Culinary Mystery

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 . . .

When Ivy Sinclare, Washington state’s most notorious convicted murderer, asks Judy Pine to tell her story, Judy jumps at the chance. As she unravels accounts of Ivy’s past, Judy begins to believe in the prisoner’s innocence, but Judy’s determination to find the truth may jeopardize her own future. This opportunity proves to be more than Judy bargained for.

Abigail Beanblossom is finally getting into the groove of her new Tea and Tarot room. And in Abigail’s mind, when things are going right, that’s exactly when they’re about to go wrong. But she never could have guessed the mother who abandoned her as a child would suddenly return, looking for tea and sympathy. Now, all Abigail wants is to escape. So, when her grandfather’s quirky friend, Archer, asks Abigail and her partner Hyperion to investigate the murder of his neighbor, the two amateur sleuths leap at the opportunity.

It's a steamy September, and business is brisk at Perkatory, the hottest coffee shop in Devil's Beach, Florida. Much of the clientele pours in from Dante's Inferno, the hot yoga studio next door. But the bright, sunny Gulf Coast days turn decidedly dark roast when the body of the studio's owner turns up in a nearby swamp.

Yale and Celine Yee’s food stall business is going so well that they’ve been invited to join an exclusive dinner with the local restaurant owners association. The members gather together for a relaxing hot pot feast…until Jeffery Vue, president of the group, receives a literal shock to his system and dies. Everyone at the meal is a suspect, but the authorities are homing in on family friend Ai Ho, owner of the restaurant where Jeffery was killed—and Yale’s dad is a close second on their list.

Ein toter Tourist in ihrem gemütlichen Tearoom – ermordet mit einem Scone! Gemma ist entsetzt. Ganz klar, dass sie den Fall schnellstens aufklären muss, denn Mord ist schlecht fürs Geschäft. Vor allem, weil immer mehr Gäste glauben, dass Gemmas Scones kein Genuss, sondern eine Gefahr für Leib und Leben sind. Hilfe bekommt sie von einem neugierigen Damenkränzchen und der vorwitzigen kleinen Katze Müsli.

The Fourth of July is coming, and for professional food lover Samantha Barnes, it’s all about the picnic. Okay, and the fireworks. And the parade. But mostly the picnic. What could be better than a DIY clambake followed by the best blueberry buckle in the world? Sam has finally found the perfect recipe in the kitchen of Clara Foster, famed cookbook author and retired restaurateur, and she’s thrilled when Clara agrees to a buckle baking lesson. But when Clara dies in a house fire blamed on carelessness in the kitchen, Sam doesn’t believe it.

For Julia Snowden, the Founder's Day summer celebration in Busman's Harbor, Maine, means helping her family's clambake company to prepare an authentic taste of New England seafood. Any Mainer will tell you that a real clambake needs wood for the fire...so why is there a foot sticking out of the oven?

A rude tourist dies after eating his way up and down the boardwalk, and all eyes fall on Allison, as the police blame her new macarons. The macarons have a secret ingredient that is so delicious it has customers lining up and down the boardwalk - but they are not, she knows, the cause of death. Allison, forced to clear her name and salvage her customers, has no choice but to retrace the victim’s foodie trek up and down the boardwalk, and to figure out what he ate - or who he insulted - that could have gotten him killed.

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....

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.

Leona's spirits are flying as high as the flags over Honeytree's Fourth of July Festival. Her fledgling egg business is booming, her new relationship is flourishing, and it's finally warm enough to put the top down on her convertible. Everything is sunny-side up. But her good mood disappears faster than a speeding pullet when the local beauty queen is shot during the fireworks finale - and the murder is pinned on one of her close friends.

When a tourist is found dead and a villager is accused of murder, Reeva knows the village has bigger problems than icky ice cream. It’s time for Long and McLaughlin Private Investigators (a.k.a. Reeva and Ruby) to put their sleuthing skills into action and catch the real killer.

When Charlie accepts an invitation for a potluck Thanksgiving feast, she immediately decides to bring dessert. Homemade pies, of course. And they look so delicious that two of the guests decide to sneak a few bites before the meal. Which wouldn’t be an issue, except they both end up dead! Obviously, Charlie didn’t poison the pies, but that’s not how it appears. Can she solve the case in time to save the day?

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.

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.

It's fall in Boulder, Colorado, and the leaves aren't the only things changing. Parker Valentine, owner of Vino Valentine, is finally settling in to her winery and her new relationship with Reid Wallace, a local chef. But their delicate pairing is endangered when Reid's estranged family comes into town to celebrate the opening of his new restaurant. Then Reid's sous chef is found dead in the alley behind the restaurant, and Reid is implicated in the murder.

The word is out about Sadie Hoffmiller's amateur detective work, but it's not the kind of publicity Sadie wants. When Jane's article threatens Sadie's reputation in the community, she accepts her first investigation-for-hire and travels to Portland, Oregon - if only to give herself some space from her whispering neighbors. And from Pete, who is sending her mixed signals about their budding relationship. Sadie hopes the Portland air will clear her head, and she is eager to get to work for May Sanderson, who has suspicions about her father's untimely death.

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?

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.