I am so excited to welcome Wisconsin Author Christine DeSmet
to Escape With Dollycas today!!
The Cape Cod of the Midwest is this cozy’s setting
With author Christine DeSmet, the Fudge Shop Mystery Series
Ava Oosterling and her Grandpa Gil operate Oosterlings’ Live Bait, Bobbers & Belgian Fudge & Beer on a harbor in Door County, Wisconsin, known as the “Cape Cod of the Midwest.” They’re the sleuths in the Fudge Shop Mystery Series 
Their county is that real thumb of land jutting into Lake Michigan and forming the bay of Green Bay. Door County is about a three-hour drive north from Chicago.
The quaint county has 11 lighthouses, beautiful shoreline parks, and winding two-lane roads canopied by maples. The upper half of the peninsular county is a vacationer’s paradise with its spas, wineries, art, golfing, and boating and many miles of shoreline. It has only 2-lane roads, and stoplights are rare.
The lower half of the county has a different landscape—one rich in dairy farms and a history connected to the thousands of Belgian immigrants who settled there.
Ava and her family are Belgians, and Ava grew up on a farm near Brussels (real name) in Door County in the southern half of the county. Her fudge shop is in the northern touristy part in a fictional town called Fishers’ Harbor. I like to tell people she’s the first Belgian sleuth since Poirot hit the scene in 1920.
In Five-Alarm Fudge
When a visiting European prince asks Ava Oosterling to unearth a priceless, 1800s divinity fudge recipe, the request fans the flames of foul play, with murder marring Ava’s Cinderella dreams.
Prior to the story, Grandpa took it upon himself to invite the prince of Belgium to visit. Grandpa insists the prince is a shirt-tail relation but far enough removed by ancestors to qualify as marriage material for Ava.
Ava is beside herself with Grandpa. She’s in the midst of a rekindled romance with her ex, Dillon Rivers, who is refurbishing the Blue Heron Inn in order for Ava to take it over. In the meantime, Ava lives in a rundown rental cabin with an ever-present field mouse.
Grandpa has also promised the prince that Ava will find a long, lost divinity fudge recipe supposedly hidden in a local historical church by a Belgian nun during an 1871 fire.
I used a lot of the real history of Door County for the background in the new Five-Alarm Fudge
The irony of being surrounded by miles and miles of water in this peninsular county is that on October 8, 1871 the very real Great Fire happened—taking an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 lives in this region. This event occurred the same days as the famous Chicago fire that took about 300 lives.
This novel also delves into the real history of Sister Adele Brise, who hid in a wood church southwest of Namur, Wisconsin, that fateful day when the fires swept the territory. It’s considered a miracle that the wood church was spared.
For travelers, a fun fact to know is that before she became a nun, the young Adele Brise reported that she was visited at least twice by Mary, the mother of Jesus. The site of this visitation is the only Catholic bishop-sanctioned Marian sighting in the entire United States.
Today, you can visit the church, shrine, and gravesite of Sister Adele in a little town called Champion, Wis., which is on your way to Door County. It’s a peaceful place on a country road. A quick search online will give you dozens of articles about Sister Adele and maps to the area.
Just north of there, in Namur, Wis., a little church once known as St. Mary’s of the Snows features prominently in my mystery. Grandpa Gil feels sure that the traveling, teaching nun must have hidden an early version of a divinity fudge recipe in the brick church, thus protecting the special recipe from fires.
Ava scours the local church for the recipe, but instead finds a dead body, a fire, and the start of a game of hide-and-seek with an arsonist out to do in Ava.
Many people bypass little towns like Namur in their travels, and that’s a great loss. The small-town festivals are where we often find the heart of a region’s culture and history.
Every fall on a September Sunday, Namur has a kermiss—a Belgian harvest festival. (It’s also spelled “kermis.”) The celebration features a dozen kind of pies because Belgians are known for pies. Their pie tins from the old country are 12 inches wide! None of the puny 8-inch or 9-inch stuff for a Belgian. Of course chocolate abounds at a kermiss in the form of cookies, bars, fudge and other confections. And you get some excellent Belgian beer! (In Wisconsin, everything ends with beer.)
You also want to try the Belgian booyah when traveling in Door County. Namur is having a big booyah fest on Sunday, April 26, 2015.
Booyah is a tomato-based chicken stew made outside in a big stainless steel barrel over an open fire. Like the story about making stone soup, neighbors will often bring vegetables to put in the pot. A recipe for booyah is in Book 2 of my series, Hot Fudge Frame-Up.
For dessert? Try Ava’s signature “Cinderella Pink Fudge,” a cherry-vanilla flavor. Door County is a leading producer of cherries in the U.S.
Other regular characters in my series include Ava’s best friend Pauline, who’s a kindergarten teacher, and Laura, who’s having twins and waiting for her husband to come home from a special mission in the Middle East. There’s also a smart gaggle of church ladies who often cause Ava no end of trouble when they volunteer at the fudge shop. And Dillon Rivers’ American water spaniel, Lucky Harbor, finds his nose in all kinds of trouble in every fudge mystery.
My series presents a warm-hearted view of a real place popular for vacations—Door County. I hope readers have a chance to look it up online to explore and then visit sometime.
~Christine
About The Author
Christine DeSmet writes the Fudge Shop Mystery Series (Penguin Random House/NAL/Obsidian). She’s also an award-winning scriptwriter and teaches writing at University of Wisconsin-Madison Continuing Studies where she directs the annual June Write-by-the-Lake Writer’s Workshop & Retreat. You can write to her at UW-Madison, cdesmet@dcs.wisc.edu or find her on Facebook or at her website, www.ChristineDeSmet.com.
I really had the best intentions to get the 2nd and 3rd book of these series read before Christine’s visit but that did happen 🙁 So today I am going to review Hot Fudge Frame Up
Hot Fudge Frame-Up:
A Fudge Shop Mystery
2nd in Series
Cozy Mystery
Setting – Wisconsin
An Obsidian Mystery (June 3, 2014)
An Imprint of New American Library
Published by The Penguin Group
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0451416483
E-Book ASIN: B00GS9XGX0
Candy shop owner Ava Oosterling mixes it up with a fudge judge with a grudge—who loses his life before he can pick a winner….
Ava is gearing up for the First Annual Arts Festival—a huge celebration that could draw national attention to her old-fashioned fudge shop in Door County, Wisconsin. She’s invited two celebrity chefs to go head-to-head with her in a fudge contest. Everyone is having a tasty time…until a judge for the festival is found dead.
To her shock, he’d been complaining around town that her Fairy Tale fudge flavors were…well, fudged. Now the sheriff is wondering if Ava fits the mold for a murder suspect. As Ava tries to square her reputation and find the real killer, she’s in for a whole batch of trouble….
Includes Delicious Recipes and Fudge-Making Tips!
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Our family loves to travel to Door County for day trips or family vacations so I feel right at home visiting Oosterling’s Live Bait, Bobbers, Belgian Fudge & Beer. I love all the local references.
In this second book of the series Ava is competing with two celebrity chefs, one of them has some crazy ideas for her fudge ingredients, in a fudge contest. Local leaders have been lined up as judges. As Ava works on her new fudge flavors, the other chefs can’t be in the same room together without feet and food flying. The event is being filmed for television so Ava tries to just stay out of the line of fire. But when one of the judges is found dead, the fights become the least of her worries. Especially when the sheriff starts to treat Ava as a suspect. Lloyd, the now deceased judge, was Ava’s grandfather’s best friend and owned quite a bit of local property. Ava quickly puts together a list of other suspects, now she just needs to figure out which one has fudged up her life this time.
The author has given us quite a mystery to chew on. A lot happens within these 352 pages. The story is much more complicated than it first appears and I was totally taken aback with the way things played out. Wow, I sure didn’t expect that ending.
We learn a lot about the history of Fisher’s Harbor, and some people’s plans to change the town and take away its charm. Ava is very concerned about those plans but also how they will affect her family, especially her grandparents.
I really enjoy the way the residents come together in times of distress and also in times of celebration. In this story we not only have a festival with a prom-like dance but a funeral. People always bring food to the family after a death and most funeral luncheons are potluck. Very familiar to me after the past few weeks. The dance was for the young and old alike and there were even bets placed on who Ava’s date would be. Her date was also quite a surprise and absolutely perfect.
The book not only has a beautiful setting, an awesome mystery, and terrific characters, it is also full of humor and a bit of romance. I highly recommend this book and if you can, take a real trip to Door County to take in all it has to offer from fudge, cherries, beer, cheese…oh and lighthouses, beautiful beaches and more. It is called The Cape Cod of the Midwest for good reason!
Today I have my review copies of First Degree Fudge
Five Alarm Fudge
There will be 3 Winners!
Contest is open to anyone over 18 years old
with a US or Canadian mailing address.
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Contest Will End April 29, 2015 at 11:59 PM CST
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Click Here For Entry Form
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Sounds great and the fudge looks yummy! Thanks for the opportunity!
Looking forward to reading this series.
Great blog and review, plus that fudge looks delicious. Thanks for the giveaway.
These look like good books.
Fudge looks wonderful! Thanks for the giveaway
All three books sound amazing! I am looking forward to reading the Fudge Shop Mystery series. Thank you for the generous giveaway.
looks great, thanks for the chance to win
Yum, what could be better – fudge.
I’ve read the first in series and really enjoyed it!
What could be better than fudge and a mystery? Am adding this series to my reading list.
I havent tried this cozy series yet, but I will definitely add to my TBR list. I would love to win one of the books. Thanks for the giveaway.
This is a wonderful feature and giveaway. Thanks
Congrats to Christine on the new release! We are big fans of fudge in my family, always trying to recreate the perfect batch! I don’t seem to get much past Madison when I visit Wisconsin, but I have heard how beautiful Door County is, must make a trip there someday! Thanks for the chance to win!
This sounds like a really good series! I love all the real facts added in the post, and that fudge sounds yummy!
I adore anything Door County! I lived in Chicago and visited my aunt in Grayslake I’ll.. She would always take us to Door County. We had to have cherry jam to go on our ham loaf and would go to the winery to get cherry wiine. Summer is beautiful. And when we did our annual trip around Lake Michigan we stopped in Door County. Cherry everything!!!! I will be trying the recipe since I love fudge ( real contest between Door County and Mackinac for fudge capitol). I am old enough that books like this stir wonderful old memories for me. Please keep them coming!!!!!!
Sounds like a delicious series–can’t wait to read!
Fudge is one of my favorite sweets. This series sounds good enough to eat. Thanks for the chance to get to know more about Christine Desmet and the Fudge Shop. robeader53@yahoo.com
on my TBR list
Enjoyed reading about the author and the book sounds like fun. I like that there is some history in it too.
Sounds like a fun series.
I just finished reading Five Alarm Fudge. I believe it is the best of the series to date! servedogmom@yahoo.vom
I have to admit that pink fudge would not be the first type I’d choose in a store.
I thoroughly enjoyed both other books, in the series, and look forward to reading Five-Alarm Fudge.
This sounds like a lovely story, but I’m sure it would entice you to eat more fudge. I’ll put it on my list.
Ann
Looking forward to reading a writer from across the pond. Michigan girl here.
I live in the upper midwest, too–Minnesota—yet I’ve never had the chance to visit Door County. So many of my friends have said that it is a really great place to vacation. I’d love to read any one of these books to get started on the series.
What caught my eye about this cozy series (I’m fussy about what cozies I read) are several points: the great location– I want to learn more about that part of the state, the heritage of the characters–you don’t see Belgians featured too often in books, and the relationship of the woman and her grandfather. And hey, recipes for fudge–could only help, yummy! Thanks for writing this series and thanks for the contest chance.
Ok, it looks like I’ve missed another great series, thanks for bringing it to my attention, it sounds wonderful.
sounds like a great series.fudge…yum probably wouldnt go for pink fudge though
The series sounds interesting! Thanks for the chance to win one of the books.
Already read Hot Fudge Frame Up and really enjoyed it. Would love to read the other two. Thanks for this opportunity.
Looks like another fun addition to a great series
Yum!! I love fudge and a good cozy. Now if the fudge is IN the good cozy…heavenly!
Thanks for a chance to win! This book sounds like a great addition to the series!
I think I would really enjoy this little town in Wisconsin – not only more fun weather than the desert in summer, but lighthouses to see and the little church – sounds like a series I would love to read, even if it does make me yearn for fudge! And thank you for the opportunity to win the first or second book, too, as I have not read any of them yet!
Congratulations, Christie! Looks like a fun series; I’ll be checking it out!
What a yummy sounding fudge recipe!
You had me at “Fudge”.
a series I need to start!!
congrats & continued success to Christine!!
I have the second one in the series. I like the covers. I never make fudge, but brownies are my specialty.
This looks like a series I could get into – yum!