Book Review: Smugglers and Scones

Morgan C. Talbot began her delightful Moorehaven Mysteries culinary mystery series as a USA Today Best Seller with Smugglers and Scones. Great way to start, eh? Red Adept Publishing released this book almost a year ago.

The setting is Moorehaven, a B&B located in the home of now-deceased classic mystery writer, A. Raymond Moore. Per the dead author’s instructions, Pippa operates Moorehaven as a retreat dedicated to mystery writers. No one else can book a room, so don’t get your hopes up. Darn!

Moorehaven’s beautiful seaside community in Oregon offers a perfect blend of serenity and stimulation for the mystery writers working on their manuscripts.

A. Raymond Moore author quotes open each chapter and reveal this mysterious man and set up each chapter’s focus. Talbot chose a delightful device to enrich her story.

Put together a local tale that is almost a hundred years old, add in a boat crash and handsome murder suspect with amnesia, flavor with a speakeasy museum and a documentary being filmed, and, well, there’s more! This mystery provides many avenues of exploration.

The plot twists and turns in Smugglers and Scones keep the reader guessing right up to the end. The book features a panoply of potential villains.

As a writer of culinary mysteries, I am appreciative of the skill Talbot displayed in laying out the clues and taking unexpected paths toward the solution. The conclusion, after providing a good range of potential killers, is satisfying and appropriate to explain the murders. Murders? Oh, yes. There’s more than one in this cozy.

Seacrest, Oregon is peopled with the usual assortment of delightful, quirky, or just plain weird folk. When you add in the documentary film crew, an itinerant worker, and the authors who use Moorehaven for their writers’ retreats, you throw even more fun into the mix. And the mystery authors want to be part of the action. A real life murder to solve? They’re loving it!

Check out Morgan C. Talbot’s website, “Mysteriouser and Mysteriouser” at morganctalbot.blogspot.com to find information on her books and access to recipes and more!

Since I love blueberries, I picked this recipe to share with you. Thanks, Morgan, for allowing me to reprint this. Readers, trust me, you’re going to love these scones! My family did.

Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze

Scone ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup granulated sugar

2½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

zest of 1 large lemon

½ cup unsalted butter, cold

½ cup Greek yogurt, plain

4 tablespoons milk (for thinning yogurt)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Egg wash ingredients

1 large egg, beaten

1 teaspoon milk

Glaze ingredients

1¼ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon unsalted butter

Extra zest

Tips:

 - If you're using frozen berries, rinse them until the water runs mostly clear and pat them dry, then add them to the dough. - If you like a thicker, whiter glaze, add another 1/4 cup of confectioners' sugar.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F / 205 C.

2. In a bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest.

3. Chop cold butter into small pieces and add to flour mixture. Combine with pastry cutter or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

4. In a small bowl, whisk the yogurt and milk until smooth.

5. Add egg and vanilla to yogurt blend and whisk together. Drizzle over flour mixture and stir until moistened. Fold in blueberries. Dough will be sticky.

6. Using a 2/3 cup measuring scoop, add dough to scone pan sections and press into corners with spatula. If you don’t want to use a scone pan, flatten dough into a 1” high circle on floured surface and cut into wedges with very sharp knife. Place parchment paper or silicone baking mat on a baking sheet and transfer dough to it with spatula.

7. Brush tops with egg wash.

8. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

9. Let cool 2 minutes in the pan and then transfer to a cooling rack.

10. To make glaze, whisk confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice, unsalted butter, and zest together until smooth and drizzle over cool scones.

Additional Notes

Mr. Moore made his scones with heavy cream, but I found that substituting Greek yogurt, thinned with a little milk, cuts the fat content in half while preserving the luscious flavor. Plus, Greek yogurt instead of regular plain yogurt adds a sweet tanginess.

Gluten Free Version

For GF Blueberry Scones, simply substitute a 1-for-1 GF flour for the all-purpose wheat flour. The GF flour will be a little stiffer and reluctant to fully mix, so I set aside my spoon and worked the dough with my hands until fully blended. I also measured the dough into my scone pan with my hands, but that's entirely optional. These scones are so delicious, people won't know they're GF!

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Facebook: Looking for a new voice in culinary mysteries? Morgan C. Talbot has a tightly plotted mystery laced with mention of and recipes for delectable scones. Check out the review of SMUGGLERS AND SCONES and try one of the book’s recipes. http://bit.ly/2oC57fk

Twitter: Blueberry Scones w/ Lemon Glaze #Recipe and review of new book by culinary mystery writer @MorganCTalbot’s SMUGGLERS AND SCONES http://bit.ly/2oC57fk