Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Fried Chicken Castañeda by Suzanne Stauffer. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
Fried Chicken Castañeda
by Suzanne Stauffer
Fried Chicken Castañeda
Historical Culinary Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Las Vegas, New Mexico, in June 1929
Publisher : Artemesia Publishing, LLC
Publication date : May 6, 2025
Print length : 228 pages
Paperback
At the Castañeda Hotel you’ll find romance, gourmet dining, bootleggers, and murder!
Bored with her conventional middle-class life, Prudence Bates escapes Cleveland by heading west to qualify as a Courier for the Southwestern Indian Detours. On the California Limited she meets Jerry Begay, a charming Navajo school teacher. They feel an instant rapport, but he’s headed for Gallup, so it’s but a brief encounter.
In Las Vegas, New Mexico Prudence is befriended by Castañeda Hotel Harvey Girls Martha and Anne and desk clerk Clara. They take Prudence under their wing and invite her along to dances and the local hot springs.
Four days later, Martha’s brother, Tom, is found murdered. Was it because of his bootlegging activities? Or his amorous relationship with Liz Kearney, daughter of the richest man in the area and rumored mob boss? And was that really Jerry Begay whom Prudence saw meeting with Tom in secret the day before he was killed?
Following in the footsteps of her favorite fictional detectives, Tommy and Tuppence, Prudence is determined to solve the murder. But one wrong step and she may end up in the sights of the bootleggers.
Character Guest Post: Prudence Bates
Yes, that seat is free. Won’t you join me? The dining room is awfully crowded at this time of day. It’s nice to meet you. I am Prudence Bates, the protagonist of the historical cozy culinary mystery, Fried Chicken Castañeda.
Well, if you’re really interested, I’ll be happy to tell you about myself. I’m a 25 year-old librarian from Cleveland, Ohio, seeking adventure and excitement as a Courier for the Indian Detours in the Southwest. You’ve never heard of the Indian Detours? I hadn’t either, until a couple of months ago, when I attended a presentation by Miss Anita Rose of the Fred Harvey Company. I was astounded at the vast expanses of the landscape and the amazing colors in the hand-tinted magic lantern slides that she showed us! And, just between the two of us, the Indians in those slides are so exotic and attractive. Not like the common, ordinary young men I meet here in Cleveland. There’s just something about a man in denim jeans, a plaid shirt, and a cowboy hat … I’m so glad that you agree!
So, I decided then and there that I was going travel to New Mexico to get a job as a Courier – that’s a guide – for those Detours. They only hire young women – just as they do for waitresses in the Harvey Houses – who are at least 25 years old and college graduates, so I qualify! I don’t speak any language other than English, I’m afraid, but that’s not a requirement. It’s just a preference.
Mother is against it, of course. Ever since Father died from heart problems when I was 16, she’s tried to keep me close. Her dearest wish is that I marry Wally Carver and settle down just a few blocks away in a house with a white picket fence and give her grandchildren. But I’ve done my duty to her. I’m not getting any younger. It’s time that I followed my own dreams – at least for a year or two. I’ve led a sheltered upper-middle class existence to this point, and now I want to experience more of life, maybe even a little danger! Serving as a guide on tours throughout the Southwest is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for when I majored in Anthropology in college, but Mother convinced me to stay home after I graduated and earn my master’s degree in library science. Why, I never even went on any digs in the summers because she didn’t want me to go that far away for that many weeks!
Oh, no, I’m not abandoning her. It will just be for a couple of years, and in the meantime, she has her Church ladies’ auxiliary and her ladies’ literary league for company, and Wally drops in at least once a week to check on her. Usually on Sunday, when she fixes his favorite meal of pot roast, potatoes, and gravy – and pie. She really is a wonderful cook.
I know that this is what Father would want me to do with the rest of the trust fund that he left for me. He told me before he died that his one regret was that he and Mother would never spend their later years traveling and discovering the rest of the world.
How long have you been here at the Castañeda Hotel? Just this morning? I arrived yesterday morning on the California Limited from Chicago. I spent the day on a walking tour of Las Vegas. It really is a lovely little town. And everyone here is so friendly! Clara, the desk clerk, and Martha and Ann, two of the Harvey Girls at the restaurant, invited me to the YMCA dance with them last night. I was a little hesitant, not knowing anyone else, but I danced the entire evening! Tomorrow, we’re going up to the hot springs near the Montezuma Hotel. Yes, the one that used to be a resort spa.
What else is there to do in this town? There are the talkies at the Coronado Theater, of course. And the public library.
Speakeasies? I heard that there is one in the back of the Meadows hotel, across the road. And I’ve heard that there are bootleggers in town, as well. Someone spiked the punch at the YMCA dance last night. Well … I understand that you can sometimes find someone hanging around the outside of the hotel who can sell you a pint.
Me? Well, dancing, of course. And talkies, when I haven’t already seen them. But, to tell you the truth, I just love reading murder mysteries! Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers are my favorites, but I just discovered Ellery Queen and Patricia Wentworth. Have you read Partners in Crime? Yes! The female detective’s name in that one IS named Prudence. Thank you for noticing. I sometimes think that it’s an omen. Yes, it is kind of silly of me.
Can you keep a secret? I met someone on the train out here. He’s so handsome! And witty. And educated. He’s a school teacher on the reservation. We had breakfast together and talked and talked. What’s that? Oh, yes, he’s a Navajo Indian, but he was sent to boarding schools as a child and young man, so he speaks English well. No, I’m afraid that it was just a brief encounter, as he was going on to Gallup and then to his family’s hogan. He wants to get back to his roots, learn what it means to be a real Navajo, marry a Navajo girl, so … Thank you. I try not to think about it too much.
Oh, here comes Martha now to take our orders. I can recommend the Harvey Girl Special Little Thin Orange Pancakes, if you don’t want bacon and eggs. And, of course, the famous Harvey coffee.
About Suzanne Stauffer
After 20 years as a librarian and 20 as a professor of library science and library historian, Suzanne Stauffer has moved on to a third career as a mystery novelist. She currently lives in Albuquerque with her Australian husband and brown and white spotted rat terrier dogter, Treme. Her debut novel, Fried Chicken Castañeda (Artemesia Publishing, May 2025), won the CIPA EVVY Bronze Medal in Mystery/Crime/Detection and the New Mexico Book Award for Cozy Mystery.
Author Links
Blog https://couriersseries1926.blogspot.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/couriers1926/
Substack Newsletter Amuse-Bouche https://smstauffer.substack.com/
Purchase Links: Publisher Amazon B&N Bookshop.org
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Fried Chicken Castaneda TOUR PARTICIPANTS
March 2 – deal sharing aunt – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
March 2 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
March 3 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
March 4 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
March 4 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
March 5 – Sarandipity’s – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
March 5 – Books1987 – SPOTLIGHT
March 6 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
March 7 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
March 8 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
March 8 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – AUTHOR GUEST POST
March 9 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – CHARACTER GUEST POST
March 10 – Sarah Can’t Stop Reading Books – REVIEW
March 11 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR GUEST POST
March 12 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW, RECIPE
March 13 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
March 13 – StoreyBook Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST
March 14 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT
March 15 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – REVIEW
March 15 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
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