Spotlight Guest Post: Death by Devil's Breath by Kylie Logan

Note from Melissa: I'd like to take a moment to thank Berkley Prime Crime for using a quote from my review of the first book in this series, Chili Con Carnage, on the cover...my very first cover quote! Since it was written before I added Meows to my blog name it reflects my old name of Mochas, Mysteries and More, but it is still an incredible honor.

There’s no month steamier than August, no town hotter than Las Vegas and nothing on the planet as spicy as Devi’s Breath chili!

It’s the perfect combination, especially since the second book in my Chili Cook-Off mystery series, "Death by Devil’s Breath," will hit store shelves on August 5.

Once again, Maxie Pierce and the band of pepper purveyors, bean sellers, chili aficionados and hot sauce honchos who make up the Chili Showdown are on the road, and after the trouble they got into in Taos ("Chili Con Carnage"), they’re hoping for a little R&R in Sin City. Knowing that over-the-top is never over-the-top enough in Vegas, the Showdown has scheduled it’s hotly (pun intended!) awaited Devil’s Breath chili contest for the first morning of the show. The regional winners are set with bowls of the spiciest of the spicy, and the contest is going to be judged by local celebrity performers.

It’s perfect. Or at least it would be if comedian Dicky Dunkin didn’t fall over dead in his bowl of Devil’s Breath.

With another murder on her hands and a mysterious person from her past plaguing her, Maxie doesn’t waste any time jumping into the case and she encounters a host of suspects including Dickie’s fellow performers:

There’s Hermosa (one name, like Cher, but without the looks or the talent) who says she was in love with Dickie, and fails to mention that lately, there’s been serious trouble in Paradise.

And jazzman Yancy Harris who has his own secrets to keep, secrets Dickie threatened to expose.

Then there’s lousy magician, The Great Osborn, who’s trying to compete for Hermosa’s affections and even Linda Love, owner of the largest wedding chapel in Vegas.

If all that wasn’t enough to get Maxie into big time trouble, somebody’s sabotaging the Chili Chick costume she wears to dance out from of the Hot-Cha Chili Seasoning Palace and entice buyers inside.

Hot? Oh yeah, Vegas is plenty hot. And Maxie is about to find out that Devil’s Breath chili is just the tip of one peppery iceberg!

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Buy Death by Devil's Breath here

About the book: Cold-blooded murder can be hot as hell…

In Las Vegas, the stakes are high—and so is the Scoville scale. Maxie Pierce and the Chili Showdown are in town for a very heated contest devoted to judging the legendary and notorious-for-being-self-combustible Devil’s Breath chili. The guest judges are casino performers with a taste for chili and an eye for publicity.

Maxie is already going mad organizing the event, dealing with her snide half sister, Sylvia, and trying to figure out her hothead of security, Nick. But when a local hack comedian drops dead in the middle of the Showdown, it isn’t the spicy dish—it’s poison. And Maxie is going to have to shuffle through a full deck of suspects to pick out the culprit.