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SHREDDING THE EVIDENCE, the ninth book in the Cookbook Nook Mystery series by Daryl Wood Gerber, is another terrific addition to a well-loved series! The protagonist, Jenna Hart, is preparing for their town’s week-long Food Bowl event, where local chefs create imaginative bite-sized delicacies. I adore the clever event themes Ms. Gerber bases each murder mystery around in her books. It adds to the reader becoming immersed in the setting and provides the opportunity to experience it with all the senses. She also creates entertaining, witty names for the businesses in town which showcases the author’s humor. Jenna is a very likeable character and I appreciate how the author has continued to find avenues of growth and change for her along with the other central characters. It makes them seem all the more relatable. Jenna is a true friend to her employees and treats her many customers with respect. It’s no wonder her shop, the Cookbook Nook Bookstore and Nook Café, which she co-owns with her Aunt Vera, is so successful. I would love to spend my free time in the Cookbook Nook browsing the many veritable, specialty cookbooks that Jenna sells. Instead I do the next best thing and search for those that catch my eye on Amazon to add to my own collection.
The local food reporter turned murder victim didn’t come as a surprise. She was a mean-spirited woman and there were many, many people who had reasons to hate her, including Jenna’s best friend’s husband. In keeping with her character, Jenna jumps in to support her friend no matter the cost and prove his innocence. Ms. Gerber writes a tightly plotted mystery with the clues twisting and turning to keep the reader on their toes. With the murder happening in a “locked-room” situation, the reveal was quite stunning on how it was pulled off with an edge-of-your seat conclusion. The author does an admirable job wrapping up each strand of the story creating a highly satisfying read!
With Food Bowl week happening and the Nook Café serving up all sorts of delightful goodies, the reader will be hungry as they turn the pages. You can always count on Ms. Gerber’s books containing many delectable recipes at the back of the book and as usual, I want to try them all! As a bonus, many of them have been adapted for those who need to eat gluten-free as well. In the end I chose to try the author’s Pumpkin-Chocolate-Coconut Muffins. Oh my goodness… these are so yummy! The chocolate gave just the right amount of bittersweet sweetness to the pumpkin base while the coconut added a nice texture. I found them quite easy to mix up and appreciated I didn’t have to drag out the stand mixer for this recipe. With the additional garnish of extra chocolate chips and coconut on the tops, these made me feel like I was eating dessert for breakfast… a !
Amazon Synopsis
The denizens of Crystal Cove are salivating over the upcoming Food Bowl Week, when local chefs offer some of their best and most imaginative creations in bite-size portions all over town. Bookstore proprietor Jenna Hart is hungry to sample as many of the delicacies as she can, but when she stumbles onto the dead body of a local food reporter and learns that her best friend’s husband is the primary suspect, she’ll have to summon the appetite for a side dish of sleuthing to prove his innocence.
Jenna knows the ambitious and aggressive reporter, who was strangled at a fitness center with her shredded restaurant reviews scattered around her, left behind a long list of potential suspects. As she begins piecing together the scant clues, she uncovers illicit ties between the victim and a local newspaper owner, a spurned would-be lover, and a host of disgruntled restaurant owners not a bit torn up by the critical reporter’s demise. And with a solution so close she can almost taste it, Jenna turns up the heat on the culprit, realizing too late that she’s the next course on the murderer’s menu.
A special thanks to Daryl Wood Gerber for providing one lucky winner with a print copy of SHREDDING THE EVIDENCE! Giveway is limited to U.S. residents. Contest ends Sunday, May 24, 2020 at 11:59 pm PST. Please use the Rafflecopter box located below to enter. The winner will be announced on this page and on Cinnamon & Sugar’s Facebook page, as well as notified by email (so check your spam folder!)
While the recipe was created to be gluten-free, it's easy to make these with all-purpose flour if you don't have gluten-free flour on hand.
- 1-1/2 cups gluten-free flour (or substitute all-purpose flour)
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if using all-purpose flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon whey flour (omit if using all-purpose flour)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1-1/2 cups shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut
- 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Spray the liners with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, whey flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, sugar, melted coconut oil, eggs, and vanilla. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture. Stir until combined. Add in the coconut and chocolate chips.
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Fill each of the muffin cups about 3/4 full. Sprinkle with additional coconut.
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Bake muffins for 20 - 22 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. When you remove from the oven, top with additional chocolate chips. They will melt as the cupcakes cool on a rack for 20 minutes.
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Once completely cooled, store leftovers in an airtight container.
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I was provided an advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This recipe sounds delicious! Thanks for the chance.
Love this author’s books and this one didn’t disappoint. Highly recommend it.
Can’t wait to try the Pumpkin-Chocolate-Coconut Muffins which sounds heavenly.Kay
I wouldn’t call myself a collector but now that I think about it I do seem to have acquired quite a few over the years. I love this series and thank you for the contest.
Yes…I do collect CERTAIN cookbooks. My late father-in-law traveled a lot and he always brought me back cookbooks that were sold at county fairs. He would even ask around if there was not fair in town during the time he was there and usually found someone at a little country store who knew someone else that would have an extra one. I love them and every time I pick one up to find a certain recipe, I think about him with love. Thanks for the chance! bentleyboy22(at)comcast(dot)net
I used to collect cookbooks, with great aspirations of making new meals, and I have made some recipes from cookbooks. Thank you for this recipe, and this chance to win! I love this series!
I have a small collection of cookbooks.
OhMyGoodnees I have tons of cookbooks! Love them! Would love to read this book! Thanks for the chance!
I love to collect cookbooks – I have almost 100 – most are from thrift stores and garage sales since I can’t afford to spend much – love this series, thanks for the chance to own one.
I have several cookbooks & love them.
jwhaley4(at)aol(dot)com
Yes! I do collect cookbooks! I have slowed down on it a bit since you can find any type of recipe on line that you could ever want.
I used to collect cookbooks but I lost all of them in the tornado here in 2011 so I haven’t started again.
Oh, Linda, I’m so sorry your belongings were devastated by a tornado! Bless you…
I love anything coconut. Thanks for a chance.
The recipe sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try it. I love the cover of the book and it sounds like an awesome read. Thanks for your great generosity.
Yes I collect cookbooks. I can read them like a book, always looking for different recipes.
I have, no doubt, too many cookbooks! I have favorites that I reference frequently, and favorites that I adore because of their age, uniqueness, or other sentimental reasons.
I would love to read this book!
No I don’t collect cookbooks. Thanks for the recipe and giveaway.
I used to collect cookbooks but then I discovered this awesome thing called a cozy mystery, some of which have recipes, so bye bye to the cookbooks that I wasn’t using anyway LOL I did keep a few of the family type cookbooks.
I do collect cookbooks. Thanks for the recipe.
I LOVE to collect cookbooks! The biggest cookbook collection I have is the Gooseberry Patch cookbooks.
Even though I do not do the cooking any longer [hubby has for 30 years– I’m spoiled] I still look at and acquire cookbooks. AND recipes — you should see my pinterest board!! And my list of recipes on my computer!
In the last 2 or 3 moves I have misplaced my cookbooks and collection of recipes. I am sure they must be in one of the boxes (of many) we have not yet unpacked.
No, I’m not a cook book collector but I do have all my Mom and my Grandmother’s cook books!!
My husband says I have too many cookbooks. I told him that I never get tired of trying new recipes so I don’t think that I have too many. I did pare them down a bit to give some to my daughter when she moved into her first house. I gave her a couple that were my Mom’s as well.
Recipes look good. I’m sure your book will be also. ❤️
I don’t collect cookbooks. Those muffins look divine…. I can’t wait to read this book. Crossing everything.
I have been collecting cookbooks, but since we’re moving, I’m having to cull my collection. I’ll start collecting again once we relocate.
I don’t collect cookbooks. I love the covers of these books. They catch your eye easy and make you want to pick the book up and see what it’s about.
I’m not a collector, but I have quite a few.
I collect old cookbooks and Betty Crocker cook books love them all. Thanks for the recipe it sounds very good
Penney
I do have a collection of cookbooks. Some I use a lot. I had more, but I got rid of a few when I moved.
Have collected a few cookbooks in my day. Some of them are better than others. Still have a 50 year copy of my Betty Crocker cookbook that I used in high school.
I like looking at cookbooks, but I’m not a collector.
Serious cookbook addiction here! I’m sure I got it from my mother.
I have always just relied on a few old cookbook standards, although I like coming across new recipea too.
Yes, I’ve collected cookbooks, many of which I’ve passed on to our 3 daughters. However, favorite recipes are stored in a 3 ring binder, as well as on the computer!
Yes, I do collect cookbooks.
Now I want a muffin.
I’m not really a collector but I do have a lot of cookbooks.
I don’t collect cookbooks just use my mom’s recipes!
Yes, I have been known to collect a cookbook or two.
I have a few cookbooks I have collected over the years
I have 3 or 4 favorites. Thank you for the chance it sounds amazing.
Yum! I am going to try this one out on our daughters, the pumpkin lovers, after this COVID virus is over.
I forgot to say that I have collected cookbooks in the past, but not so much since the children are grown.
Yes, I have a collection of cookbooks. Just added a new one – A Taste of Gratitude and Joy by 2 wonderful authors.
I love cookbooks. I read them almost like novels!
i used to collect cookbooks but not anymore.
I do collect cookbooks. I love to look through them. But, I’m really not much of a cook anymore.
I do have a lot of cookbooks, but use only about 5 of them. These muffins sound good.
I am more of a recipe collector. Don’t leave me alone with any cooking magazines. lol
I don’t really consider myself a cookbook collector but I have acquired many over the years. I also save books that have recipes in them. The recipe today sounds delicious. I’ll have to try it. I also save your Facebook page for the recipes. Thanks for the chance to win this eBook.
I have lots of cookbooks and loose recipes.
I am a collector, but not a cookbook collector. But my Mom did find a Designing Women cookbook. I love that show, so we thought it was a neat find.
I used to be when I thought I would cook but I’ve been so busy I realized I dont have the time.
I have several cookbooks, one especially dear to me was my grandmother’s, I use it often & I love it. I always look for cookbooks at yard sales, resale shops. Thanks so much and y’all stay safe!
No I don’t collect cookbooks. Most of the stuff I cook I don’t get from a cookbook. Thank you for a chance to win a print copy of Shredding The Evidence.
I don’t collect cool books
The recipe looks yummy. Love your protagonist’s name, Jenna. Looking forward to your book.
I don’t have many cookbooks, so I wouldn’t call myself a collector. I need to try new things and maybe I need to become one..
The muffins look yummy. Thanks for a chance to win.
I have a large enough cookbook collection to open my own Cookbook Nook store, and I keep buying more. I love the series I have recently read the 1st 2 books in the series and have a few more in my TBR pile. I don’t think I have this one yet. Thanks for chance at winning it.
Yes, I am a cookbook collector. I have my Mom’s plus many that I couldnt live without. Thanks for the chance!
Have been collecting cookbooks and recipes for decades. My Mom started me with a recipe card collection back in the 50’s when I was 8 & expressed a desire to learn to cook.
I’ve never been a cookbook collector, but I enjoy reading them.
No I don’t collect cookbooks. I have a few that I have had for many years and I inherited my mom’s that she used all the time. Mostly I just print out recipes the authors so kindly post and I put them in a 3 ring binder.
I do collect cookbooks but don’t take the time to use them! The muffins look yummy! Thanks for the chance to win!
I do have quite a few cookbooks, but I am especially proud of my daughter’s collection!
She started collecting at an early age and every year I give her one for her birthday and for Christmas. She has 2 library bookcases full!!!
I do have a large collection of cookbooks. I love looking through them when I need inspiration and especially love the pictures that accompany the recipes. Thank you for the chance to win a copy of this book!