UD retiree pens mysteries and recipes

Combining her love of writing with her travels throughout the world and her background in science, Clella Murray, a UD retiree and benefactor, has been busy the past five years writing three books, with more in the making.

Two contemporary mysteries, which required extensive research, will appear later this spring, while A Bite of Magic, a lighthearted, fun book that includes dessert recipes, has just been published by 1st Books Library.

"A Bite of Magic is about Kate Day, whose homemade desserts possess unforeseen magical properties for changing people's attitudes or solving problems," Murray said. "For years, her husband would not allow her to make recipes from scratch because of the consequences of eating her desserts. Thanks to her magic cooking, he was given a promotion he really didn't want because it cut into his fishing time."

When A Bite of Magic begins, Day is a widow, visiting one of her three daughters, Arden, who narrates the book. Day launches on a cooking campaign that not only changes community organizations, such as the Girl Scouts, the Friends of the Library and the Presbyterian Session, but attracts attention from different men as well.

Murray includes the magic recipes in the book–Shortbread for Presbyterians; Seductive Pineapple Squares, with aphrodisiac powers; and Castor Oil Cookies that Saved the Sewers (it's a good way to get the medicine down, Murray said).

When Day is hospitalized for a minor heart problem, she makes her way down to the kitchen there to teach the staff how to make

HOSPITAL MACAROONS:

2 beaten egg whites

1 cup sugar

2 cups corn flakes

1 cup nuts (optional)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Fold all ingredients into the egg whites. Drop by spoonful onto pan covered with parchment paper. Bake in 275-degree oven until brown. Remove to a plate.

Murray's upcoming mystery books both center on a mythical secret society dating back to the French Revolution. Known as Noire, the society's mission is to solve world problems. The three main characters are Lady Chloe, an older French woman; John Davis, the wealthy owner of a computer company; and Richard Moore, a physics professor.

The first, A Pox on You, which required much research, is about smallpox and germ warfare, involving a search for a smallpox mutant developed in Russia, Murray said.

"When I started writing the book five years ago, smallpox germ warfare seemed a remote possibility, but now we realize it could happen," she said.

The second mystery, The Chinese Treasure, deals with robbing an unopened tomb and treasure trove, guarded by the famed terra cotta warriors of China.

Murray dedicates her books to her husband and their two daughters, Ada, who illustrated A Bite of Magic, and Annette. Murray and her husband, Richard B. Murray, former provost and professor emeritus of physics and astronomy, helped establish an endowed professorship in his name in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. She also wrote and designed computer manuals for several years in UD Information Technologies.

A graduate of Smith College, Murray did graduate work in genetics and embryology at the University of Michigan and worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Currently, she is a freelance writer and has written for Delaware Today and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

For more information about Murray's books, call (888) 280-7715 or visit the publisher's web site [www.1stbooks.com].

SUE MONCURE