“Southern Hospitali-Teetotaled” Cocktail

Just because you're penniless and living in Manhattan—and alcohol is illegal—doesn't mean you can't still enjoy some southern hospitality.

So, slow down, relax, and put a little south in your mouth in this week's Pick Your Poison—where we create a cocktail inspired by a recently published mystery, thriller, or crime novel—with a glass of “Southern Hospitali-Teetotaled” ice-cold lemonade, inspired by Maia Chance's 2nd Discreet Retrieval Agency mystery, Teetotaled!

Teetotaled by Maia Chance is a sparkling new mystery that will delight readers with its clever plotting, larger-than-life characters, and rich 1920s atmosphere (Available October 4, 2016).

After her philandering husband died and left her penniless in Prohibition-era New York, Lola Woodby escaped with her Swedish cook to the only place she could—her deceased husband’s secret love nest in the middle of Manhattan. Her only comforts were chocolate cake, dime store detective novels, and the occasional highball (okay, maybe not so occasional). But rent came due and Lola and Berta were forced to accept the first job that came their way, leading them to set up shop as private detectives operating out of Alfie’s cramped love nest.

Now Lola and Berta are in danger of losing the business they’ve barely gotten off the ground—work is sparse and money is running out. So when a society matron offers them a job, they take it—even if it means sneaking into a slimming and exercise facility and consuming only water and health food until they can steal a diary from Grace Whiddle, a resident at the “health farm.” But barely a day in, Grace and her diary escape from the facility—and Grace’s future mother-in-law is found murdered on the premises. Lola and Berta are promptly fired. But before they can climb into Lola’s brown and white Duesenberg Model A and whiz off the health farm property, they find themselves with a new client and a new charge: to solve the murder of Grace’s future mother-in-law.

Read an excerpt from Teetotaled!
 

PICK YOUR POISON

“Southern Hospitali-Teetotaled”

Ingredients:

– 2 oz. sweet tea vodka (Firefly or Jeremiah Weed)
– 1 oz. lemon juice
– 1 oz. simple syrup
– 4 oz. still water or seltzer (dealer's choice)
– lemon wedge (garnish)
– sprig of mint (garnish)

How to make the cocktail:

1. Pour all ingredients into a mixing tin (unless you're using seltzer). 
2. Add ice and shake well.
3. If using seltzer, add after shaking and stir gently (do not shake again).
4. Fill a highball with ice and strain cocktail into the glass.
5. Garnish with lemon wedge and mint (optional).

After all, what could be illegal about a little old-fashioned sweet tea and lemonade? So drink up, and don't forget to order a copy of Teetotaled by Maia Chance!

To learn more or order a copy, visit:

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Maia Chance was a finalist for the 2004 Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award and is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington. She is writing her dissertation on nineteenth-century American literature. She is also the author of the Fairy Tale Fatal mystery series.