Culinary Fiction

It's Wine and Chocolate Days in San Benedetto, and paranormal museum owner Maddie Kosloski has sweet dreams about her new Magic of Chocolate exhibit. Her latest attraction is a haunted Mexican whisk called a molinillo that rattles if someone lies. When Maddie visits the town's new boutique chocolate shop, she finds one of the owners dead and covered in melted cocoa.

When the organizing committee for her upcoming high school reunion needs a caterer, Halia agrees to help out. Soon she's serving up her signature macaroni and cheese and famous chicken wings to a host of appreciative ex-classmates. Some folks have blossomed since graduation. Others, like manipulative Raynell Rollins, currently married to a former football star, haven't changed nearly enough. When Raynell is found dead the morning after the reunion, the role call of possible suspects could fill the school gymnasium. Extramarital affairs, mega-church scandals and sports secrets...

When a retired detective superintendent chooses to take a culinary tour of the British Isles, he hopes to find tasty treats and delicious bakes...what he finds is murder, mayhem, and mystery everywhere he goes. His dog, Rex Harrison, a former police dog fired for having a bad attitude, does his best to steer the humans in the right direction, but he cannot understand why they don’t just use their noses–the answers are right there if they would just employ their strongest sense!

Booklover Sadie Coleman knows that in life, as in fiction, the right setting can make a world of difference. The small town of Shady Creek, Vermont, seems like the perfect place to start over after losing her Boston job to a merger and her relationship to her ex's gambling addiction. She's bought and redecorated the old grist mill pub, transforming the Inkwell into a cozy spot where tourists and regulars alike can enjoy a pint or a literary-themed cocktail, or join one of several book clubs.

England, 1835. London is awash with thrilling new ingredients, from rare spices to exotic fruits. But no one knows how to use them. When Eliza Acton is told by her publisher to write a cookery book instead of the poetry she loves, she refuses - until her bankrupt father is forced to flee the country. As a woman, Eliza has few options. Although she’s never set foot in a kitchen, she begins collecting recipes and teaching herself to cook. Much to her surprise, she discovers a talent - and a passion - for the culinary arts.

When Hope's elderly neighbor perishes in a home fire, she can't help but feel somewhat responsible. Only the day before, Peggy Olson had called her over, having burned a pot on the stove while she was sleeping and filling the house with smoke. In fact, she couldn't even remember cooking. Clearly, it was dangerous for the woman to live alone. But it turns out she wasn't alone. When a second body is discovered in the basement of the burned house, suddenly what appeared to be a tragic accident is beginning to look like premeditated murder.

As summer draws to a close, the Spirit, Health, and Heart Conference arrives, just in time for Winifred's sisters to open their store next to the Cozy Corgi Bookshop. To Fred's surprise, chakras turns out to be a beautiful addition to the delightful mountain town. But not everyone is charmed by the crystals, tarot readings, and messages of personal enlightenment. When a famous spiritualist is found dead, Chakras and the entire town are plunged into a conflict that touches the lives of those closest to Fred.

Estes Park bustles with tourists and locals for its Halloween celebration, and Winifred Page and her corgi sidekick, Watson, are enjoying their favorite pastries as they greet trick-or-treaters outside the Cozy Corgi Bookstore and Bakery. But a chilling after-hours break-in at the charming bookshop leaves Fred and Watson shaken, especially with its connection to a recent poaching incident in the national park. By daybreak, on a cool morning walk through town, Fred discovers the body of one of the poachers....

It's been years since Bernie and Libby's parents became estranged from Ada Sinclair's side of the family - though the reasons for the rift are lost to history. The sisters, however, are intrigued when Ada makes contact. She tells them about the long-ago deaths of her father and his business partner, which happened within hours of each other - and were both ruled accidental.

Angie Turner's restaurant, The County Seat, is conveniently located near a first-class farmers market - so her menu is full of fresh ingredients. But a visiting culinary professor has just had a taste of something very unhealthy.... Angie first meets Daniel Monet at a local mission, where she and her chef-in-training, Hope, are serving barbecued chicken poutine to the homeless. Monet is one of Hope's teachers - but Angie's boyfriend knows him from his youthful days in England. But soon, the bon vivant is no longer vivant.

Richard is a middle-aged Englishman who runs a B&B in the Vallée de Follet. Nothing ever happens to Richard, and really, that’s the way he likes it. Until scandal erupts in the nearby town of Saint-Sauver when its famous restaurant is downgraded from three Michelin stars to two. The restaurant is shamed, the town is in shock, and the leading goat cheese supplier drowns himself in one of his own pasteurization tanks. Or does he? Valérie d’Orçay, who staying at the B&B while house-hunting in the area, isn’t convinced that it’s a suicide.

Courtney Archer is known for hosting the show Cooking with the Farmer's Daughter...despite the fact that she's actually a pediatrician's daughter. Now she's signed on for a role on The American Baking Battle. On this reality show, she can start developing a more authentic image for herself - and as a bonus, the usual backstabbing and manufactured drama isn't part of the Baking Battle script. But genuine drama is heating up behind the scenes....

National best-selling author Elaine Viets says the Gourmet Girl mysteries have "all the right ingredients!" Chloe Carter's boyfriend, Josh Driscoll, is prepping for the opening of Simmer, Boston's hottest new restaurant. But at a fund-raiser featuring samples of Josh's cuisine, a trendy club owner is found bludgeoned to death - by Josh's state-of-the-art, professional-grade food processor, the ominously-named Robocoupe. By opening night at Simmer, the list of suspects is almost longer than the line to get in. And Chloe is struggling to solve the crime before the final course is served.

It's a rockin' New Year for Angie and her crew as they cater a bash for a famous band-and as a bonus, they'll get to stay at the singer's Sun Valley house for a whole week once the party's over. But there are hints of discord, and the event hits a sour note when one of the musicians is found with a drumstick in his chest. Is this a case of creative differences turned lethal or is there another motive at play? Angie's jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire as she and her fellow foodies try to solve the case before the killer comes out for an encore.

Havana, Cuba, 2003: Matt, a San Diego journalist, arrives in Havana to marry his girlfriend, Yarmila, a 24-year-old Cuban woman whom he first met through her food blog. But Yarmi isn't there to meet him at the airport, and when he hitches a ride to her apartment, he finds her lying dead in the bathtub. Lovelorn Matt is immediately embroiled in a Cuban adventure he didn't bargain for: the police and secret service have him down as their main suspect.

A shadowy master criminal has been kidnapping experts from the food industry and stealing both food and equipment. The crimes are so unrelated no one in the world had noticed the connections. No one except Albert Smith, that is. He’s got almost nothing to go on, but with every place he visits, he gets just a little closer to the truth. He’s not working alone though, his faithful sidekick, Rex Harrison the former police dog is right there with him. Can the two of them pull off the impossible and find the man Albert chose to dub ‘the Gastrothief’?

I've sworn off men. All men. Famous last words, right? You're expecting some epic tale of reluctant love and my dramatic change of heart? Well, you're not going to get it. I'm stubborn. And headstrong. And I've just survived the worst three years of my life. After escaping an abusive boyfriend to live in hostels and cheap hotels while I worked my way across Europe, I've come to two conclusions. The first? Now that I'm back home, I'm going to squander my expensive culinary degree on a food truck that caters to the late night drunk crowd.

Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant. Run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare, the Kamogawa Diner serves up deliciously extravagant meals. But that's not the main reason customers stop by. The father-daughter duo are 'food detectives'. Through ingenious investigations, they are able to recreate dishes from a person’s treasured memories—dishes that may well hold the keys to their forgotten past and future happiness. The restaurant of lost recipes provides a link to vanished moments, creating a present full of possibility.

Chef Carrie Ann Cole is about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime - an assignment as the new Personal Chef to the Royal Family at Kensington Palace. But no sooner has Carrie Ann touched down across the pond and donned her apron than a dead body crops up beneath the royal kale beds.

Erin Murphy, manager of Glacier Mercantile (a.k.a. the Merc), is tuning up for Jewel Bay's annual Jazz Festival. Between keeping the Merc's shelves stocked with Montana's tastiest local fare and hosting the festival's kick-off concert, Erin has her hands full. Discord erupts when jazz guitarist Gerry Martin plummets to his death from the rocks above the Jewel River. The one-time international sensation had fallen out of sync with festival organizers, students, and performers. Was his death an accident - or did someone even the score?