Ilona Bognar was a beautiful girl who dreamed of a life of fame and fortune. Crowned Miss Connecticut, she headed to Hollywood, but her career went nowhere. Years later, lonely, she moved into a fabulous estate in her old hometown. She'd grown up poor, the daughter of suspect Gypsies, and she wanted to rediscover long abandoned roots. But her return was not a happy one. So many viewed her with suspicion and anger, though others, particularly men, were captivated by her charms. Sixty-six-year-old housewife Anna Farkas had been teaching Ilona old Hungarian recipes the beauty queen fondly recalled from her childhood. At first wary of the glamorous woman, Anna came to like her-to enjoy the spirited cooking lessons. Yet Anna sensed Ilona was a troubled woman with a secret. Then Ilona is murdered. In the small town of North Farms, Connecticut, outside New Haven, Anna lives a quiet life, a woman happy in her kitchen. Part of the small Hungarian-American community that grew up around a factory, she is bothered by her friend's murder. Her great-nephew Mike is a local cop, a man she and her late husband raised after the death of his parents. Slowly, gathering bits of information, unwitting sleuth Anna grapples with the murder. Surrounded by a cast of opinionated characters, including her eccentric sisters and gossipy neighbors, Anna and Mike begin to piece together the events that led to murder.A selection of Anna's Hungarian recipes follows.