Bethany
mystery, romance and recipes
Bethany is the story of Bethany Palmer, a young lady from San Francisco who goes to Chicago to have a week’s vacation and a week at an Annual Publishers’ Expo. The flight was uneventful but when she takes a shuttle from O’Hare Airport to her hotel, the shuttle driver accidentally gives her a briefcase belonging to another shuttle passenger. And so begins the mystery. Bethany is unaware the briefcase she has in her possession is not hers. She uses the briefcase as a weapon when someone enters her hotel room in the dead of night. Hotel security questions the contents as he thinks it doesn’t feel like a laptop. He opens the briefcase as Bethany’s combination doesn’t work. The contents of the briefcase she’s received in error causes hotel security to call the Chicago Police Department.
The police detective assigned to her case brings the romance to the story.
One of Bethany’s dreams is to produce a good cookbook. While in Chicago, she hopes to pick up some good recipes for that effort. The detective takes a personal interest in Bethany and introduces her to several fine restaurants in the John Hancock area of Chicago where she gets promises of a recipe or two. The detective, Ben Abrams, also takes her to the several Chicago landmarks she hoped to visit while on vacation. The landmarks referenced are all real Chicago sights. As much as possible, the details are current at June 2008.
The romance continues after Bethany returns to San Francisco.
A year later, she is ready to return to Chicago when she learns the contents of the briefcase have gone unclaimed and are now hers.
At the end of the story, the reader will find a compilation of several recipes. All have been referenced in the story. The author’s mother was a chef and the majority of the recipes were developed by her. This section of the book fulfills the dream of the main character, and is a tribute to the author’s mother.