Culinary Fiction

The discount travel package to Italy seemed like a great deal: Emily Andrew could lead her globe-trotting Iowans on the trip of a lifetime and bring her family to boot. Maybe she should have read the fine print… Sharing their itinerary with a group of hyper-competitive aspiring romance writers is just a prelude to more Machiavellian drama than an Italian opera. But the real killer is a contest sponsored by a publishing house - and the depths to which the dime-novel divas will plunge to win a book contract.

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.

After solving a murder and getting her organic farm ready to overwinter, Shiloh Bellamy still expects the next few months to be busy with repairs, spring planning, and networking with local businesses. She might even be able to broker a new partnership with Fields Brewery and its organic brewer's association. Well, she could've if the owner wasn't found murdered at the county Ice Fishing Derby. Once again, Shiloh gets tangled up in the investigation when the police ignore an entire crop of suspects to blame one of her friends.

Food and cocktails columnist Hayley Powell doesn't know what to believe when Lydia Partridge, the put-together owner of gourmet Bar Harbor Ice Cream, suddenly reveals fears that her husband may be having an affair. There's no other way to explain why Jamie, a respected professor, was spotted in a remote part of town with a much younger woman. But instead of learning the truth about the secret meeting, Lydia opens her freezer truck to find another surprise—the dead body of a summer employee . . .

The country's hottest TV cooking show is coming to Cape Cod. Lily Roberts is entering America Bakes! with her charming tearoom, Tea by the Sea! Filming is already proving disruptive, closing the tearoom during Lily's busiest season. But tensions really bubble over when infamous bad-boy chef and celebrity judge, Tommy Greene, loses his temper with Lily's staff, resulting in an on-camera blowout with Cheryl Wainwright. Just as Lily thinks the competition can't get more bitter, Tommy is found dead in Tea by the Sea's kitchen . . . murdered with Cheryl's rolling pin.

The first time Daisy Ellery killed a man with a pie, it was an accident. Now, it’s her calling. Daisy bakes sweet vengeance into her pastries, which she and her dog, Zoe, deliver to the men who’ve done dirty deeds to the town’s women. But if she can’t solve the one crime that’s not of her own baking, she’ll be out of the pie pan and into the oven. Parking her mobile bakery van outside the local diner, Daisy is informed that someone’s been prowling around the van. She finds a letter on her door, threatening to reveal her unsavory secret sideline of pie à la murder.

Coffeehouse owner-turned-amateur sleuth Roxy Bloom is serving up all the fall coffees tourists love at the Neewollah Festival, where all the proceeds are going to save the Bee Farm from a major resort development. When Camey Montgomery, owner of the Cocoon Inn - Honey Springs' only inn - is seen fighting with the development owner and then shows up dead in the inn, she's named the number one suspect. Roxy must put her sleuthing kills to work not only to prove Camey didn't kill anyone, but calm all the jittery citizens in Honey Springs by bringing the killer to justice.

As a single mom, Hayley Powell already has a full plate - she's got deadlines to make and a teenage daughter with eyes for an aspiring singer-songwriter. But when country music superstar Wade Springer rolls into town, Hayley spies an irresistible side gig: personal chef to her all-American idol. After he tries her home cooking, Wade's so impressed that he hires her on the spot - and invites her to dine with him alone.

Mahalia's Sweet Tea boasts the most flavorful soul food in all of Prince George's County, Maryland. But as events at the beauty industry's leading trade show turn ugly, owner Halia Watkins needs to bite into an unsavory new item on the menu - murder!

In Silverdale, Washington the survivors of a worldwide apocalypse are preparing for the coming winter storms. But just as they’re stocking away the last of the fall harvest, they make a disturbing discovery - someone has pilfered the food supplies!

Summer is in full bloom, and so is Sammy’s baking with her new experiment of hummingbird cakes. But the quiet town of Sunny Cove is thrown into chaos once again when the clerk at the Gas ‘n’ Guzzle is found dead behind the building. Sammy wants to help, as usual, but the situation is made even more complicated by the fact that her ex-husband has suddenly shown up in town, and he’s the prime suspect!

Emma Laurent has always preferred helping others to asking for help. But now, she’s the one in need. Her stepmother is selling her late father’s candy shop, her grandmother’s assisted-living facility has become a financial burden, and the anniversary of her fiancé’s death is quickly approaching. Rather than face her problems, Emma does what she does best - finds someone else to help by offering a mother and son with nowhere to go somewhere to stay.

Instantly plunged into a mystery that threatens to test their limits, Rex and Albert must stay one step ahead of the killer. However, it seems that everyone around them had a motive for wanting the TV chef to meet an untimely end. With no end of suspects, who can they turn to for help? Everyone around them could be the killer, and it quickly becomes clear that someone does not want this mystery solved.

On the train ride into Dundee, a horrified scream awakens Albert and Rex from their dreams and back to reality...where they discover that a woman has just witnessed a murder. It would be easy to dismiss her claim; she saw something in the window of a house as the train went by, but when there are dangerous men waiting for her at Dundee station, Albert has to accept she might be onto something. Stepping in to defend the woman on the train, they soon find themselves embroiled in something far more sinister than they could have imagined.

Vintage cookware collector Jaymie Müller is stunned when an irate woman accuses her pharmacist friend Val of tampering with her prescription. When more unfounded accusations follow, it seems clear the woman has a personal grudge against Val. But before they can figure out why, Jaymie and Val stumble upon the woman's dead body on the steps of Val's pharmacy. Given her altercations with the woman and the location of the body, the police naturally suspect Val.

When Zoe gives her cousin Lauren a disastrous "trim", they run to the new hairdresser in town, who manages to fix Lauren's hair. While they're there, an angry customer storms into the salon, complaining about her perm. A few days later, Lauren and Zoe are shocked to discover the angry customer strangled right in front of the salon! Who is a suspect? Brooke, the new hair stylist? The victim's best friend? Or the victim's ex-husband who is just recovering from their bitter divorce?

Nora Newberry has been working to make her dreams come true and finally, after 10 years, it's time! She's moved back to her hometown of Milburn, Wyoming, and, together with her lifelong best friend, Raquel Madden, is opening the diner they've been planning since high school. Life couldn't be better...and it's time to celebrate!

Owning the Charmed Pie Shoppe and serving enchanted treats in the magical town of Havenwood, Georgia, seemed like a little slice of heaven for Ella Mae LeFaye. But now her hopes for both a lasting romance with Hugh Dylan and business success are starting to seem like pie in the sky, and Ella's left wondering: Where has the magic gone?

Fired. Tara Holloway can't believe it. After all she's done for the IRS, a few too many shots fired from her weapon and suddenly she's public enemy number one. To add insult to injury, another agent has replaced her, and a 10-million-dollar assault case is hanging over her head. So much for traveling to Tokyo with Special Agent Nick Pratt, former partner and current boyfriend. Tara's stuck in Texas, and using green tea ice cream to soothe her disappointment, as well as the terrifying prospect of a life behind bars.

Story Tree Cozy Mysteries box set includes the first three books in the series: Books, Brownies and Murder, Books, Scones and Murder, and Books, Canapés and Murder. Follow Clary as chases criminals, canapés, and crafty liars.