SCOT IN A TRAP (Book 5)


Finalist for the Lefty award for best humorous mystery 2023

Shortlisted for an Anthony award at Bouchercon 2023
 

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A mysterious object the size of a suitcase, all wrapped in bacon and smelling of syrup, can mean only one thing: Thanksgiving at the Last Ditch Motel. This year the motel residents are in extra-celebratory mood as the holiday brings a new arrival to the group – a bouncing baby girl.

But as one life enters the Ditch, another leaves it. Menzies Lassiter has only just checked in. When resident counsellor Lexy Campbell tries to deliver his breakfast the next day, she finds him checked out. Permanently.  Shocking enough if he were stranger, but Lexy recognises that face. Menzies was her first love until he broke her heart many years ago.

What’s he doing at the Last Ditch? What’s he doing dead? And how can Lexy escape the fact that she alone had the means, the opportunity - and certainly the motive - to kill him?

It's no secret that fictional Cuento, CA, is loosely based on actual Davis, CA. Davis Author, Eileen Rendahl notes that there are a fair few of what she dubbed "Schmavis novels" around.  Each of the SCOT books has a few wee Easter eggs that might mean something to readers who know Davis (and won't be any trouble to readers who don't). Just for fun, I've gathered them together here in . . .      

                                       THE SCHMAVIS QUIZ

1. (Example). The diner in Cuento is The Red Racoon. The diner in Davis is The Black Bear. 

2. The drive-thru coffeeshop in Cuento is ...

3. The newspaper in Cuento is ...

4. The county where you'll find Cuento is ...

5. The county town of that county is ...

6. The Szechuan restaurant in Cuento is ...

7. The posh supermarket in Cuento is  ...

8. Some students at UCC live in the ...

10. The Cuento pub quiz is held at the ...

11. The little town directly south of Cuento is called ...

12. Lexy's favourite pizze joint is called ...

13. The ironmonger's in Cuento is called ...

14. The big sale at the UCC Senior Center is called ...

15. The Cuento bookshop is called ...

16. Lexy's favourite pizza joint is called ...

17. The manager of Lexy's favourite pizza joint is called ...