Minnie O’Rourke, better known as Grandma O’Rourke, from Recipe for Murder, A Pine Cove mystery, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today and interviewing potential suitors for her granddaughter.

Welcome, Minnie. I’ll turn the floor over to you –

Deputy Gregg Marks, in his crips khaki uniform, sits in a chair opposite a desk. Next to him but a deliberate distance away sits Jackson Thibodeaux. He ignores Marks and brushes an invisible piece of lint off his white linen shirt, tucked into faded jeans. There’s an awkward silence between them.  Marks checks his watch with an impatient grunt.

The door to the office opens and in walks Minnie O’Rourke, although neither of them know her as anything other than Grandma O’Rourke, Mel’s grandmother. The two men exchange wary looks as she settles in behind the desk.

“What happened to that reporter, Carla Cole?” Gregg leans back suspiciously. “She asked me to come to her office to be interviewed about the New Orleans case?”

“Us,” Jackson corrects him, an unmistakable edge to his voice. Gregg waves it off.

“She’s indisposed at the moment,” the older woman answers. “I figured while you’re both here, I had some questions of my own to ask you two.”

“What do you mean by ‘indisposed’, is she okay?” She grins at the level of alarm in Jackson’s voice.

“Untwist your knickers, kid, she’s fine. Someone will hear her knocking on that broom closet door eventually.”

“What?!” Both men exclaim in unison.

“Oh, calm down, although that’s the first time you two knuckleheads have been on the same page about anything since the day I met you.” Grandma O chuckles. “If Mel could see the two of you now, she’d hardly believe it.”

“What do you mean?” Gregg narrows his eyes at the woman, knowing her granddaughter, Emmeline O’Rourke, both cherishes her and thinks she’s a pain in the neck almost simultaneously.

“I mean, the two of you have been pining over that girl for the better part of a year now. While it’s been fun having my own personal Thunderdome, wondering which one of you eegits will finally make your move, enough is enough already.”

Both men stare at her, mouths gaping open. Jackson clears his throat before squawking out, “What are you expecting us to do, throw her over a shoulder and take her home caveman style?”

The broader, thicker built Gregg snickers. “Good luck with that, Bakery Boy.”

Grandma O ignores both of them. “I want to know what your intentions are toward my granddaughter.” Both men stammer nonsensical sounds that might be words, just not in English. She talks over both of them. “I’m not getting any younger and I want great-grandchildren before I die.”

“But Mel’s sister, Vinnie, already has children so…mission accomplished?” She shoots Gregg a death glare for his remark.

“I mean from all of my son’s children, not just the one with the most sense. So hit me, what’s your big plan for wooing Mel?” Jackson points a finger at himself in the universal sign for, “who, me?” “No, the guy standing behind you. Of course I mean you,” she barks at him, taking a flask out of her over-sized bag and gulping down a swallow. Clearly for Minnie, this is going to be a long day.

“Well, there’s the annual home tour coming up. I thought I’d take her on that, show her some of the history of Pine Cove since she hardly ever gets to go out an explore.”

The motorboat noise she makes with her lips makes it clear how she feels about that idea. She adds her commentary anyway. “Like that’s going to get you laid. What about you, cowboy?” she asks, swinging her beady-eyed attention to Gregg.

“I was thinking of taking her to the amphitheater for a concert one night. This summer’s acts look pretty good.”

The rolling of her eyes relayed what she thought of that. “The girl grew up seeing huge names at the Hollywood Bowl, and the best you can come up with is a mosquito-ridden night listening to an Elvis cover band?  Christ on a cracker, are you trying to make her homesick?”

The two men, usually frenemies at best, exchange a look and lean closer to Grandma O. “Do you have any recommendations?” Jackson asks, Gregg nodding in agreement.

“Thought you’d never ask,” the older woman replies, reaching into her bag once again as she drinks down her flask. She takes out a multi-page document, typed in single spacing. “Since I’ve been forced to watch this love triangle unfold with all the speed and intensity of paint drying, I’ve come up with a few ideas for either one of you to try to claim my granddaughter’s heart. You’re welcome,” she heaves herself out of the chair heading toward the door.

The two men, heads bowed over the pages, skimmed the contents. “Wait, is this even legal in California?” Gregg asks, pointing to an item on page two.

“Won’t know till you try it,” she called out from the hallway. Suddenly a breathless, disheveled woman appears at the door.

“Gentleman, I’m so sorry to keep you waiting. You won’t believe what just happened to me. I- I think an old lady hi-jacked my interview?”

Gregg and Jackson lean back, trade now a look of understanding, before Jackson replies, “I think she just hi-jacked our lives.” The two men stand, split the list of suggestions in half and exit, each going their own way.

“Good luck on number twelve,” Gregg snorts. Jackson merely gives him a wave that may or may not be of the single finger salute variety. Carla Cole flops in her seat, confused by what the heck just happened. 

Thank you for sharing this with us, Minnie, and good luck to you and your author, Marla A. White, with Recipe for Murder, the latest book in the Pine Cove mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Minnie and her author, Marla A. White by visiting the author’s Facebook, Instagram, Substack, TikTok, BookBub and Goodreads pages. You can also follow her on Twitter and Threads.

The book is available online at the following retailers: 

Amazon –  Barnes&Noble   –  Apple Books – GoodReads – AllAuthor – Books2Read – Book Bub

About Marla A. White: Marla White kills people for a living—on paper, at least.

An award-winning mystery and suspense author with roots in Hollywood, Marla White made a striking debut with Cause for Elimination, earning recognition from Killer Nashville, the RONE Awards, Reader’s Favorite, and a second-place finish with the Orange County Romance Writers in Romantic Suspense.

Originally from Oklahoma, Marla carved her path through multiple states before landing in Los Angeles, where she built a career in television development and now teaches screenwriting at UCLA Extension—including the fine art of script coverage and story analysis.

When she’s not plotting her next murder (fictional, we promise), she can be found in her garden, on a hiking trail, cheering for the LA Kings, or field-testing craft cocktails in the name of research.