Culinary Fiction

Poppy is none too pleased when her B&B is coerced into participating in the Cape May Haunted Dinners Tour during Halloween season. Though her knack for finding dead bodies has given the place a spooky reputation, the Murder House is a completely undeserved nickname. At least it used to be. While Poppy wrangles with some guests who can't stop squabbling with each other—including a paranormal researcher, a very quirky pet psychic who freaks out her portly Persian, and an undercover tabloid reporter eager to catch her staff in a lie—one of them winds up facedown in a plate of tiramisu.

Follow the aroma of shamrock sugar cookies to the Beacon Bakeshop, a lighthouse on the shores of Lake Michigan where amateur sleuth Lindsey Bakewell is busy preparing for Beacon Harbor's St. Patrick's Day festivities—with a little help from her adorable Newfoundland, Wellington, of course!

Fall festivities are underway in Coral Shores, Miami. Cuban-American cooking-show star Miriam Quiñones-Smith wakes up to find a corpse in her front yard. The body by the fake tombstone is the woman that was kicked out of the school's Fall Festival the day before. Miriam's luck does not improve. Her passive-aggressive mother-in-law puts her in charge of the Women's Club annual gala. While making plans at the country club, they hear a volatile argument between the new head chef and the club's manager. Not long after, the chef swan dives to his death at the bottom of the grand staircase.

When a tourist is found dead and a villager is accused of murder, Reeva knows the village has bigger problems than icky ice cream. It’s time for Long and McLaughlin Private Investigators (a.k.a. Reeva and Ruby) to put their sleuthing skills into action and catch the real killer.

Cat cafe owner, Lauren Crenshaw, with Annie, her Norwegian Forest Cat, and Zoe, Lauren's cousin, are catering the anniversary party at the local senior center in Gold Leaf Valley, when the greedy new landlord is killed in a hit and run. Was it an accident-or murder? Lauren, Annie, and Zoe aren't the only ones investigating. Their new friend Martha, a regular at the center, loves writing down tidbits of gossip. Has she inadvertently written down who the murderer is?

Chagrin Falls, Ohio, is gorgeous in the fall, and Bronwyn Crewse, owner of Crewse Creamery, knows just how to welcome the new season. At the annual Harvest Time Festival, residents will get a chance to enjoy hot-air balloons and hayrides, crown a new Harvest Time Festival Queen, and eat delicious frozen treats sold at Win's freshly purchased ice cream truck. But she gets into a sprinkle of trouble when a festivalgoer is poisoned and Win is implicated.

Jules Capshaw has too much on her plate - and she's feeling the pinch: The whole town of Ashland, Oregon, is in on the surprise Elizabethan-themed wedding she's planning for her mom and soon-to-be stepdad. But is her secret scheme half-baked? She's hiding racks overflowing with sweet treats while Torte is topsy-turvy with a major remodel and the return of Jules' estranged husband, Carlos. And until now, Jules had no clue about the bitter family feud that has her friend Lance frazzled and suspicious.

Following a trail of clues to a sleepy seaside village in the southwest corner of England, retired police detective Albert Smith aims to prove his theory of a master criminal by catching the "Gastrothief’s" agents red-handed.

Every baker has their weak spot. For Poppy, it’s bread. So, when The Great British Baking Contest hits bread week, she’s as fragile as an overbaked croissant. Just when she needs to keep all her focus on flour, water, yeast, and salt, another ingredient enters the mix. Death. Someone is not who they appear to be, and secrets from the past are bringing deadly consequences to the present.

On the southeast coast of England, three wines growers have just gone missing and a fourth was found dead at the scene. Could this be the work of the master criminal Albert Smith has been chasing all over the country? You'd better believe it. Rushing back to his home county, Albert hopes to pick up the trail once more. With trusted former police dog, Rex Harrison, at his side, the duo begins to snoop.…

This collection includes books 4-6 of Lucy Burdette's cozy Key West Food Critic Mystery series: Book 4: Murder With Ganache, Book 5: Death With All the Trimmings, and Book 6: Fatal Reservations, featuring sleuthing food critic Hayley Snow.

Ellie Wasserman’s life is neat and tidy, and that’s exactly how she wants it. Really. A top ghostwriter for celebrity cookbooks, she was widowed three years ago and has no interest in taking chances—certainly not on dating. Kieran O’Neill isn’t known for being organized. An up-and-coming chef who scored big on a reality television competition, he’s been the guy who cracks jokes and makes messes. But as Ellie and Kieran are forced to work closely together in a hot kitchen for weeks on end, their sharp edges and harsh judgments slowly soften and sweeten into a wildly delicious attraction.

Jake and Ellie are taking a break from perfecting their chocolate-pizza recipe to cater a housewarming party hosted by Ingrid Merryfield. Miss Merryfield is famous for her old-Hollywood glamour. Her new home, Cliff House, has a reputation too - for being haunted. But she isn’t concerned, and some of her guests even try to summon a spirit during the party. What arrives instead is a freak autumn storm that downs an ancient tree, traps everyone on the property, and leads them to stumble upon a hidden room - where they find film critic Audrey Dalton, apparently frightened to death.

Wegen dem Golfclub ist Niederkaltenkirchen eh schon gespalten wie ein Holzscheit, aber jetzt liegt auch noch der Steckerlfischkönig höchstselbst und mausetot in der clubeigenen Spa-Landschaft. Der Franz ermittelt unter dubiosen Volksfestclans und golfenden Schickimickiarschlöchern, während seine Susi ganz andere Pläne hat: Sie kandidiert als Bürgermeisterin, was beim aktuellen Dorfoberhaupt hochgradig nervöse Zuckungen auslöst.

Este March runs the family-owned Lucky Pie Diner on Split Pine Island in Northern Michigan. The pies at Lucky Pie aren't just good, they're magical, with a family recipe that grants certain customers their greatest hopes and dreams when they eat the pie. The remote island is closed to outsiders over the winter months, but on the last day of the season, the unpopular new produce vendor, Jeff, turns up dead on his boat, and Split Pine Island's peace goes up in smoke.

Yale and Celine Yee’s food stall business is going so well that they’ve been invited to join an exclusive dinner with the local restaurant owners association. The members gather together for a relaxing hot pot feast…until Jeffery Vue, president of the group, receives a literal shock to his system and dies. Everyone at the meal is a suspect, but the authorities are homing in on family friend Ai Ho, owner of the restaurant where Jeffery was killed—and Yale’s dad is a close second on their list.

Belonging to the Midnight Writers group seemed easy to Charlie Prince, show up and share, or critique. Unfortunately, he couldn't be more wrong. He thought 2 years ago they had put the Sunny murders behind them. Yearning for a bestseller, or a pedestrian life with Chantelle he struggled to put his past behind him. In two years he had thought that he had made a lot of progress, until the kidnapping of a model brought him to a crime scene of a kidnapping of a model tied to his day job.

Big business might be ruthless, but Lucie Rizzo learned to take the heat from the best: Her mob boss father. Except instead of cooking the books, she’s mixing up her next moneymaking expansion. But her BFF-turned-partner isn’t sold on the idea. Ro is the creative genius - not to mention the boobs - of their operation, but Lucie has the discerning business palate. And this venture smells like sweet success. All they need is the right investor. French chef Antoine Durand made casseroles sexy again. His closely guarded secret recipe built a billion-dollar empire.

Antonia Bingham, a renowned chef and the new owner of East Hampton's Windmill Inn, escaped to the Hamptons to get away from a harrowing past. Yet she finds herself in more danger than ever when she learns about a curse that haunts the inn - all previous owners have died suspiciously. When she's not cooking sumptuous meals for her guests, Antonia digs into the investigation to uncover who's behind the curse. But the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she gets to being the next victim - will she solve the case in time to save herself?

It is a little before midnight as Charlie Prince arrives at the Midnight writer's group at a little diner. He has no Idea what he is in for as he settles in behind the plate with the rich chocolate cake. Writers groups are typically in danger of bad coffee, long diatribes, and extra calories in the form of dessert. This is what Charlie thought he was in for when he joined the Midnight Writers group.