Too Many Cooks — Ed Ifkovic

On the night of his retirement party from a local factory, Felix Calico is found stabbed to death in his driveway. A notorious womanizer for much of his lifetime, he made a host of enemies in the small town of North Farms, just outside New Haven, Connecticut. As Valentine's Day approaches, some suspect that Felix finally got his comeuppance from an old, vengeful flame, especially because certain clues point to the romantic holiday.Anna Farkas, a sixty-five-year-old housewife, disliked the old letch. Part of a small Hungarian-American community that grew up around the factory, nevertheless, she is bothered by the murder. Her great-nephew Mike is a local cop, a man she and her late husband raised after the death of his parents. Slowly, gathering bits of information, unwitting sleuth Anna grapples with the murder. Surrounded by a cast of opinionated characters, including her eccentric two sisters and gossipy neighbors, Anna navigates the strange waters of the town as she and Mike begin to piece together the events that led to the murder.North Farms has hidden stories no one talks about -- pettiness, adultery, corruption, drunkenness, deceit, cruelty, and ultimately murder. An ex-wife and on-again-off-again mistress blame each other, but Anna believes neither is the real murderer. As she cooks daily in her kitchen, Anna reviews the evidence. Then she discovers the motive for murder -- and that awareness shatters her world.