Culinary Mystery

Diane Mott Davidson dishes up another treat of murder and mystery - as caterer-turned-sleuth Goldy Schulz stirs up a heap of trouble. More Mott Davidson.

Marie Fortune, 39, a successful dog groomer in Boston, has had enough of catering to the wealthy and their pampered dogs. Realizing it is time to make a change, she quits and heads to a small coastal town in Maine, where she remembers fond summers as a kid. Marie expects to go for a brief getaway - and is shocked to learn that her great-aunt left her an inheritance: a dilapidated, historic house high up on a hill overlooking the harbor.

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.

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.

Welcome to Spellbound, where paranormal is the new normal. Emma Hart has a lot on her paranormal plate - a wedding to plan, a trespasser to defend, and a longstanding curse to break. When a pixie dies under mysterious circumstances, her endless list of Things to Do grows even longer. Will she manage to uncover the truth behind the pixie's death before she becomes the next victim?

Felicity has always been hesitant in the kitchen herself after many failed attempts, but a takeout meal gone wrong inspires her to craft some handmade fortune cookies. They become so popular that Felicity runs out of generic fortunes and starts making her own personalized predictions. When one customer’s ill-fated fortune results in his murder, Felicity’s suspiciously specific fortune has the police focusing on her as the main culprit. Now she must find a way to turn her luck around and get cleared from suspicion.

Emily Cherry may be retired, but she’s not about to roll over and die! Defying the doubts of her three adult children this plucky computer-shy grandma embarks on a unique path by launching her very own food blog. The only problem is that during her inaugural restaurant review, she stumbles upon a lifeless body.

With Chicago winters in the rearview mirror, Chloe Jackson is making good on a promise: helping her late friend’s grandmother run the Sea Glass Saloon in the Florida Panhandle. To Chloe’s surprise, feisty Vivi Slidell isn’t the frail retiree Chloe expects - nor is Emerald Cove. It’s less a sleepy fishing village than a panhandle hot spot overrun with land developers and tourists. But it’s a Sea Glass regular who’s mysteriously crossed the cranky Vivi. When their bitter argument comes to a head and he’s found dead behind the bar, guess who’s the number one suspect?

Darci Hannah presents Book 2 in the Food and Spirits Mystery series.

With renovations of the new annex to Petunia's in full swing, Fiona's life might be more in order, but her habit of digging into criminal cases hasn't changed one bit. Doesn't help when her mother is on the suspect list, the death of a famous cooking show judge leading Fee into the dark side of bake offs, television, and murder.

Leaving her tech past behind, Gracie starts The Laughing Loaf Bakery, hires a young assistant, Beck Rodriguez, and intends to keep a low profile in her new town—until a male model ends up dead behind her bakery. To keep her business and her new life in River Grove, Gracie and her little dog Biga must find out who killed the gorgeous Nico Behrens.

The relationships between bad-tempered Tom Farley and his neighbors are as bitter as a bowl of raw cranberries, but would one of them have taken it far enough to replace birdshot with a real bullet and make him a target at a shooting competition? That's what the injured turkey farmer is claiming from his hospital bed—in between terrorizing the nurses—and he insists it's because a property developer is looking to buy them all out for big money. But Tom says he was born on that land, and he intends to die on it. Sadly, that happens sooner than he expects.

When Amy Ridley decided to compete in the Kellerton Summer Festival Pie Contest, the last thing she expected was to find the reigning pie queen, Mandy Jo, dead - a raspberry pie smashed on her face! Mandy Jo made fantastic pies, but she accumulated more enemies than baking trophies. But when Amy receives a note threatening her own life, she decides to do some investigating herself.

Mia Carina has steered her Italian-American family's Astoria, Queens catering hall into becoming the borough's premiere party site, and nothing could make her happier—except her boyfriend proposing. There's just one presumed-dead obstacle in the way.

It's an exciting time in Sweet River, Texas, and the whole town is talking. Maybe, a little too much. Former English professor Ainsley McGregor has gambled everything on her new business: Bless Your Art, an artisan market where local artists sell their wares and teach classes. The bright, white space is filled to the brim with colorful art, yarn, jewelry, pet treats, antiques, and even a few medieval weapons. Oh, and there are wine tastings. Everything is better with wine. Ainsley is surprised by how well things are going—right up until the moment her Great Dane finds a dead body.

When Albert realises he’s stumbled across something much bigger than a random mugging, he decides, for once, to leave the crime-solving to the locals. Fate, however, laughs at his plans, thrusting him and faithful canine companion, Rex Harrison, into the thick of things just as the first body is found. Is the coveted prize for the best Yorkshire pudding driving the competitors to the most extreme lengths? One thing is for sure - one body always leads to another.

Now that her moonshine shop is up and running, Hattie Hayes can focus her efforts on expanding her fledgling business to events in the area, like the Chattanooga Choo Choo Model Train Convention, which is running full steam ahead at the convention center down the block. Hattie is all aboard, seizing this perfect opportunity to promote her Southern homebrew to the folks who have come to the city for the annual event. But when an attendee dies after drinking some of Hattie’s moonshine, she’ll need to prove her innocence.

Welcome to the grand opening of Fromagerie Bessette. Or as it’s more commonly known by the residents of small town Providence, Ohio—The Cheese Shop. Proprietor Charlotte Bessette has prepared a delightful sampling of bold Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, delicious tortes of Stilton and mascarpone, a taste of sauvignon blanc, and for the piéce de résistance, a little crime of passion … Charlotte has barely begun melting like fondue in front of a handsome artisanal cheese supplier named Jordan when a blood-curdling shriek disrupts the festivities.

In need of a change, Jenna Hart leaves the high-pressure world of advertising to help her aunt, Vera, open a culinary bookshop and cafe. Back with her family in Crystal Cove, California, Jenna seems to have all the right ingredients for a fresh start—until someone adds a dash of murder. As a marketing expert, Jenna wants to make sure the grand opening of the Cookbook Nook draws a crowd, and no one is better at getting attention than her old college roommate, celebrity chef Desiree Divine. But when Desiree arrives in to do a cookbook signing, the diva stirs up more trouble than business.

Pepper Reece, owner of the Spice Shop in Seattle's Pike Place Market, loves a good festival, especially one serving up tasty treats. So what could be more fun than a food walk in the city's Chinatown-International District? But when her friend Roxanne stumbles across a man's body in the Gold Rush, a long-closed residential hotel, questions leap out. Who was he? What was he doing in the dust-encrusted herbal pharmacy in the hotel's basement? Why was the pharmacy closed up—and why are the owners so reluctant to talk?