We all love a good mystery—but I prefer the butler bring me a nice cocktail at the end of a long week, rather than murder a guest at my dinner party. (To make it clear, I do not have a butler. And, as a former bartender myself, I am perfectly capable of making my own cocktails…in fact, I prefer it!)
So, with that being said, let's kick off CrimeHQ's new feature, Pick Your Poison—where we'll create a cocktail inspired by a recently published mystery, thriller, or crime novel!
First up: the “Death Along the River Peat,” inspired by Susanna Calkins's 4th Lucy Campion Mystery, A Death Along the River Fleet.
A Death Along the River Fleet by Susanna Calkins is the 4th book in the Lucy Campion Mystery series (Available April 12, 2016).
Lucy Campion, a ladies’ maid turned printer’s apprentice in 17th-century London, is crossing Holborn Bridge over the murky waters of the River Fleet one morning when, out of the mist, she sees a specter moving toward her. Frightened at first, Lucy soon realizes the otherworldly figure is in fact a young woman, clearly distraught and clad only in a blood-spattered white nightdress. Barely able to speak, the woman has no memory of who she is or what’s happened to her. The townspeople believe she’s possessed. But Lucy is concerned for the woman’s well-being and takes her to see a physician. When, shockingly, the woman is identified as the daughter of a nobleman, Lucy is asked to temporarily give up her bookselling duties to discreetly serve as the woman’s companion while she remains under the physician’s care.
As the woman slowly recovers, she begins―with Lucy’s help―to reconstruct the terrible events that led her to Holborn Bridge that morning. But when it becomes clear the woman’s safety might still be at risk, Lucy becomes unwillingly privy to a plot with far-reaching social implications, and she’ll have to decide just how far she’s willing to go to protect the young woman in her care.
Read an excerpt from A Death Along the River Fleet here!
PICK YOUR POISON
“A Death Along the River Peat”
– 3/4 oz. peated Scotch whisky (I prefer Laphroaig 10, but feel free to play around with peated/smoky Scotch to achieve your preferred level of flavor)
– 3/4 oz. Cherry Heering (or cherry brandy)
– 3/4 oz. sweet vermouth
– 3/4 oz. orange juice
How to make the cocktail:
- Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker and fill with ice.
- Shake well.
- Strain into a cocktail/coupe glass.
- Garnish with an orange zest twist.
So, make yourself a nice “A Death Along the River Peat” or 2 or 10, and get yourself a copy of A Death Along the River Fleet by Susanna Calkins!
To learn more or order a copy, visit:
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Susanna Calkins became fascinated with seventeenth-century England while pursuing her doctorate in British history and uses her fiction to explore this chaotic period. Originally from Philadelphia, Calkins now lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two sons.A Death Along the River Fleet is her fourth novel.