DEATH BY POISON “I stopped by Paul’s apartment a little earlier and talked to his roommate, Grace. She said the police took away the container he always used to bring home his meal from the restaurant where he did bike delivery, the Green Artichoke.” Alana blinked. “To test it for poison?” “That would be my guess. It looks like they’re treating his death as a possible suspicious one.” “Murder?” Alana gave me a horrified look. “Maybe . . .” Books by Maddie Day Country Store Mysteries FLIPPED FOR MURDER GRILLED FOR MURDER WHEN THE GRITS HIT THE FAN BISCUITS AND SLASHED BROWNS DEATH OVER EASY STRANGLED EGGS AND HAM NACHO AVERAGE MURDER Collections CHRISTMAS COCOA MURDER (with Carlene O’Connor and Alex Erickson) Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries MURDER ON CAPE COD MURDER AT THE TAFFY SHOP And writing as Edith Maxwell A TINE TO LIVE, A TINE TO DIE ’TIL DIRT DO US PART FARMED AND DANGEROUS MURDER MOST FOWL MULCH ADO ABOUT MURDER Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation Nacho Average Murder MADDIE DAY KENSINGTON BOOKS www.kensingtonbooks.com All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected. Table of Contents DEATH BY POISON Also by Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Acknowledgments Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Recipes KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by Kensington Publishing Corp. 119 West 40th Street New York, NY 10018 Copyright © 2020 by Edith Maxwell To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews. Kensington and the Klogo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off. First Kensington Books Mass Market Paperback Printing: July 2020 ISBN: 978-1-4967-2315-4 ISBN-13: 978-1-4967-2316-1 (ebook) ISBN-10: 1-4967-2316-3 (ebook) For my Temple City, California, classmates, then and now, who have become some of my biggest fans. We have our own high school reunion this year—number fifty—and I sure hope no murders go along with it! Acknowledgments I spent a week in Santa Barbara recently to soak up the sights and sounds and to refresh my memory of that lovely city nestled between mountains and the Pacific Ocean. My apologies to Santa Barbara residents for moving your Tuesday afternoon farmers’ market to Wednesday morning and for adding Mama Tamale. I made up a few streets, too. I took inspiration from Madame Rosinka’s palm-reading establishment on Stearns Wharf, but Madame Allegra is entirely of my own creation. Thanks, also, to the real Chumash Casino for giving me ideas. I stole the name Pause Yoga from the best yoga teacher in New England, Jennifer Walker Freeman. Because the late, great Sue Grafton lived in Montecito and set her Kinsey Millhone mysteries in a fictionalized Santa Barbara, I included various mentions of her as an homage. No aspersions are implied on the actual Santa Barbara County coroner’s office and personnel—the version in this book is entirely fictional. Author Micki Browning, a former member of the Santa Barbara Police Department, gave me help with local details about the criminal justice system, but all errors are of my own doing, including my entirely made-up interior of the station. Thank you to D. P. Lyle, MD, for information about what a ruptured aneurysm looks like and how it is detected, and to Geoff Symon for his excellent online class about autopsies. Gratitude to Cristina Olán and my son JD Hutchison-Maxwell for checking the Spanish phrases in the book. Intrepid traveling friend Bonnie Kittle provided the inspiration to include the very odd-looking Buddha’s hand citron. While Alana wasn’t the name of my high school bestie, I drew on my once-a-decade visits with Cindy Cobb Snyder—most recently during the writing of this book—for some of the scenes featuring Robbie and Alana. I’m so grateful Cindy and I can pick up where we left off, even fifty years later. I often crowdsource my punny titles, and Evelyn Dillon came up with this one. Thanks, Evelyn! I riffed on it for the name of the café. Many thanks to Terri Bischoff and her expert editing chops for giving the book a pre-submission read and for helping me improve it in all kinds of ways. My gratitude, always, to my family, to the fabulous team at Kensington Publishing, to my agent, John Talbot, and to the Wicked Authors. Please join Jessica Ellicott, Sherry Harris, Julie Hennrikus, Liz Mu-gavero, Barbara Ross, and me on our blog and our Facebook group. I never stop learning from these ladies, who provide ongoing inspiration, a sounding board, and fun. Don’t worry, fans. Robbie will be back in South Lick for the next book. But wasn’t it fun to take a trip to California? Chapter 1 Like Dorothy in Oz, I definitely wasn’t in Indiana anymore. At least the Wicked Witch hadn’t shown up. Yet. The sun had just dipped into the Pacific Ocean, and a mild Santa Barbara breeze shooshed through tall palm trees. Mellow jazz slid out of speakers in a spacious function
