Culinary Fiction

It’s hurricane season in New Orleans and vintage cookbook fan Ricki James-Diaz is trying to shelve her weather-related fears and focus on her business, Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbook and Kitchenware Shop, housed in the magnificent Bon Vee Culinary House Museum.

Writer Catherine Davitt has returned to the Keys to research a book about Hemingway’s wives, but she’s also on the hunt for the truth about her missing friend. Hayley quickly agrees to help investigate and they hit the road to see what clues they might find. Back in the late 1970s, Catherine and her friend Veronica were part of a group of lost souls camping in the mangroves of Big Pine Key, until Veronica vanished, and the sheriff’s office cleared out the camp. Catherine and Hayley begin interviewing Big Pine Key residents who were around at the time of Veronica’s disappearance.

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’?

With Old Town's DIY Home Decorating Festival in full swing, Sophie's swamped. Still, when her best friend, Nina, suddenly needs a ride from the airport, Sophie is happy to help...until she sees Nina disembarking in a state of disarray. It's obvious the trip to Portugal soured somewhere along the way. But after one of Nina's traveling companions turns up murdered the following day, Sophie knows something is truly rotten. Though the crime scene is staged to look like an accident, Sophie isn't fooled and peels off to conduct her own investigation.

Pastry chef Kate McGuire is loving life on the laid-back island of Coral Cay, Florida. As junior partner in a bakery renowned for luscious desserts - especially her cookies - life is pretty sweet. So when an old friend arrives and announces a spur-of-the-moment beach wedding, that's just the icing on the wedding cake. But the groom vanishes right as a television crew descends on the town to film a hot-new realty show.

The graceful domes of Sacre Coeur, the imposing cathedral of Notre Dame, the breathtaking Tour Eiffel . . . Paris is overflowing with stunning architecture. Yet for Tabitha Knight, the humble building that houses the Cordon Bleu cooking school, where her friend Julia studies, is just as notable. Tabitha is always happy to sample Julia's latest creation and try to recreate dishes for her Grand-pere and Oncle Rafe.

Melanie and Angie are determined to win the Challenge to the Chef cooking competition to promote their Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery. Mel's mentor from culinary school, Vic Mazzotta, may be one of the judges, but Mel and Angie will have to bake their best to win fair and square. But when Vic's dead body is found inside a freezer truck, Mel and Angie will need to use their best judgment to find the cold-blooded killer or they may lose more than the contest; they may lose their lives.

Maddie is hoping to have some downtime during Daybreak Island's off-season to tackle her to-do list. Her grandfather's house-turned-cat-cafe is under construction, and she's also scoping out places to open a juice bar on the island. On top of that, her relationship with adorable dog groomer Lucas has taken a pawsitive turn. But easy is getting harder every day for Maddie, especially when a big-name writer who's on the island working on a new project winds up floating in the canal.

When a community center opens in town, many embrace it as a space where locals of all ages can gather and create. Others view it as a waste of taxpayer dollars. The director, Darleen Busby-Platt, is no less controversial. Intense and showy, Darleen has huge plans for her new role. But Lucy Stone believes the woman isn’t exactly as warm hearted—or qualified—as she seems. That hunch deepens when Darleen and a young employee vanish...and dismembered remains appear!

Baking. It can get a guy killed. 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 a clue to a crime in the ingredients for his pork pie. His dog, Rex Harrison, an ex-police dog fired for having a bad attitude, cannot understand why the humans are struggling to solve the mystery. He can already smell the answer - it’s right before their noses. He’ll pitch in to help his human and the shop owner’s teenage daughter as the trio set out to save the shop from closure.

When Lana Lee’s best friend, Megan Riley, asks her to help host a speed dating contest at Ho-Lee Noodle House, she doesn’t see the harm in lending a hand. The night goes better than anticipated, and both Lana and Megan are beyond thrilled with the results. But before they can break out the champagne, Rina Su, fellow Asia Village shop owner and speed dating participant, calls to inform Lana that the date she’s just matched with has been murdered. Under suspicion of foul play, Rina enlists Lana’s help in finding out what really happened that night.

During the Mad Hatter Masquerade, a fundraiser hosted by the Friends of the Opera on the grounds of the old Pendleton Grist Mill, Harlan Sadler, husband of Cricket Sadler, the chairwoman, is killed. He’s been hit in the head with a croquet mallet, and his body hung on the chains and paddles of the grist mill.

Catering Elizabethan fare to Aspen Meadow’s elite at an authentic castle brought from England is a dream come true for Goldy. But the day of the luncheon, Goldy is rudely awakened by a shotgun blast through her living room window. As the day goes on, she finds a murder victim floating in a stream on castle property, watches someone close to her get shot, and begins to see the ghost that haunts the castle. Instead of a welcome opportunity, this job has suddenly become a waking nightmare.

Colorado caterer Goldy Schulz cooks up bigtrouble as she tries to help her longtime friend and fellow chef Yolanda Garcia. When the rental house shared by Yolanda and her irrepressible aunt Ferdinanda is destroyed by arson, the pair move in with cop-turned-PI Ernest McLeod. But then Ernest is shot dead and his house is set on fire, nearly killing Goldy, Yolanda, Ferdinanda, and nine beagle puppies that Ernest had recently rescued from a puppymill. Concerned for her friends, Goldy invites them to stay with her while the sheriff’s department investigates. Yet even Goldy's house isn't safe....

When famous TV chef Matteo McLeish turns up at the Old Forge Café and offers chef Charlie Hunter a place in his kitchen for the duration of Hampden Green's local opera festival, she thinks it's because he rates her cooking skills. In fact it's because he's heard she's good in a crisis. The wholesome star of Nonna's Kitchen is being blackmailed by one of his team.

Join Jackie Norwood, a down-and-out celebrity chef, as she judges the first gig on her comeback quest—a Texas Crab Festival cooking contest. This new venture takes an unexpected twist when she discovers that her archnemesis, Heather Curtis, is her co-judge. As if that weren’t enough to stir the pot, one of the competitors is Chef Benjy Hayes, Jackie’s long-lost ex-boyfriend.

Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura's Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery is gearing up for Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, someone has iced Baxter Malloy on his first date with Mel's mother. Now Mom's a suspect, and Mel and Angie need to find time around frosting to dig into the man's shady past and discover who served him his just desserts.

The fun of an English baking contest set in the beautiful English countryside complete with witches, recipes, and murder. Join Poppy and her friends as she puzzles out another complex murder that might have ties to her!

After a cupcake-flinging fiasco at a photo shoot for a local magazine, Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura agree to make amends by hosting a week-long corporate boot camp at Fairy Tale Cupcakes. The idea is the brainchild of billionaire Ian Hannigan, new owner of SWS, a lifestyle magazine that chronicles the lives of Scottsdale's rich and famous. He's assigned his staff to a team-building week of making cupcakes for charity. It's clear that the staff would rather be doing just about anything other than frosting baked goods.

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....