Category: Spotlight

Mrs. Odboddy and the Conniving Candidate:
A WWII Tale of Political Shenanigans and Snookery
(Mrs. Odboddy Mysteries)
by Elaine Faber

About Mrs. Odboddy and the Conniving Candidate

Mrs. Odboddy and the Conniving Candidate: A WWII Tale of Political Shenanigans and Snookery (Mrs. Odboddy Mysteries)
Historical Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Setting – California
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Elk Grove Publications (October 6, 2024)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 262 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1940781337
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1940781334
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DJN676F3

As the war continues to rage in Europe, Election Day approaches in Newbury. Among other inequities, the Newbury City Council makes it difficult for local women to obtain business licenses even for home-bases businesses. Mrs. Odboddy decides to run for the vacant city council seat, but she has no idea what political obstacles she will face. The trouble starts, first with disasters in her home, to violence and racism against her friends, and then theft charges are filed against her!

To make matters worse, her granddaughter’s old boyfriend has returned to town declaring his unwanted, undying love. His heroic responses to multiple adverse events affecting the family make it difficult for Katherine to send him packing.

Agnes suspects her political opponent is behind all the trouble, including the state’s attempts to remove their beloved ward, Mattie. It seems that Agnes is up against a conniving opponent who will stop at nothing to prevent her winning the election. How can she prevail against such sinister deeds? Is winning an election worth it when her family is at risk?

Join Agnes as she faces overwhelming odds in her efforts to bring much needed change to Newbury.

RECIPE

Mrs. Yeager’s Rhubarb/Apple Pie

An excerpt from Mrs. Odboddy and Then There was a Tiger

“Let’s start at the top of the recipe for Rhubarb-Apple pie. Cream two tablespoons butter with one-half cup brown sugar and one-half cup white sugar.” Agnes measured the sugars and dumped them into her large amber-colored glass mixing bowl.

Godfrey picked up the card. “Here, I’ll read and you measure. Work in two level tablespoons flour with a pinch of salt.” He glanced up at Agnes. “How much is a pinch of salt?”

“Oh, you know. Just a pinch…” Agnes brought her flour canister to the table and popped off the lid. “Oh, my stars!”. Her hand flew to her mouth.

“What’s wrong? Are there ants in the canister?”

“Oh…um… it’s nothing.” She lifted the lid again and tipped the canister toward Godfrey.

Godfrey’s eyes flew open as Agnes’s WWI service pistol clanked onto the table.

“I forgot I put this here for safe-keeping. I’ll just use the flour in the cupboard.”

“Why…Why on earth did you…? Never mind. Nothing you do surprises me anymore. I’m sure your explanation will make no sense whatsoever.”

Agnes set the flour sack from the cupboard on the table. “Of course there’s a good explanation. I brought the gun into the kitchen in case I needed it in a hurry. I didn’t dare leave a loaded gun anywhere Maddie might get hold of it.”

Agnes measured two tablespoons of flour and added it to her bowl. “She’d never look in the flour canister.” She chuckled. “Shall we get on with the pie? What’s next?”

“It says; mix the flour and sugar mixture with one pound of rhubarb cut into pieces, and three apples cut into very small pieces.”

Agnes mixed the ingredients and then dusted the counter with flour. She opened her Better Homes and Gardens cookbook to the Pastry and Pies section. “Here’s the one I need for a double pie crust.

“Two cups flour.” She shoved the cookbook across the table, “Here, Godfrey, you read it.” She measured the flour and dumped it into the bowl.

Godfrey straightened his glasses and read, “Add one teaspoon salt. Cut in two-thirds cup shortening until the mixture resembles small peas. Add five to seven tablespoons of cold water, one tablespoon at a time. How can shortening and flour resemble peas?”

“It means you squish the flour and salt into the shortening until the chunks are the size of peas. Watch.” She ran the fork through the ingredients repeatedly, squishing and tossing the mixture until the chunks squished into little chunks, then added a few tablespoons of water until it began to resemble dough. “That’s about right. See?”

“Okay. Form dough into two balls for double crust. Flatten one at a time on a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough from center of ball to the edge, making a round disc approximately three-eighths- inch think. Place in pie pan.

“I’ve got that part. I’ve done it a zillion times.” Agnes rolled out the dough, flipped it over the pie pan, and trimmed the crust to fit the pan. She dusted the crust with a sprinkling of flour.

Godfrey picked up the recipe card and began to read. “Add the rhubarb and apples mixture to the pie pan and add a top crust. Cut slits in the top to let out the steam, sprinkle sugar on top. Bake in hot oven, 425º for fifteen minutes and then reduce heat to 325º and bake for thirty minutes longer. “Shucks! Will it take that long?”

“Goof-ball.” Agnes filled the pie shell with the fruit mixture and attached the second crust to the top. She wet the edge of the bottom pie shell and pinched the two crusts together. After trimming the excess crust, she pressed ridges all around the edge of the pie with her thumbs.

“It looks delicious already,” Godfrey said. “We make a pretty good team, don’t we?”

Agnes squeezed his arm. “We sure do. Will you pop the pie into the oven? I should return my pistol back to the top of my closet.”

About Elaine Faber

Elaine is a member of Sisters in Crime (SIC), Northern California Publishers and Authors (NCPA), and Elk Grove Writers Guild (EGWG). She has published eleven cozy mystery novels, a humorous historical fiction series, a cozy cat mystery series, an anthology of short cat stories, a paranormal mystery, and multiple short stories published in twenty-one independent anthologies.

Three of Elaine’s “Mrs. Odboddy” fiction novels have won NCPA book awards. Her cat novels have received Cat Writers Association Excellence in Writing Certificates, and she has won numerous awards for her short stories through various venues and contests.

Elaine volunteers at the American Cancer Society Discovery Shop in Elk Grove, CA. She lives with her husband, and Truffie, who contributes inspiration for many of her cat-related stories and novels.

Author Links: Website www.mindcandymysteries.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001875864349

Purchase Link – Amazon

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December 9 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT

December 9 – Maureen’s Musings – REVIEW

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December 11 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – CHARACTER GUEST POST

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December 17 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST

December 18 – Ruff Drafts – RECIPE

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