Steamed

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    Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
     
    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
     
    PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reactions to the recipes contained in this book.
     
    STEAMED
     
    A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with the authors
     
    PRINTING HISTORY
    Berkley Prime Crime hardcover edition / March 2006
    Berkley Prime Crime mass-market edition / February 2007
     
    Copyright © 2006 by Susan Conant & Jessica Conant-Park.
    Excerpt from Simmer Down copyright © 2007 by Susan Conant & Jessica Conant-Park.
    Cover art by Alana Machnicki.
    Cover design by Rita Frangie.
    Series logo by axb group.
    Interior text design by Kristin del Rosario.
     
    All rights reserved.
    No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
    For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
    375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
     
    ISBN: 978-0-425-21038-3
     
    BERKLEY® PRIME CRIME
    Berkley Prime Crime Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
    375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
    The name BERKLEY PRIME CRIME and the BERKLEY PRIME CRIME design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
     
    PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
     
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    If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
     

 
     
    To my personal chef—and husband—Bill, and the best thing he ever helped to cook up, our son, Nicholas.
    —Jessica
     
     
    To my husband, Carter, and the best thing he ever helped to cook up, our daughter, Jessica.
    —Susan
     

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
     
    For generous help throughout the writing of this book, we are grateful to Alexa Lewis and Lillian Sober-Ain. We also want to thank our agent, Deborah Schneider, and our editor, Natalee Rosenstein, for their enthusiasm and support for our mother-daughter project.
    For their appearances herein, many thanks to everyone at Eagles’ Deli, especially Stein and Robert.
     

ONE
     
    ON Saturday morning I woke up at eight, poured a nasty cup of coffee that had automatically brewed itself at 5:00 a.m. instead of the programmed time of 8:00 a.m., and plopped myself at my kitchen table to do some early morning people watching out the window. I sipped my coffee-sludge and peered down at the street. My hope was to catch sight of some miserable soul ambling home after a night of drinking or to witness a minor car accident followed by entertaining screaming and swearing. The good thing about my neighborhood in Brighton,