Dinner and a book is supported by the Rex and Alice A. Martin Foundation of Elkhart, celebrating the spirit of Alice Martin and her love of good food and good friends.

Three generations of women all living a different lifestyle and searching for clues to solve two murders on a slew not far from Carol, California.

Let's meet my guests, Ashley Martin, president and chief operating officer of NIBCO.

Welcome.

Thank you for having me, Gail thank you for saying yes.

We love to have you on dinner and a book.

well, it's such a great experience.

It is fun.

It really is.

And today we're going to be making some special foods.

Tell us tell the audience what we're going to be making.

Yeah.

So right now I'm going to be making some salsa, which hopefully we can put on later for our shrimp tacos that we're going to have.

Yes.

In the book.

One of the characters and friends they meet and they usually have tacos if they meet on the waterfront or in a restaurant.

They have tacos.

They have a mexican beer.

So we're having some Mexican beer and tacos will have a little salad, little sorbet, and that will be our lunch.

So in any case, let's talk about these three women who are main to this book.

We have Deanna, the grandmother.

We have Beth, her daughter.

And we have two grand dad.

Yes, Jack.

Her name is really Jacqueline.

Jacqueline.

And she goes by Jack.

What are they like?

They're so different.

Well, Lana is a hard businesswoman, right?

Yes.

And she's very professional and polished all the time and kind of has this hard exterior.

And Beth is a little different, right?

She she's a nurse and she takes care of people and is very nurturer thing.

That's good word.

Yes.

And Jack is a teenager, right?

So she's still figuring herself out and how these women all fit together.

This family.

But it is very typical of certain families for generations to talk and get along and or don't get along.

And Beth is sort of always a little bit annoyed with her mother.

Her mother loves to do what in Beth's house?

Well, she thinks she's upgrading things, making things nicer, buying a new couch and maybe some new wallpaper and things that she just things are a little nicer.

And Beth, you know, doesn't agree She has her own taste and style and so when they're living together, they have to come to some kind of compromise together.

And the compromise is, okay, mom, all right, do what you want to my house.

Now, why does her mother move in with her?

Unfortunately, at the beginning of the book starts off with Lana being diagnosed with cancer.

And so she needs to live with her daughter to help with the care and the chemo.

And so that's how it starts out.

So it's a little on a sad note.

Yes.

But then Lana, you know, obviously is not able to work during this time.

So she finds a new hobby, right?

Yes, new hobby.

She she wants well, you know, and she I can understand this.

She's probably in her late fifties and she wants to be relevant.

And she is a really high powered realtor and she does great work and she usually wins everything.

She goes after.

So here she is with her daughter and her granddaughter.

And they're not exactly, you know, part of the board and taking, you know, messages of this sort of thing.

And so there's pushback.

But Lana, she just perseveres and she does what she wants and she has this treatment and she gets better.

But at the same time, things keep getting worse story wise.

I think what I'm going to start doing is making a salad.

So a mexican salad with lettuce and carrots and cheese and some limes, radishes, you know, the colorful salad you see in many Mexican restaurants, in other restaurants as well.

So I'm going to start this sounds delicious.

And I'm going to start on my salsa limes and avocado going both, but I'm also going to add some beans and corn and tomatoes so that there's different textures in the salsa as well.

We need texture.

We need color.

We need texture.

Yes.

And so Lana moves in and she is very ill. She has tumors on her brain.

Yes.

And and she gets to the point where she gets she's really unhappy that she doesn't have somebody to command or an office to come in and she's not in charge anymore.

Right.

That's that's a problem.

That's hard for her because she does it so well.

And she even tells the doctor, I know you're going to tell me what's happening this week.

She says, but just give me don't get into the details.

Just give me an overview of what's going on.

And she wants it done quickly so that she can get on with what she's doing, which is she wants to go back to her life.

She does.

And I have to say, I got a big kick out of her.

She she is a size two and she wears all these famous designers.

She has Chanel suits.

yeah.

And and stilettos, which she uses at one point as a weapon.

Yeah, she.

And she doesn't, she doesn't hold back.

I mean, she really does what she wants to do.

She has to break out of a building when it's on fire.

And she's just determined.

She had been she.

Her husband had left her.

Yes.

And so she knew she had to take care of her self and her daughters.

So she just just broke out of the mold.

And and she became very successful.

She here's the thing that she eats.

I just want to tell you this.

I mean, if you really want to maintain the size to this is what it takes.

She had yogurt for breakfast.

I don't think she ever had lunch unless she was going out with Paul or somebody else or Diane.

Yeah.

And then in the evening, she would have a salad for dinner, and her dessert was a glass of chardonnay.

And we're having a glass of chardonnay before we have our lunch.

Just always good to have a little wine when you're cooking, right?

Yes.

Yes.

It's the best time.

Absolutely.

Cheers.

Cheers.

So you've got this the set up here and there is there are two murders that take place on the slew.

Well, you don't know the first one right away.

No, you don't.

Atlanta hasn't binoculars, and she hears some people something ruffling around out in the slew in the nighttime.

And we don't know who that was.

When it comes down to it.

Was it Paul or was it someone else that was Ricardo.

Right.

But they don't find that out for a while.

See?

And I didn't even find it out.

There are so many characters.

There's this.

There's the primary cast, and then you have a secondary cast and it's sort of like, let's see, who is the second group?

That's so important.

Well, it's the daughters and it's Harold's family, right?

Yes.

They become a key part of this book.

Hal Rhodes and his daughter, Diana, and his son Martin, and they own land and they want to develop they want to develop a sort of, what do you call it there, a protection.

They well, they haven't quite discussed what's going to be the ultimate development.

Right.

Right.

So they have the ranch that the father Hal, owned and unfortunate until he passes away in the book.

And so they're kind of fighting over what to do with this this land and so Lana, when she's, you know, working on who murdered Ricardo, she decides it's all about this land.

And that's why he was murdered, to try to take over this piece of property.

And the kids want it for different reasons.

And the land trust wants it.

So it could be kind of a nature preserve.

So there's many people involved who could want this piece of land in the family.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And they're really kind of squabbling about it, actually.

Diane wants it for a sort of horse sanctuary.

Yes.

And she wants to have thermal baths for two horses.

And of course, her brother is in Silicon Valley and he needs money.

He needs cash to keep developing his products.

So he wants to sell.

He wants to sell.

And so we've got that.

Is it as the main movement here with these characters coming in for primary characters like the family and then the secondary characters.

There's one villain named Paul that runs a kayak shop where the granddaughter works and a lot of gang activity takes place there, too.

Well, they find Ricardo in a kayak shack life jacket, so they immediately think he got lost on a kayak to where the jack was running.

So she's in suspect in the beginning.

And so obviously the mom and the grandmother don't like their daughter and granddaughter being accused of murder.

So that's why they get involved.

Right.

And Lana, the grandmother, she is mad about that.

She's yeah, she's going to be sure that they're they're wrong and that they should stay out of it and they don't know what's going on.

So she steps in, but she and she's intrepid.

I mean, she does some good things, but sometimes she doesn't know to stay back.

And in any case, we just have a minute or so here.

How are you doing on your good.

Yeah.

Issue?

Yeah, I have this avocado.

You know what?

But that's.

That's nice.

I takes a while to get the peel off.

I always find it does.

It's a little difficult.

And I was struggling to get the pit out of mine, but it just means they're fresh, right?

They're fresh.

That's what it means.

Doesn't mean the knife is not sharp.

Right.

So anyway, we've met these characters.

We kind of know what the action is, but nobody knows who has killed two primary people, Halle Rhodes, who does own the land and no, no.

Cruz.

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

And he's been accused of having an affair with Diane and and all this sort of thing.

And and it goes back and forth.

There's so many people that to pay attention to.

There are a lot of characters.

Yes.

We're going to set up for the next segment.

We're going to go to the stove and we're going to watch Ashley Cook.

So stay with us.

And in the meantime, take a look at our menu for today.

And we're back in Ashley's kitchen.

And you are busy with your shrimp here.

Tell us what you're making.

Yeah, well, we're going to have the shrimp for the shrimp tacos, right?

Good for.

Yep.

Frying them up.

Just adding some light seasoning because we have the great salsa that we're making are ready to put on top of it.

So just getting them nice and pink over here.

they look good.

Yeah.

You really do.

A little salt and a little pepper, a little olive oil.

Just simple, simple seasoning.

But it all tastes good, right?

Right.

And this is going to lead to a wonderful taco.

So stay there and keep with keep with us, because it's going to be delicious.

And, you know, we've talked about what goes on in this story between these people and the generations.

And I just have my favorite.

I can't I just can't keep.

Who's your favorite?

yeah.

I have to say it again.

It's our dear friend Lana.

She is just hilarious.

And I think it's another topic here is this age, is this you know, she really wants to she doesn't want to be a sideline, but she doesn't know.

And she's the main character of this story.

She got her own story.

And yeah, but she really took upon herself to figure out who who committed these murders.

And she wanted a purpose, even though she was fighting cancer.

Yes.

And it kept her going.

Yeah.

I really think that's another thing to do when you have something that is so, you know, serious.

And she she really brought the generations together.

And as the book moves on, we see that they really can they can get along.

And so I just think that it took a while, though, didn't it, for them to come together.

It did.

You know, we had to get over some some past hurts.

But I think once they opened up, they realized they did all love each other, but they showed it maybe in different ways, in different ways.

And some families just have that and they can't seem to move into the this is really funny, let's laugh about it.

But I think that started to happen toward the end of the book.

It did, because Lana ultimately wants to stay, then with her, her daughter and her grandma.

When she finds out that, you know, she her cancer kind of steadied.

Now she thinks we should go back and get back, do real estate.

And then all of a sudden she realizes, I love being here with my daught you know, life changes depending on where you are and what your expectations are.

And everybody has a different set of expectations depending on your your age.

And so those are perfect.

Yeah, I think they're looking good.

I think we're done with cooking the shrimp and we're ready to make the tacos.

Let's make the tacos.

Yeah, we're going to assemble the shrimp tacos.

And the shrimp turned out beautifully.

Okay, that's good.

Color.

All that juice, everything.

Yeah.

You know, those would be good on pasta, too.

they were garlic and parsley.

Ooh, Yeah, This looks gorgeous.

Yes, this is what it's all about.

I'm in this show doing things, making things.

And, you know, we talk about what's going to happen at the SLU.

I love that word SLU.

I know.

I hadn't heard of that word before either, but you described it very well.

I think we have some schools in this area should make a study, so see what we're going to have at our salsa on here.

The homemade black bean and avocado salsa.

Ashley got to give some spice and kick to it, right?

You bet.

Kind of make it taste good.

And look at this.

We're going to put some extra extras on and yeah, I'm going to add some lettuce just for some nice crunch in there.

You've made enough for almost five.

I tend to make food.

Yeah, I know.

Because this you can stretch, can't you, If you have to or you're going to have four, you just add a little more shrimp and you put in a little cheese on ESPN.

Look, it's gorgeous.

Yeah.

What about you've got the beans in there already?

Yep.

That was our with our salsa, the beans and avocado and the corn.

And when we did the first thing.

Isn't that cool?

Yeah, that's really nice.

And so I have kind of put the salad together and we have a dessert that is kind of sweet, nice and easy.

I love mango sorbet, so we're just going to put a couple scoops of mango sorbet and and then I'll put a little Mexican cookie on this, and it sounds great.

I'm a sweets person, So a little cookie?

Yes, that's it.

So we have a full meal here.

We have our wine, we have our beer, and we have party people talking about party people.

What about the the other family members with how the the owner of all the land who dies in the hospital?

He's got a son.

MARTIN, who seems to in the beginning to be kind of a nice guy.

Yeah and you kind of think, maybe like Beth and Martin might date and have a romance.

You think that's where it's headed?

But Beth actually works at the hospital that, unfortunately, Hal had to enter and ultimately passes away there.

And that's the original connection between Beth and Lena and the Rhodes family is that she was his nurse and really got to like and admire him as she got to know him in the hospital.

Well, you know, all these people have known each other for years.

I mean, then they drop in pictures of of Martin when he was a little boy, and then there's another woman and then you're going, well, let's see, who does that belong?

You know, So it keeps your interest all the way through, doesn't it?

It does.

It does.

Because then, you know, we're trying to figure out how Ricardo Cruz is related to the Rhodes family.

Right.

And so that kind of comes out midway through that.

Unfortunately, his his father and the Rhodes Children's mother died in a in a fire in a barn fire on their property.

And the dad was working for the Rhodes family at that time.

And they said the only good thing that came out of the fire was that Ricardo then was born after it, right?

Yes.

Yes.

Yeah.

And so it's a it's a connection, but it's that tough loss connection.

It really is.

And that was the section I had to read several times because I was trying to think now, now I have it straight.

And the next day I think, you know, what was it about what happened to Ricardo?

But there are a lot of characters, and I think that makes it fun.

Yeah.

And and just like this food, there's just so many characters in this food and it's all intertwined, right?

Yeah.

And I have to figure it out and figure out how everyone's related and what's going on.

But it doesn't.

It keeps your interest.

Like you said, it does.

It really does.

So I want to talk a little bit later, but we're going to put this all together and we're going to invite you to wonderful table.

We're going to present our dinner, so we want you to join us.

So just come along.

And here we are.

We have our dinner ready.

You're invited to come.

And we want to remind you, we've been talking about mother daughter murder tonight by Nina Simon.

I was calling her Samoan and I thought, No, that can't be right.

But we've got our we have our move.

We have our food for our special dinner.

Let's talk about what we mean.

Why don't you start with your shrimp taco?

Yeah.

So we started making the salsa with corn and beans and avocado.

Then we fried up some shrimp and added lettuce and cheese on there for lots of flavors in our tacos, lots of flavor.

And then we have a sort of Mexican salad here with some limes, sliced radish, you see, sliced radish.

And I could have added some sliced olives, dark olives, but a little cheese, a little bit of the carrots and spring onions.

So we have a colorful table, colorful food.

And I think colorful food is fun to eat.

yes.

And we have our modelo beer that is mentioned in the story when Lanna goes out to eat with this funny man named Paul who owns the kayak shack.

Yes, he's always looking for his kayaks.

And where are they?

And they're hanging here.

And he lets people, by borrow them.

And the the safety jackets as well.

And so he pops up and he is a real character.

I, I really didn't know the purpose of Paul.

I yeah.

I think he was just kind of a goofy guy and you know, a little more laid back and relaxed character.

But I think at one point we were supposed to think, maybe he, you know, had some hand in and foul play in this book.

And turns out, no, that was not not him, but just this loosey goosey guy.

I guess it's in the story and so I found him funny.

And that lunch that he has with Lana, you know, Lana with the stilettos and the and the so polished and perfect looking chiseled, I mean.

Yes.

And he's a little sloppy and they're having lunch and she's trying to figure out what he is and he's kind of looking at her.

You think she's kind of great, But they're they're just like they're on opposite ends.

And it was kind of a funny scene.

I love scenes like that that are that just don't work.

Well, how about another little bit of wine?

Lana's dessert.

Dessert?

Yes.

Start with dessert first.

Right.

Let's have it.

Yes.

So, you know, I think it was a signed book.

And I the only problem I had sometimes there were so much going on.

It was a lot to keep track of.

Yes.

But it kept you engaged, right?

You were.

Cheers.

Cheers.

And thank you for suggesting this.

thank you.

And the food is.

It just looks great.

Tasty.

And I just want to say that I like I said, I enjoyed the book.

I thought parts of it were hilarious.

And I thought, are other people laughing at this?

Like, I'm this Lana.

She don't ever give up on these classy ladies that work hard and know how to get things done.

And she was just wonderful.

But and then finally she and her daughters did, and our daughter and granddaughter did get along and they had a good time.

And I think they realized we have a family unit here.

Yes, I agree.

And and I hope they were going to make fun have fun with this whole thing.

Like we've had fun today.

And, Ashley, I want to thank you for inviting us to your home.

well, thank you for joining me.

It's been a wonderful experience.

Yes.

So thank you.

And here's to you.

Come back and see us again.

Good food, good friends, good books make for a divine life.

We'll see you next time.

This WNIT Local production has been made possible in part by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Dinner and a book is supported by the Rex and Alice A. Martin Foundation of Elkhart, celebrating the spirit of Alice Martin and her love of good food and good friends.