Daisy McDare And The Deadly Restaurant Affair (Cozy Mystery) (Daisy McDare Cozy Creek Mystery Book 6) Read online

  Daisy McDare And The Deadly Restaurant Affair

  K.M. Morgan

  Table Of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Epilogue

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  Prologue

  Another day, another dead body in Cozy Creek. Daisy McDare wished she could say it was a surprise. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. If anything, crime scenes were becoming too commonplace in her life. That was a disturbing thing to contemplate. She didn’t ever want to reach a point when murder investigations became as synonymous as her chocolate cravings. After all, she was an interior decorator, not a homicide detective. She specialized in style, not sleuthing.

  Apparently, the universe had different ideas. Whether Daisy liked it or not, she found herself embroiled in another homicide investigation. A man had been murdered on her latest decorating job, and no one had a bigger inside track on cracking this case than Daisy. Strangely enough, she had a feeling this decorating job would be different than the others. She was right. She just didn’t realize the job would be so deadly.

  The great irony was that Daisy was just beginning to believe things were turning around in her life. Despite being Irish, luck hardly ran in the McDare family. Daisy hoped she could break the unlucky streak of her ancestors. In the past three months, it seemed like that was happening. She had a series of quiet, stress-free decorating jobs. Her relationship with her boyfriend Gavin was blossoming like never before. She even managed to get three out of six numbers on one of her weekly lottery tickets. It was a far cry from winning the jackpot for sure, but Daisy had never gotten more than two numbers before.

  Then, just as it seemed like Daisy’s happiness was poised to reach new heights, things came crashing down in an instant with this latest murder. Daisy should have known things were too good to be true, that they wouldn’t last, and that it was just the calm before the storm. It turned out Daisy had been lulled into a false sense of security, only to have her life turned upside down again.

  She wished that fate would make up its mind. Her quarrels with destiny would have to wait however. She was in for a doozy of an investigation. The murder victim had a serious knack for making enemies. That left plenty of suspects to spare.

  Daisy grabbed herself a double fudge cupcake and prepared for the long day ahead. She knew she’d need all the sugar she could get.

  Chapter One

  Daisy McDare was anything but a morning person. That’s why her regular breakfast run to Sweet Tooth Bakery came in handy more than ever. Granny Annie Johnson was the opposite of Daisy—in more ways than one. Their differences were never more apparent than in the morning. Granny Annie wasn’t just an early-riser. She was the kind of person that was naturally abuzz. Annie didn’t need coffee to get her going. Although that morning, the eighty-two year old had more pep in her step than usual.

  “Do you ever wake up feeling like you’re fifty-two again?” Granny Annie asked.

  What an odd question to ask of two thirty-somethings like Samantha Johnson and Daisy.

  Samantha laughed. “I can’t say I have.”

  “You’re missing out. I haven’t felt this good since I had my original hip,” Annie explained.

  “Did you have a hot date last night or something?” Daisy asked.

  “Better.”

  “What’s better than a hot date?”

  “I think you know Daisy. After all, you’ve been holding out on us,” Granny Annie insisted.

  Daisy was confused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us what a wild rush you get when you solve a crime? I feel like I’ve been dancing on the clouds since last night,” Granny Annie revealed.

  “Wait a minute. How do you know about the rush?” Daisy wondered.

  “That’s easy. I caught a killer last night.” Granny then looked off and smiled to herself, still aglow. “Solving crimes is more satisfying than chocolate. And that’s saying a lot.”

  Samantha and Daisy meanwhile felt like they were missing part of the story.

  “Granny, care to elaborate?” Samantha asked.

  “On which part? I’ve had a lot of chocolate in my time. Not to mention a good truffle is hard to beat,” Granny Annie said.

  Samantha clarified her point. “About the killing. Why wasn’t it in the news this morning? And what are you doing getting mixed up with a murder investigation at your age?”

  “First of all, I can more than handle my own. Second, it wasn’t technically a real murder. Jake Gordon took me to a dinner theater murder mystery last night, and I guessed the killer. It felt plenty real though,” Granny Annie explained.

  “Let me assure you, real murder investigations don’t come with a side of pot roast,” Daisy said.

  “Actually, they were serving prime rib last night. Not to mention garlic mashed potatoes,” Granny Annie revealed.

  Daisy started daydreaming about mashed potatoes.

  Samantha had other thoughts on her mind. “Granny, who’s Jake Gordon?”

  “This new man I met at the retirement villas,” Granny Annie replied.

  Samantha was confused. “But what about Sebastian? Or the other guy before that?”

  Granny Annie furrowed her brow. “What other guy?”

  “You’re going through so many these days. I can’t keep track of them all,” Samantha said.

  “I’ve been trying to keep my options open,” Granny Annie replied.

  “For what?”

  “Fun. Life is too short to have anything but a good time.”

  “I need to start reminding myself of that. Especially when Trevor comes home grumpy from the restaurant,” Samantha explained.

  Samantha’s boyfriend Trevor had been having a rough time at Tres Chic, the French restaurant he worked at. As much as Trevor tried not to bring his work home with him, sometimes it was hard not to.

  Daisy was about to find out just how chaotic things were at Tres Chic. That was her next decorating job.

  “Are you trying to give me the heeby jeebies?” Daisy asked.

  “Are you kidding? This is just a little restaurant drama. You manage to keep your cool in the middle of a murd
er investigation. The fact is, there’s nothing you can’t handle,” Samantha said.

  “Except an empty stomach that is,” Daisy joked. “Cupcake me.”

  Chapter Two

  “I’m thinking you probably won’t be in the mood for French food tonight,” Gavin Watson said.

  Before heading over to the restaurant, Daisy paid her boyfriend Gavin a visit at his townhome. Thankfully, he was just as happy to see her as she was to see him—as were his lips. Daisy couldn’t believe how well their relationship was going. Amazingly enough, more than six months in, the honeymoon phase was far from over. She hoped that feeling would never fade.

  “I’m there to redecorate the place, not sample the menu,” Daisy replied.

  “Come on, they must be giving you lunch,” Gavin insisted.

  “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

  “Well, there is such thing as a free dinner—for you at least. Tonight, dinner is on me. I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

  Daisy smiled. “Alright. Carly’s it is then.”

  Gavin exhaled. “Carly’s again?”

  Carly’s Comfort Cuisine was a staple in Daisy’s life. She’d been going there for decades. Daisy had given Carly so much money over the years, she was surprised she hadn’t gotten a menu item named after her. In due time maybe.

  There was a very good reason Daisy kept going back. Somehow Carly managed to make restaurant food that rivaled home cooking. That was not an easy feat. After all, the average home cook didn’t feed a hundred people a night like Carly’s restaurant did. Daisy didn’t know how Carly was able to feed so many people at an affordable price while keeping the quality up.

  “I’ve never gotten a bad meal at Carly’s. I don’t imagine that will start now,” Daisy said.

  “How could you Daisy? You order the same thing every time. Pot roast with stuffing and garlic mashed potatoes,” Gavin replied.

  “When I like something, I really like it.” She then gazed into his eyes. “That’s not such a bad thing.”

  “Come on. Live a little.”

  “Alright. I guess I could get the casserole.”

  “I meant, let’s try a different place. I’ve heard great things about Aloha Ciao, the Hawaiian-Italian fusion place on Mason Street.”

  Daisy furrowed her brow. “Hawaiian-Italian fusion?”

  “Don’t give me that sour grapes look. Variety is the spice of life,” Gavin insisted.

  Daisy got playful. “You know I don’t like spicy food.”

  “I was being serious. You don’t want things to get stale, do you?”

  “I certainly don’t.”

  “So, let’s try something new. Who knows what might happen?”

  “That’s the problem. We have no idea what might happen.”

  “Actually Daisy, that’s the point. After all, you went out on a limb when you started dating me, and look how that has turned out,” Gavin reasoned.

  Daisy got playful again. “Remind me how that has turned out again.”

  Gavin then leaned in and gave Daisy a kiss.

  Wow. His kisses never got old.

  “Delicious,” Daisy said.

  “So, what do you say?” Gavin asked.

  Chapter Three

  It didn’t take long for things to get interesting at her latest decorating job. Daisy hadn’t even made it into the building yet when she saw Adam Dunning and Benjamin Kotter arguing in front of Tres Chic. Adam was a tall, slender man in his late sixties with thick glasses who was clinging to the last patches of graying hair. Generally, a man either got gray hair--or went bald. It was rare that both happened to the same man. That seemed like a double punishment.

  Benjamin Kotter meanwhile was young and cocky beyond his years. He was just hitting thirty and believed he had the world in the palm of his hand. His shoulder length brown hair was tucked back in a ponytail as his tall, lean frame went toe to toe with Adam.

  Daisy had been warned about the contentious history Adam had with the rival upstart French restaurant across the street and their staff. Benjamin used to work for Adam at Tres Chic. Benjamin was a lowly line cook when he first started there. Over the course of five years, Benjamin started working his way up the ranks. Finally, Adam bumped Benjamin up to head chef. During Benjamin’s tenure as head chef, Tres Chic hit the peak of its popularity.

  Unfortunately, both Benjamin and Adam had huge egos, and wanted to take full credit for the restaurant’s success. In addition, Adam was a little too hands on than Benjamin cared for. Benjamin constantly complained about Adam’s meddling with his menu. Benjamin believed Adam should just be a numbers guy and stay out of the kitchen.

  As the tension continued to simmer between them, a rival French restaurant named Ooh La Lunch opened across the street. The owner of that restaurant, Cameron O’Doul, poached Benjamin away from Tres Chic with a sizable pay raise.

  Adam Dunning took Benjamin’s departure from Tres Chic as a personal betrayal. Adam had been trying to get back at Benjamin ever since. Benjamin and Adam’s bitter feud seemed to finally be coming to a head that morning.

  Daisy stood in the parking lot of Tres Chic and watched Adam and Benjamin at each other’s throats.

  “You have a lot of nerve,” Benjamin barked.

  “I was just about to say the same thing about you. I’m still trying to stop the bleeding after the way you stabbed me in the back,” Adam replied.

  “Stop blowing this out of proportion. I told you before, I’d be a fool to turn down the kind of money O’Doul is paying me,” Benjamin said.

  “That’s where you’re wrong. It’s deeply personal. You were nothing before me. I made you.”

  “You give yourself too much credit.”

  “And you don’t give me enough.”

  “You keep trying to take credit for discovering me, but the fact is, I had a talent that couldn’t be denied any longer.”

  Adam scoffed. “You’re so full of yourself.”

  Benjamin narrowed his eyes and pulled out a notice of lawsuit from his pocket. “Like you should talk. Only a raving ego maniac would bring a lawsuit against me.”

  “Bring? I’m going to do more than that. I’m going to win. You’re going to rue the day you ever betrayed me,” Adam said.

  “You’re insane. You can’t stop me from using my own recipes.”

  “You mean my recipes. You created them in my kitchen, at my restaurant. They belong to me, and I’m taking them back--as well as compensation for all the emotional distress you’ve caused me.”

  “You’re never win this,” Benjamin insisted.

  Adam sneered. “Are you kidding? I don’t lose. Face it, your bank account is mine.”

  “This isn’t over.”

  Adam laughed. “What are you going to do?”

  Benjamin glared. “I’m going to make you regret messing with me.”

  Benjamin then stormed off.

  Adam stared daggers into Benjamin’s back as he walked away.

  Daisy meanwhile decided to stay put in the parking lot and let Adam cool off before she approached him to talk about the decorating job.

  Adam was too caught up in his own thoughts to notice Daisy in the parking lot. Instead, Adam turned to go back into his restaurant.

  Before he had a chance to do that, fifty-two year old Cameron O’Doul approached from Ooh La Lunch across the street. Adam Dunning and Cameron O’Doul had a sordid past as well. Cameron was the assistant manager at Tres Chic for six years. During that time, Cameron felt like he was overworked, underpaid, and not given an inkling of the appreciation he deserved. The final indignity was when Adam’s inexperienced daughter was bumped up to general manager of the restaurant instead of Cameron.

  Nepotism was the straw that broke Cameron’s back. He took the savings he had, got a loan from the bank, and decided to strike out on his own. He wasn’t content to just burn bridges at Tres Chic. He wanted to make Adam Dunning pay for his slights.

  Cameron couldn’t think of a bet
ter way of doing that than opening up a rival French restaurant across from Tres Chic. That’s how Ooh La Lunch was born. As a cherry on top, Cameron poached Tres Chic’s chef Benjamin Kotter. Adam Dunning and Cameron O’Doul had been warring ever since.

  That morning, Cameron looked seriously steamed. He had a red face to go with his amber red hair and freckles. Cameron was a diminutive man, just over five feet tall. He was also very skinny. Although he puffed out his chest to look as intimidating as possible.

  “I want you to know this means war,” Cameron said.

  “Yeah, a war you started. Don’t pretend like you didn’t fire the first shot across the bow,” Adam replied.

  In Cameron’s hand was a page ripped out from the newspaper. Cameron got more bent out of shape than ever. “I’m not going to let you get away with this.”

  “You couldn’t stop me if you tried.”

  “Watch me. I’ve already poached most of your business--”

  Adam interrupted. “Not to mention my cook.”

  “He’s my cook now. I took him, just like I’ve taken your business, and it’s driving you up the wall.”

  “You’re a fool for underestimating me. I don’t ever give up. When I fight, it’s to the death.”

  “You mean when you fight, you get dirty,” Cameron said.

  He held up the page from the newspaper. The page featured an attack ad. The ad read “Skip Ooh La Lame. Eat at Tres Chic and your life will never be the same.”

  Adam snickered. “Whatever gets the job done.”

  Cameron scoffed. “Oh come on. Take your beating like a man instead of slinging mud like a dirt bag.”

  “Hey, if you can’t take the heat, you should get out of the restaurant business. It’s a real cutthroat industry.”

  “Stop trying to scare me away.”

  “I’m not trying to scare you. I’m warning you. Things are about to get much hotter around your collar. I have plenty more tricks up my sleeve, and I’m not going to stop until I run you out of business,” Adam declared.

  Cameron didn’t back down. He only grew angrier. “You don’t scare me.”