Author Guest Post - Kylie Logan

Kylie Logan visits us today.  You may also know her other pen names  of Casey Daniels, Zoe Daniels and Miranda Bliss.  She writes the Ethnic Eats Mystery series, Chili Cook-Off Series, League of Literary Ladies, Button Box Mystery, and the Pepper Martin mystery series.  Before that she wrote romance novels under different pen names.  

She studied English Literature at Queen's College in Oxford, England (UK).  She married her childhood sweetheart, and they live in a suburb of Cleveland with their two children, and an oversized Airedale named Hoover.

I read somewhere that if you live in the Midwest, there’s no doubt you’ve eaten in a restaurant located in an old railroad station.

I can’t say whether that’s true or not, but I do know that here in northeast Ohio, we have at least two former railway stations that are now restaurants, and something tells me if I searched, I’d find even more.

So what’s the allure? What do people like about old train stations?  I think that all depends on who you ask.

Some people are train buffs and in one of those restaurants

I’ve been to, trains still rattle by just outside the back windows and people stop eating and point and stare. It’s a railroad lover’s dream.

Other people enjoy the thought of the leisurely travel we associate with trains. No muss, no fuss, just sit back and relax. Of course, those same people forget the coal dust and the soot and the bumpety-bump ride!

Then there are people like me who are fascinated with historic buildings, no matter their original purpose. The architecture is always amazing and the craftsmanship is beyond compare.

I suppose those are just some of the reasons Sophie Charnowski in my Ethnic Eats mysteries loves her restaurant, the Terminal at the Tracks, so much. The Terminal is a hometown sort of place with basic, stick-to-your-ribs meals and it’s Sophie’s pride and joy.

The series premiered with “Irish Stewed” and this month, “French Fried” hits the shelves. What’s with the ethnic titles? Well, Laurel Inwood, once a former Hollywood chef, arrives to help out at the Terminal and realizes that the place is going downhill fast. People just aren’t as into fried baloney as they used to be, and Laurel knows she needs to add some excitement to the menu. She introduces a new ethnic food specialty each month.

Of course there’s no way she can know that wonderful food is always going to be served with a side of murder!

In “French Fried,” Rocky Arnaud, a friend of both Sophie and Laurel, dies mysteriously. The cops are sure it’s suicide. Laurel isn’t convinced. Her investigation involves her in the town’s Statue of Liberty celebration, allows her to meet a famous French romance novelist, and pulls her in deeper to the boisterous family of handsome attorney, Declan Fury.

Of course there are a couple recipes in the book, too, including one for a simple cassoulet (a sausage/bean stew) I often serve when company’s coming. Talk about no muss, no fuss! The stew is a hit at the Terminal, too, and easy enough to prepare to keep even the cranky cook, George, happy. Now if only it was as simple to keep murder off the menu!

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Thank you Ms. Logan for that introduction to your newest novel in the Ethnic Eats mystery series.  We in the Rocky Mountains have an old train depot that is now an Italian restaurant.