Guest: Annette Dashofy
Edith, writing from our guest Annette Dashofy’s home state of Pennsylvania. Annette and I are both at the Pennwriters conference this weekend, but she has a new mystery out in her fabulous Agatha-nominated Zoe Chamber series, and she’ll send one commenter a signed copy of Fair Game! Here’s a little about the book:
Paramedic Zoe
Chambers hoped a week at the Monongahela County Fair, showing her horse and
manning the ambulance, would provide a much-needed diversion from recent events
that continue to haunt her. An old friend, a bossy nemesis, and a teenage crush
from her 4-H days fail to offer the distraction she had in mind. But ever the
caregiver, she soon bonds with a troubled teen and a grieving father.
Back in Vance
Township, a missing woman turns up dead, leading Police Chief Pete Adams into a
journey through her mysterious final hours. With each new clue, the tragic
circumstances of her death grow increasingly muddied.
A cryptic phone call
leads Pete to join Zoe for an evening at the fairgrounds where the annual
school bus demolition derby concludes with a gruesome discovery and a new case
that may or may not be connected to the first. Pete’s quest for the motive
behind two homicides—and Zoe’s stubborn determination to reunite a family—thrust
them both onto a collision course with a violent and desperate felon.
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Eating Out at the Fair
Although my Zoe
Chambers Mystery Series doesn’t include recipes—Zoe isn’t much of a cook and
only has two go-to dishes she relies on—there’s usually some dining out going
on. Whether Zoe and Pete are having dinner at the fictional Parson’s Roadhouse,
footlongs at the equally fictional Dog Den, or lunch at the less fictional
Walden’s Café, considerable drama takes place over a meal.
In Fair Game, Zoe spends a week at the
county fair and chows down on a lot of fair food. Last summer, I bought a
week-long pass so I could do some research.
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Our fair, and the
one in the book, has a covered dining area separating two rows of food vendors.
Additionally, there are the trailers parked along the midway. The aromas
wafting from these concessions is enough to turn this health-conscious
vegetarian back to the dark side. Sausage grilling with onions and peppers?
They should make perfume with that fragrance. French fries. Pizza. Gyros.
Tacos. Oh my.
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My personal
favorite stop is the 4-H Dairy Bar for a chocolate milkshake. (Disregard that
previous comment about being health conscious.) I worked the booth as a kid. We
were all expected to put in a shift. Younger members and those of us with
skinny arms took the orders. Older, stronger kids—and often parents—tackled the
chore of digging out the hard-packed ice cream and running the
industrial-strength blenders. The milkshake I had last year tasted just as good
as the ones I remember.
Recently, as I
planned some of my book launch events, the subject of what should be served
came up. Chef Rick at the real
Walden’s Restaurant in my little hometown of Burgettstown likes to create
Zoe-specific dishes for the Dinner with the Author evenings we hold there. For
the Fair Game dinner, I suggested
dishes inspired by the county fair, which led to some back and forth
discussion. Fried this. Deep-fried that. Let’s face it. Fair food is not
exactly healthy.
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I’ve also been
pondering my menu for the launch party at Mystery Lovers Bookshop. I usually
provide variations on cheese and crackers and cookies. And wine. For No Way Home, set in New Mexico, I
switched the release party menu to tortilla chips, salsa, and queso. What could
I serve for Fair Game? Corn dogs? Not
good served cold. Funnel cake? A crowd favorite, but a deep fryer and powdered
sugar in bookstore? I don’t think so. Cotton candy? Sugary fingers don’t mix
with books either.
I guess cheese,
crackers, and cookies will have to suffice.
Wickeds and readers: do you have a favorite food when you go to the fair? I’ll send a signed copy of Fair Game to one commenter!
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Annette Dashofy is the USA Today best-selling author of the Zoe Chambers mystery series about a paramedic and deputy coroner in rural Pennsylvania’s tight-knit Vance Township. A lifelong resident of Washington County (PA), Annette has garnered four Agatha Award nominations including Best Contemporary Novel of 2018 for CRY WOLF. She’s a member of International Thriller Writers, the Pittsburgh Chapter of Sisters in Crime, and is on the board of directors of Pennwriters. Fair Game is the eighth in her series.
