to eat?My mom collected the Nancy Drew books when she was a girl. In my childhood home, she lined them all up on two shelves of the floor-to-ceiling oak bookcases. When I passed a milestone- good grades on my report card, did extra chores, was nice to my little brothers- my mom let me read the next mystery.As I read through the Nancy Drew series, I searched for other mysteries, especially during the triple digit days of summer in Northern California. The Boxcar Children, the Babysitter's club, the Mandie mystery series, the Hardy Boys and the Adventures of the Bobbsey Twins filled the hours of summer.As I got older, I dived into the classics of Agatha Christie, then Mary Higgins Clark and many other intriguing mystery books. I imagined what mysteries might lie right in my own little world. As stories came to me, I began to write them down, bringing the characters in my head into life.Along with reading mysteries, cooking and baking is near and dear to my heart. Gathering people and feeding them is such fun. Food is a wonderful way to get to know people.I've gotten to know so many wonderful people and had many rich conversations over a good (or not so good!) meal as well as solved a personal mystery or two.If you'd like to know more about the other books, get the recipes from the books (along with other goodies I come up with throughout the year), go to www.poppymhaas.comYou can also find me on Facebook @poppymhaas