Culinary Mystery

The Fall Festival is in full swing. Civil War reenactors from three counties are partaking in Blossom Valley's tribute to John Brown. Blue Ridge Mountain foliage is in full bloom. And best of all is Jacob Potter's pumpkin farm where his hay rides, piglet races, pumpkin picking, and corn maze are time-honored draws for locals and tourists alike. That's why it's such a shock when Mr. Potter is found dead, hidden under a tarp in the back of Winnie's pickup truck.

Winifred Page’s twin brothers-in-law are finally ready to open their invention shop right next to the Cozy Corgi Bookshop and Bakery. But the noise level is keeping customers away from the bookshop and driving Fred and her corgi sidekick, Watson, out of their minds. Adding to her stress, family and friends are gearing up to celebrate Fred’s fortieth birthday—not that she’s overly concerned about her age … Mere hours after entering her new decade of life, resentments reach an explosive level as downtown Estes Park is rocked by a fearsome calamity.

When her friend Penny confesses she’s struggling to finance the restoration of the historic Wentworth farmhouse, Annie is instantly inspired. The beautiful property has stood empty since the 1970s, but rumors still swirl about the eccentric Wentworth family and their hidden fortune. It’s the perfect setting for a spooky, immersive dinner party, and the evening is a roaring success—until neighboring landowner Curtis Wright drops dead at the dining table…

Fran's dream of winning the top prize of ten thousand dollars as a contestant on a new TV baking show is quickly shattered when one of the famous judges, Jeremy Johnson, is brutally stabbed in the middle of filming. As Fran investigates, she uncovers a web of deceit, jealousy, and betrayal among the contestants and judges. With tensions high and suspicions swirling, Fran realizes that the murderer could be someone she knows all too well.

It's not Fourth of July on Mackinac Island without fireworks and fudge. The Historic McMurphy Hotel and Fudge Shop is supplying the treats-and Allie McMurphy has hired Rodney Rivers, the biggest name in aerial displays, to create an unforgettable spectacle. Unfortunately, it turns out to be a case of red, white, and boom when Allie finds him dead, covered with screaming chicken fireworks, just before the entire warehouse of pyrotechnics goes up in smoke. Is it arson or is it murder?

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.

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?

This cozy collection includes three delightful full-length mystery novels in the Haunted Tearoom Cozy Mystery Series featuring April May and the town of Serenity Cove.

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.

The deep freeze has thawed in Ashland, Oregon, and Torte is gearing up for a busy spring. When a surprise opportunity to launch a pop-up ice cream shop comes her way, Jules jumps at the chance to showcase Torte's signature iced drinks and cold custards. But selling the desserts of her dreams comes at a price...and, before she knows it, Jules's life swirls into a nightmare.

Poppy thought her toughest challenge this winter would be sticking to her Paleo diet and filling all her orders for her gluten-free goodies, but now she has to choose between two suitors. She's not the only one with boyfriend drama. Aunt Ginny's long-ago high-school beau, Royce Hanson, a retired Broadway actor, has returned to Cape May, New Jersey, to star in a Senior Center staging of Mamma Mia. Slated to open February 13th, the problem-plagued production seems to be cursed - with stolen props, sabotage, and even a death threat.

Everyone adores Miss May, except the guilty. In a small town where neighbors know each other, lawn chairs come out in the spring; if you sit around chatting long enough, someone brings you pie; and there are still skeletons in every closet. Luckily for Pine Grove, Miss May has a nose for crime. The body was found face-down in the orchard.

It's springtime in Honeytree, and Leona's pullets are finally laying. Customers are flocking to buy her farm-fresh eggs. But during the town's Easter Egg Scramble, Leona finds more than hidden treasure when she stumbles on the dead body of the pastor's wife. And the death isn't a fluke - it was poison. After Leona's eggs are blamed for delivering the fatal dose, her customers fly the coop along with her reputation. With her nest egg dwindling, she doesn't have time to brood. She must figure out who held a grudge against Honeytree's golden girl - and why.

Recent MBA grad Bronwyn Crewse has just taken over her family's ice cream shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and she's going back to basics. Win is renovating Crewse Creamery to restore its former glory, and filling the menu with delicious, homemade ice cream flavors—many from her grandmother's original recipes. But unexpected construction delays mean she misses the summer season, and the shop has a literal cold opening: The day she opens her doors an early first snow descends on the village. Then Win finds a body in the snow....

Chef Charlie Hunter's arrival in the beautiful Chilterns is the fulfillment of a long-held dream: to open her own restaurant in an idyllic countryside location. The Old Forge sits on the village green (complete with duck pond and flint-faced houses) and seems just the place for the high-quality cooking she wants to be known for. But instead of rural peace and a chance to lick her wounds, Charlie finds something ugly stirring under the chocolate box perfection. When a prominent local builder is found dead in suspicious circumstances, Charlie the outsider becomes a suspect.

Sadie Hoffmiller believes in her abilities as a cook and as a detective. She believes in the beauty of a perfectly baked pumpkin roll. She does not, however, believe in ghosts. As Halloween approaches, Sadie is looking forward to spending her favorite baking season of the year making delicious New England recipes in Boston, Massachusetts, with her favorite leading man, Pete Cunningham, as they babysit his three young grandsons. When the boys insist that Mrs. Wapple, the woman who lives across the street, is a witch, Sadie and Pete are anxious to distract the boys from such silly ideas.

Charlotte Bessette—owner of Fromagerie Bessette, known by locals as The Cheese Shop—has a lot on her plate: setting a date with her fiancé, feeding the actors in her grandmother’s production of Hamlet, and planning the menu for her best friend and cousin’s upcoming wedding. At least her new creation—sinfully delicious Brie blueberry ice cream—has turned out perfectly. Just days before the wedding, a stranger turns up dead in the Igloo Ice Cream Parlor's freezer, his head bashed with a container of Charlotte's signature ice cream. But this stranger turns out to be more than he seems.

When Yale Yee discovers her cousin Celine is visiting from Hong Kong, she is obliged to play tour guide to a relative she hasn’t seen in twenty years. Not only that, but her father thinks it’s a wonderful idea for them to bond by running a food stall together at the Eastwood Village Night Market. Yale and Celine serve small dishes and refreshing drinks, and while business is slow, it eventually picks up thanks to Celine’s surprisingly useful marketing ideas. They’re quite shocked that their bubble tea is a hit—literally—when one of their customers turns up dead.

Allison Sweet, 34, a sous chef in Los Angeles, has had it up to here with demeaning customers, her demanding boss, and her failed love life. After a shocking incident, she realizes the time has come to start life fresh and follow her lifelong dream of moving to a small town and opening a bakery of her own. After a popular food critic trashes Allison’s bakery, he ends up dead - and suspicion falls on her. With business failing, Allison’s only hope is to solve the crime and clear her name.

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.