“I am the star of screaming headlines and campfire ghost stories.
I am one of the four Black-Eyed Susans.
The lucky one”
Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin is the story of Tessa Cartwright. As a teenager, she was abducted and left for dead in a field of Black-Eyed Susan flowers along with other dead and dying girls. They become collectively known as the Black-Eyed Susans. Tessa is the only survivor.
Now, in her thirties, the man accused of the crime, the man whom Tessa’s testimony helped put away is facing death row. And Tessa is having doubts about his guilt. And if he’s innocent, then the real killer is still out there….
I came to this book in two ways.
It was one of the selections we had for our Crime /Thriller month in bookclub along with Maestra (the one we chose), The Method (which I am currently reading) and The Ex (which I just bought as I noticed it was super cheap as I was getting the link).
Then, the very next day after we had made our choice, Heather who writes the blog Meta’s Meals wrote a very positive review of Black-Eyed Susans on Goodreads and I promptly decided that it was going to the top of my reading list!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Black Eyed Susan’s. It was very suspenseful and the plot was original which is a really hard thing to do in crime fiction. I only hope Maestra which is our book club choice is half as good. Mind you, last year we chose Girl on The Train which…urrggghhhh…I cannot even tell you how much I hated that book.
But this one’s good. And it has a gorgeous cover!
Whilst reading The Black-Eyed Susans, I discovered that there is a cocktail called the Black-Eyed Susan. It is the official drink of the Preakness Stakes Horse race which is run in Baltimore each year as the winning horse is draped in a blanket made of these flowers.
This was delicious. I love pineapple juice and St Germain in cocktails so there was no way I wasn’t going to like this. The lime juice gave it a nice little kick of tanginess too!
The Black-Eyed Susan also got the thumbs up from resident bon vivant F Scott.
Oh, and before anyone complains, I know the flowers I have used in my photos are not Black-Eyed Susans. I am not even sure if they grow here, or, if they did when they would flower. Anyhoo, the gerberas were the closest (only) thing my local florist had that came close!
Here’s the recipe. Why not make one and have a sip whilst reading the book!
PrintBlack Eyed Susan
A delicious refreshing pineapple and citrus cocktail with a hint of Elderflower.
Ingredients
- 45ml Vodka (The Preakness recommend Finlandia)
- 15ml St Germain
- 60ml pineapple juice
- 7.5 ml lime juice
- 22.5ml orange juice
To Garnish
- Orange Slice
- Amarena cherry
Instructions
- Combine all the drink ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker.
- Shake, baby, shake.
- Pour over ice into a Collins glass
- Garnish with an orange slice and an Amarena cherry
Notes
- I used Amarena cherries for this because their darker colour looked more like a black eye than a Maraschino.
Thank you Heather for the recommendation. If anyone else would like super book recommendations from Heather, why not follow her, or me on Goodreads!
Have a wonderful Easter!
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