In what might be the final book of the Shake Shop Mystery series, ice cream store owner Trinidad Jones is staring down the barrel of her first Oregon winter and wondering whether her beloved Shimmy and Shake Shop will survive. It’s all well and good selling frozen treats during the bustling summer months–even in a town as small as Sprocket–but winter is an entirely different story for her bottom line. 

As a savvy businesswoman, Trinidad has decided to diversify into both catering and holding classes on making ice cream. The latter seems promising, but the former is turning into more of a headache than she anticipated. Her first big gig is on a local steamboat attraction. Rumor has it that a mega-celebrity is throwing an out-of-season party, and Trinidad is hoping that this will give her business the boost it needs to weather the cold.

But even as she’s dealing with last-minute changes to the party menu, a figure from her past shows up to throw a serious wrench in the works. Her ex-husband, Gabe, has been paroled from prison, returning to his hometown where she and his two other ex-wives, Bonnie and Juliette, still reside. The three women have grown as close as sisters in the wake of his perfidy, so Trinidad and Juliette are utterly shocked when Bonnie suddenly announces that she and Gabe are getting remarried. Trinidad and Juliette would like to be happy for her, only Bonnie seems to have all the enthusiasm for her impending nuptials as a woman on her way to the gallows. Worse, she won’t explain her reasoning for the remarriage to the other two.

The very worst happens when Gabe unexpectedly shows up at the Shimmy in very bad shape. He’s clearly been concussed and is afraid he might have killed somebody. When the body of a harmless birdwatcher is found run over in the woods outside of Sprocket, everyone assumes that Gabe must have been responsible. Only Gabe doesn’t remember anything, and reports from a witness as to Gabe’s frame of mind beforehand just don’t add up.

Gabe begs Trinidad to help him out. She’s had some success when it comes to solving murders, and since Sprocket’s small police department is headed by Gabe’s older sister–who has to recuse herself from the investigation for obvious reasons–they could use a hand, too. Trouble is the last thing either Trinidad or her new boyfriend, Quinn, want is for Gabe to be a part of her life again. Will she be able to sort out this mess and save her store, all while staying out of the crosshairs of the real killer?

I really appreciated how Dana Mentink represents Trinidad as a strong, independent woman who does the right thing because she knows and appreciates how far she’s come as a person. It’s really great to see a woman who can stand up to jealousy and the potential loss of a romance by choosing her personal integrity instead. She’s a great heroine for a story with so many twists, though I personally feel that Juliette, of all the ex-wives, did not make the best choices in the end.

It was, however, an unmitigated delight to read all of the descriptions of ice cream confections in this book! There were four recipes included in the end, and because I have no illusions that my ice cream making skills are on par with Trinidad’s, I decided to try out the following savory recipe that her Papa Luis makes for her instead.

Congri (black beans and rice)

Ingredients

1 cups rice

1 can black beans (not rinsed)

3-4 slices bacon

2 bay leaves

1 tsp. garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Fry up the bacon, drain and chop it into small pieces.

Put undrained beans into a large pot. Add enough liquid to make three cups. Add the rice, bay leaves, bacon, and garlic powder. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Discard bay leaves and serve with salt and pepper.

I decided to double this recipe to feed my family, adding onions for flavor as well. My only regret is that I used six strips of bacon instead of eight. The congri is a hearty, filling dish that I served with vegetables on the side–in this case, spinach wilted in a mix of butter and bacon grease–for a complete meal. You’ll definitely need to add some salt and pepper to taste or, as my family did, some spicy sauteed fish for piquancy.

Next week, we travel to the Northeast to bake a wonderful seasonal treat while investigating a wedding ceremony marred by murder. Do join me!

See also: Cooking the Books: Sugar Plum Poisoned by Jenn McKinlay