Pepper Frost [Frost - A Sleuth Is Born

I n scruffy slippers and a threadbare nightie nearly as old as she was, Bea Sickles stared through the sunlit picture windows of her cozy suite. The view outside Betty Snickerdoodles Christmas Inn & Ranchthe inn she owned and now called homewas undeniably breathtaking.

Thanks to late-fall rains, Napa Valley was blanketed in bright emerald green. Cheerful Christmas decorations had been lovingly tacked to practically every nearby structure. Wisps of fog floated above the miles of picturesque, rolling vineyards that surrounded the Inns grounds, and snow caps dotted the mountains that bordered the valley.

What a precious wine country Christmas scene, thought Bea. Just sprinkle in a few magical falling snowflakes and you can crank my crabby right up to 11! She reached above her messy helmet of thin gray hair and snapped the drapes shut with a force that belied her age and tiny size.

Her current mood aside, Bea had no gripe with Christmas. How could she? Christmas had been very, very good to her. Over more than 20 years, shed written dozens of bestselling Christmas romance novels under her Betty Snickerdoodle pen name. Her sweet holiday stories had made her a wealthy woman. Not bad for a second career, especially one started at an age when most people are longing to retire.

In fact, the wild success of those books enabled her to buy the Inn andwith the help of her brilliant young business partner, Angela Garciapursue her vision of a Christmas-themed destination for Bettys fans.

But despite her gift for writing about them, Bea was not much like her Christmas-spirit-filled characters. She relied on her prolific imagination to build the world of Treacle Town and invent all the little dramas its inhabitants experienced. Her creativity and flair for sweet tales of love and the holidays had never once failed heruntil now.

My muse is on snooze! Bea whined aloud. She was experiencing her first bout of writers block, and the timing couldnt have been worse.

The inaugural BettyCon conference, planned to coincide with the Inns grand opening, was just a few weeks away. More than 100 Betty Snickerdoodle superfans would flock to the Inn to celebrate their love of Betty Snickerdoodle and Treacle Town. To help make the occasion even more special, Bea had told Angela shed write a brand-new Betty story. The ardent fans at BettyCon would be thrilled to be the first to read it.

Shed assumed that dreaming up a new tale would be a piece of cakejust like always. Who knew a blank page could be an instrument of torture?

Inspiration should have been easy to find. Every decoration in her suite, like all the rooms in the Inn, was drawn from Bettys worldfrom the murals inspired by vintage wrapping paper, to the red-ribboned wreath above the suites fireplace, to the gingerbread candles that gave the bathroom its glorious scent of spiced molasses.

Bea was practically soaking in the spirit of Christmas. Still, the ideas just werent coming.

Bea sighed and shuffled back to her computer to try again. But her gaze was drawn away from the screen to the perfect little Christmas tree on the back corner of her desk. Someone had placed it there so thoughtfully. Someone had decorated it with such care! She stretched her crooked fingers toward the jingle-bell ornament dangling from one of the branchesan exquisitely scaled-down bauble that tinkled sweetly as the desk movedthen she flicked it, sending it sailing into the air. It crashed onto the hardwood with a defiantly cheerful jingle. Somehow, it didnt even break.

Be quiet, would ya? Im trying to think.

It was rare for anything to upend Beas steely self-confidence, but negativity had somehow taken the reins of her imagination. What if my Betty-writing days are behind me? she wondered morosely, until the sound of a bell interrupted her budding pity party. She looked down at the silent, motionless ornament on the floor with scornthen let out a hearty cackle when she realized the sound had come from her laptop.

A message on the screen said, Betty Snickerdoodle has seventeen new book reviews.

Hmm. Didnt Angela always say fans have great ideas for Treacle Town? Lets see what Bettys loyal supporters have to say!

Bea clicked on the sales page for Treacle Town Christmas, Bettys newest release. She and Angela had decided to offer it for free, as a gift to fans.

What on earth? The page was filled with new reviews all rightterrible ones. Every one of them emblazoned with a symbol Bea had never even seen before: the dreaded one-star rating.

I think this might be fake literature. What ever that is. Loser literature. Just dont, read one.

Said another: I dont like Betty and I dont like Christmas. There r already 2 many books about that stupid holiday!!

The book is bad. Dumb people falling in love at Christmas and getting a second chance. Yes, I know thats all it claims to be. It should be more exciting. Betty is a loser.

No book deserves so many five stars. Im giving it one. Who died and made Betty Snickerdoodle the Queen of Christmas? Dont give Betty any more money. Yes I know its free. So what. Dont be a loser.

I wish I could give it zero stars. I think it should be banned. Its terrible. And its way too short!!

That last one burned Bea up the most.

She interlocked her fingers and stretched her arms in front of her. After pantomiming a few flamboyant piano strokes to warm up her creaky joints, Bea clicked the author reply link.

Bea reread her work, pleased. But as she was about to click post, a pesky memory popped into her head.

Bea, she heard Angela saying, If we get a negative review, promise me you wont reply. Its OK to say thank you for positive ones. But we dont engage with negative ones.

If you say so, Bea recalled responding, not thinking much about it. Bea didnt care much, or know much, about social media. Plus, the stakes were low. Betty Snickerdoodle had never received anything but glowing reviews.

But Angie, Im curious. Why cant we reply?

Its a well-known best practice in social media marketing, Angela had declared. You cant win if you engage with haters.

Being told she couldnt win or couldnt do something because of some rule summoned Beas resistance faster than a can opener calls a cat. But shed put Angela in charge of such matters, and shed promised she wouldnt reply. So she wouldnt. She didnt have to be happy about it, though.