A Taste of Magic (A Sugarcomb Lake Cozy Mystery Book 1) by Alaine Allister

take it all in.  It was gigantic, with marble countertops and top of the line stainless steel appliances.  There were no less than three ovens.  It looked like a gourmet chef’s dream come true.
    “You want to know the funny thing?” Bonnie asked, pausing to take a long swig of wine straight from the bottle.  “Neither Jed nor I cooked.  The kitchen was all for show.  But maybe you knew that already.  I never asked how you knew my husband,” she realized, eyeing the younger woman suspiciously.
    “I didn’t really,” Clarissa admitted.  “I just knew him as the mayor of Sugarcomb Lake.”
    “Ah, good...good,” Bonnie murmured.  “For a moment there I wondered if you were another one of his...well, never mind.  Anyway, as I was saying, Jed insisted we have the best of the best – even if we didn’t use it.  That’s how he was: he wanted to keep up appearances.  But I suppose I shouldn’t speak poorly of the dead.”
    Clarissa tried not to let her surprise show.  Instead, in an attempt to be relatable, she said, “I’m not much of a cook either.  And again, I am so sorry for your loss.  It must be such a shock.”
    Bonnie shrugged and finished off her wine.  “People dropped by, all telling me how sorry they were.  But I could hear them whispering behind my back.  I could feel them watching me, judging me.  I couldn’t take it anymore, so I asked them all to leave.  I know what people are saying about me.”
    “What are they saying?”
    After looking her up and down, Bonnie asked, “You really don’t know?  They say I was a gold digger.  They say I was only with Jed for his money.  In addition to being mayor, he was partner at a highly successful investment company based out of Green City, you know.”
    “Yes, I know.”  Clarissa took a deep breath and then admitted, “I used to be a reporter.”
    “Is that why you’re here?” Bonnie asked sharply.  “To find out if I did it?  I didn’t.”
    “I never thought –”
    Bonnie immediately interrupted.  It seemed that in her drunken state, she was rather talkative. 
    “We may have had a strained relationship, Jed and I, but I didn’t kill him.  Just because I’m not playing the part of grieving widow to everyone’s satisfaction doesn’t mean I’m guilty of murder!  Why would I kill Jed?  We co-existed.  We were more like roommates than a married couple, but we had an understanding.  It worked.”
    “You had...an understanding?” Clarissa prodded gently.
    “He kept up his image as a devoted husband and I...well, I got all this,” she said, gesturing to the house.  “We had a pre-nuptial contract, so had I divorced him I would have been left penniless.  Maybe the townspeople are right and I am materialistic.  I like nice things.  But that doesn’t make me a killer!”
    “I should be going,” Clarissa said, unsure of what else to say.  “I’ll show myself out.”
    The doorbell rang as she was headed toward the front door.
    “That’s the pizza!” Bonnie called from the kitchen.  “Let the pizza guy in, would you?”
    Clarissa opened the door expecting to see a pizza delivery guy there.  Perhaps it would even be the very same one Mrs. Meddler had falsely accused of committing murder, Clarissa thought to herself with a wry grin.
    But it wasn’t a pizza delivery guy who was standing there.
    It was a police officer.
    “Is Bonnie Black here?” he demanded, peering into the house.
    “About time you got here with my pizza!” Bonnie called from behind Clarissa. 
    She came stumbling over, rather unsteady on her feet thanks to her overconsumption of wine.  She belched loudly.  Then, when she saw the police officer, she stopped dead in her tracks.  Her eyes widened in horror as she looked him over.
    “You’re not a stripper, are you?” she asked the retirement-age, somewhat portly police officer.
    “A what ?” he asked, looking stunned and more than a little uncomfortable.  Then he