While Wendy helped another customer, I drooled on the pastry case, as if there were any doubt what I’d order. “Double shot, pain au chocolat,” I said when it was my turn. “Any interest in a cat? I’ve got Christine’s tabby, and she and my guy don’t get along.” &...
—Ellis Peters, The Raven in the Foregate “Do you know how much I love working down here?” Kristen said as we strolled out of the Soames-Dunn Building, arm in arm, as much to stick together on the crowded sidewalk as to reaffirm our best-friendship. “It’s like, in the Market, anything can happen.”...
Who’s dead?” I grabbed Tara as she collapsed, catching her before she hit the ground. “Where?” The woman who’d commented on what a busy place Jewel Bay is stepped forward. “In the back parking lot.” Tara pointed vaguely. “I’m...
—François de La Rochefoucauld, 17th-century French writer and nobleman With everything on my plate, the last thing I should do was leave the shop. But what’s the point in hiring capable people if you can’t trust them to get along without you from time to time? And the spat...
In fact, it’s the most popular spice worldwide, accounting for more than twenty percent of the global spice market. The night loomed dark and quiet—as dark and quiet as the heart of a city gets at 1 a.m. Eric came downtown to scoop up Kristen and dr...
The eat-late-and-miss-the-rush shoppers had gone in search of lunch, while the eat-at-noon crowd hadn’t yet returned to shopping. Tracy had gone home to walk Bozo, a Harlequin Great Dane rescue dog, and change clothes. The morning sales spree had brightened all our moods. ...