On Potato Mountain

The people of the Chilcotin, their history, legends and pride, inspire this closely woven and captivating mystery and lead to its surprising conclusion...

A murder in the mountains has Jim Qwilleran and his cats Koko and Yum Yum feeling on edge in this mystery in the bestselling Cat Who series. Qwill’s on top of the world when he rents a house on Big Potato Mountain. The owner, J.J. Hawkinfield, brought real estate development to the once-peaceful Potatoes. But Hawkinfield paid a steep price for his enterprise: He was pushed off a cliff by an angry mountain dweller. Qwilleran, however, suspects the man is innocent—and Koko’s antics have him convinced something’s wrong. He may be making a mountain out of a molehill...but he’s determined to find the truth. Even if it means jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire!

There was nothing ordinary about the 365 days in 1973. The memorable names that were headlined were: Nolan Ryan, Bobby Seale, Ken Norton, Spiro Agnew. The news featured: Wounded Knee, Watergate, Boston Celtics and microwave ovens. Cadillac’s sold for under $8,000, the minimum salary for major league ballplayers was $15,000. The Viet Nam war came to an end and the crime rate was down 3%. President Nixon resigned after accepting responsibility for the Watergate break-in, Hank Aaron was within one home run of breaking Babe Ruth’s record of 713. The Popular novel was “Winds of War,” Paul 1V was the Pope, the oil embargo caused Governor Rockefeller to reduce the speed limit to 50 on the Thruway, and the best picture of the year was, “The Godfather.” The Town of Steuben was nestled quietly in the center of the State of New York and remained calm and peaceful until the New York State Police set up a command post in the town garage, enlisted the help of U-2’s, helicopters and a Military Police Battalion to scour the remote, wooded terrain, looking for bodies. It was unsettling for the locals, usually proud of the community named after Baron Von Steuben, a trained Prussian staff officer, requesting his military expertise to assist our country in the Revolutionary War. Few enjoyed the excitement, others felt violated and invaded. Potato Hill would be forever referred to as “Murder Mountain.” Before the year ended three bodies would be discovered in shallow graves and a neighbor would be arrested for murder. The landscape changed forever. This is a true crime story, concluded by a guilty verdict that followed the longest and most expensive trial in the 200 year history of Oneida County. During the four months of trial, 260 prosecution exhibits, 125 defense exhibits, 69 witnesses for the prosecution, 17 for the defense and 8,000 pages of testimony would be presented. The verdict of 25 years to life would be imposed on Bernard Paul Hatch on April 11, 1975. Including the jury cost, the county spent over one million dollars.

This book is not simply about recipes - it also contains stories, lessons, trivia, and more. Prior to each recipe, a relevant story designed to encourage, inspire, or just entertain is presented. Later in the book, these stories are replaced by Potato Mountain Creative Cooking Tips. These tips are designed to help you broaden your horizons in the kitchen. Following each story or creative cooking tip, you will find brief trivia or information on the mountain after which the potato dish is named. Then you will find basic ingredients, and in most cases you will see two options . a non-frying option and a fry option. This book is not so much about recipes as it is teaching and encouraging you to find and to create harmony in cooking. Most cookbooks give you recipes. The Potato Mountain method is designed to allow you to create recipes by learning to cook outside the box. The Potato Mountain Creative Cooking methods are about learning new ways of thinking and doing. These new ways of thinking and doing will compliment things you already know and do in the kitchen. This book is about becoming aware of the different parts that make a great song - a song you can taste and a song you'll want to sing over and over again. A song that will become a favorite and that can be arranged in many different ways to the enjoyment of all who hear it.