Local Author Pens Thrilling Mystery Novel

by Niall Fitzgerald

"When the prize package for a cook-off comes with a dead body, it’s up to Sherry Oliveri to figure out who cooked the victim’s goose," states the dust jacket for "A Half-Baked Alibi" - a mystery novel hot off the presses and on bookshelves - and written by Locust Valley and Glen Cove native Devon Delaney.

"I was born at Glen Cove hospital, lived on Chicken Valley Road in Glen Head for 25 years and my parents never left the town," stated Delaney, adding that he "attended Green Vale School from K-8th grade."

Delaney now lives in Connecticut, but has never forgotten his childhood and strong ties to Locust Valley.

The novel is about a cook-off contestant Sherry Oliveri, who has agreed to offer her wisdom and moral support to a friend who is entering the Kitchen Royalty Cook-Off.

She knows the key is to plan ahead for anything that could go wrong, but nothing prepared Sherry for discovering the event sponsor’s dead body hidden behind one of the appliances—or having her friend singled out as the most likely suspect. Determined to get her friend out of hot water, Sherry sets her sights on the victim’s disgruntled wife and a vindictive rival sponsor. But her friend’s shaky alibi and the revelation that she may have been nursing an old grudge against the victim leave Sherry in a stew. Desperate to figure out who framed her friend, Sherry will have to sift through the clues and grill the suspects to bring a killer to justice.

Delaney's mystery novel is available in local bookstores and on-line.