A Decadent Way to Die by G. A. McKevett (Sonja Massie) with Recipe by Kate, the Newcastle Foodie
The Book
Ex – cop and private investigator, Savannah Reid, delves into the world of dolls when she’s asked to investigate life of a rich octogenarian who’s had attempts on her life.
Helene Strauss, famous for her Helene doll and immaculate taste has made enemies during her career and personal life.
When the 80-year-old, has a few brushes with death, Savannah is asked to take a look at what’s been going on.
It soon becomes clear that these ‘accidents’ aren’t what they seem.
Taking a closer look at the family, it’s not long before she finds tensions that have raged for years.
It soon become clear that Ava, her niece, wants to steer the business in a seedier direction, which Helene fights against.
Working with her close friend, Detective Dirk Coulter, Savannah discovers there are more people who would benefit from Helene’s death.
When two key suspects turn up dead in a hot tub, the search has to start from scratch meaning everything that they knew has to be reassessed.
Things turn out badly and soon get out of hand when she helps her friend and work colleague deal with a controlling an abusive boyfriend.
With feelings between her old friend Dirk and Savannah surfacing, its’ time to think about her romantic future.
A brilliant combination of writing and recipe
My View
Absolutely loved reading this book, so much in fact I’m downloading the other 25 in the series to take with me on my holidays.
Great pool side reading with writing that’s relatable and characters who are fun and feel as though they could be real.
A Decadent Way to Die
by G.A. McKevett
G.A. McKevett (Sonja Massie) brings a bit of excitement to her main character and I loved the fun underlying romanticism that lies dormant between Savannah and Dirk, can’t wait to go back through the other books to see when these deep feelings started.
So many great food references, it fit perfectly into the Foodie Book Club choices, with descriptions of dishes that made me want to get off my sofa and cook up a southern storm.
I give it a good 3 ½ egg rating.
3 1/2 Eggs for this book
The Author
Sonja Massie (pseudonym G. A. McKevett) birthed her first novel in 1986 and has since had over 60 published books, some of which are the Savannah Reid Mysteries.
Writing about Irish History or contemporary thrillers, her humour and plots are what her fans love about her writing.
With plots that are full of pace and characters’ that have a real view of human nature, critics are also fans and praise her writing no matter the genre.
Books bring in her Irish heritage have won her awards and have been picked up by movie makers with stars such as Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman becoming fans and featuring in them (Far and Away directed by Ron Howard)
Sharing her knowledge and experience, she lectures and gives seminars about plotting, pacing, characterisation and how to market manuscripts.
Sonja is the managing editor at Single Living Magazine and was a ghost-writer and author of both fiction and non-fiction books for celebrities and professionals.
Sonja Massie AKA-
G.A McKevett
Food
This month a Kate who is the Newcastle Foodie has gifted us a decadent recipe of Burnt Basque Cheesecake a Spanish-style cheesecake that she fell in love with on her travels in Spain.
Kate set up Newcastle Foodie to explore the best of the North East food, travel and lifestyle.
She’s a whizz on Instagram with over 22 thousand followers.
I’ve taken this from what i’ve found on the net, so forgive me if it’s a bit fragmented.
Kate set up her instagram account in 2020, because she loves food and has aways enjoyed cooking and making it from a young age with her family.
Enjoying the food trends she saw it as her mission to provide inspiration to others by sharing her experiences of places she visited and the food she creates at home.
During lockdown, it became more apparent to her to help local businesses stay alive by advertising them using her new platform.
Kate , Newcastle Foodie taking a well deserved break
Starting her new business Become Social Ltd, a multi disciplinary creative and digital agency of social media experts offering content creation, influencer marketing and creative design.
They have an eye for beautiful visuals and an influence of emotive strategy (taken from their website).
Go and follow Kate and see what she’s up to:
Check out her website here , Instagram,
Burnt Basque Cheesecake
Ingredients:
800g Soft Cheese
225g Caster Sugar
200g Soured Cream
2X tbsp Plain Flou
2 X tsp Vanilla Extract
¼ tsp Salt
4 X Egg
Butter, for the tin
Toppings - Frozen Berries (defrosted) and Icing sugar
Eat all the slices
Method:
Step 1- Heat the oven to 220C fan then butter a deep 20cm springform cake tin. If your berries aren’t defrosted then now is the time to do this
Step 2- Add the soft cheese and sugar into a large bowl. Beat together using an electric for a couple of minutes, until the grains of sugar have dissolved. You can check this by rubbing a little of the mixture between your fingertips and it feels grainy, keep mixing.
Step 3- Tip in the flour, soured cream, eggs, vanilla and ¼ tsp salt to the bowl and whisk until it’s a smooth consistency. Pour into your cake tin, making sure to get every last bit of cheesecake mixture.
Top Tip: Give the tin a sharp bang on the worktop to remove any air bubbles, then bake for 30 mins.
Step 4- Once cooked, the cheesecake should be deeply caramelised on the outside and puffed up like a soufflé. It should still have a wobble when you shake the tin
Leave it to cool completely in the tin – it will sink as it cools. Chill for at least 1 hr before serving. (Trust me it’s worth the wait!)
Now for the important part, when plating up, using a sieve sprinkle a generous amount of icing sugar on top and serve with the berries on the side.
Light, fluffy and delicious
