Culinary Mystery

Back in Balsam Dell to heal after the death of her husband, Carly Hale is finally pursuing her lifelong dream — opening Carly's Grilled Cheese Eatery. After only five months, business is booming as Vermont vacationers and townspeople alike flock to lunch on her Party Havartis and other grilled-cheese concoctions. That is, everyone is but Lyle Bagley, her one-time high-school boyfriend who’s now the town bully — and he just bought the building that houses her eatery and wants her out.

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.

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.

Audrey’s small Sicilian town hires a new building inspector to deal with the influx of one-dollar homeowners - and he sets about making Audrey’s idyllic Sicilian life utterly miserable. Just when things can’t get any worse, the inspector turns up dead - leaving Audrey as the main suspect. Audrey, without an alibi, is under more pressure than she’s ever been to solve the crime. But the inspectors list of enemies was long.

There’s a new dog groomer in Cottonwood Springs, and Brigid’s delighted! No more taking her dogs, Jett and Lucky, to an out-of-town groomer. But there are a few problems, like broken statues, dug-up plants, and a very bad word written on a window. Brigid becomes concerned, not only for the safety of the groomer, but also for the neighbors. Because, the more she and Sheriff Davis discover, the more certain they are that someone intends to seriously harm the groomer. They uncover family feuds, revenge for a dog being too friendly, and a person seriously depressed!

In the small town of Normalton, Illinois, there aren't a lot of opportunities for small business owner Dani Sloan to cater big-ticket events. But that's about to change - a client named Yvette Joubert is marrying Franklin Whittaker, the richest guy around, and they want Dani to cater their engagement party! The swanky event is the perfect opportunity to put Dani on the map for wealthier clients.

This collection includes books 4-6 of Lucy Burdette's cozy Key West Food Critic Mystery series: Book 4: Murder With Ganache, Book 5: Death With All the Trimmings, and Book 6: Fatal Reservations, featuring sleuthing food critic Hayley Snow.

Little Caribbean, Brooklyn, New York: Lyndsay Murray is opening Spice Isle Bakery with her family, and it’s everything she’s ever wanted. The only thing getting a rise out of Lyndsay is Claudio Fabrizi, a disgruntled fellow bakery owner who does not want any competition. On opening day, he comes into the bakery threatening to shut them down. Fed up, Lyndsay takes him to task in front of what seems to be the whole neighborhood. So when Claudio turns up dead a day later—murdered—Lyndsay is unfortunately the prime suspect.

Lately, Kate has a lot on her dessert plate. She's launching a cookie-of-the-day challenge in the heart of Coral Cay, providing sweet treats for the reception of the town's handsome new veterinarian - not to mention dealing with tourists in town for a pirate festival and the surprise arrival of her former fiance, Evan, who seems determined to win her back. And if that's not enough, a skeleton has been found - in the backyard behind her best friend Maxi's floral shop. Kate knows Maxi could never hurt a fly.

It's a beautiful day in the small town of Devil's Orchard when Bobbi's grandmother informs her she's actually a witch. Not just any old witch, either. Bobbi is part of a long line of demon-slayers. Bobbi, who can't step on a cockroach without squealing, is a demon-slayer? Yeah right. She's tempted to write the whole thing off as a stress-induced hallucination. Especially when the dumpster-diving fox starts talking....

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.

Katie will be marrying firefighter Declan McCarthy in less than a week, and she's still finding time to run the Honeybee Bakery, where she infuses sweets and treats with special spells and cheerful charms. But her hope of getting hitched without a hitch is short-lived. When Declan's family shows up early to enjoy a few extra days in Savannah, his youngest sister finds an unsavory surprise: her ex-husband, dead in a hotel room hours after they argued.

Daisy's worried one of her employees at Daisy's Tea Garden may be in a spot of trouble. Lately Karina's been loading up on soup and second-day baked goods at the end of her shift - and while the shop's scrumptious treats may be hard to resist, Daisy suspects there's more going on, especially since Karina has been seen hanging out in a rundown part of Willow Creek. Planning her own daughter's wedding is enough to keep her busy, but Daisy can't help feeling a protective maternal instinct - and an instinct to investigate.

"Verärgere niemals den Koch. Er könnte dir dein letztes Gericht servieren!" Sechs Gourmets, drei Gänge, ein Toter. So ruhig hatte sich der Lehrer Klaus Busch seinen Ruhestand nicht vorgestellt: Nach einem gemeinsamen Essen im Kreise befreundeter Feinschmecker bricht er tot vor seiner Haustür zusammen. Schnell ist klar, dass er vergiftet wurde. Hauptkommissar Tischler ermittelt. Die Herausforderung könnte nicht größer sein. Denn unter den sechs Personen befinden sich zwei Herren, die der Kommissar nur allzu gut kennt, Polizeioberrat Schwenk und der Bürgermeister von Brunngries.

With the August heat strong enough to melt solid chocolate into syrup, Jake and Ellie crave a break from the bakery ovens, despite tourist season promising a sweet payday. But they never envisioned spending the last weeks of summer drifting around Passamaquoddy Bay searching for pirate’s treasure—and a dead body. Sally Coates believes her husband was murdered off the coast, and begs Ellie, a trusted childhood friend, to locate his remains. It’s unusual that a skilled fisherman would vanish along with the gold doubloon he inherited from his grandfather.

As the owner of Pie Town, Val's been tapped to judge the pie-making contest at the annual pumpkin festival in the coastal California town of San Nicholas. Things could get sticky though - her boyfriend, cop Gordon Carmichael, is entering the competition with his "special" family pumpkin pie recipe. But Val's got bigger problems than a conflict of interest when she and her flaky piecrust-maker Charlene discover another contestant crushed under an enormous pumpkin.

Hoteliers Maxime and Catherine Le Bon have spent their life savings restoring the hotel, which lies in an archipelago of sun-soaked islands off the coast of Marseille. To celebrate the grand opening, a group of privileged guests joins Verlaque and Bonnet: Marine's free-spirited best friend; an aging film star, his much-younger wife, and her son; a pair of affable American tourists; and a querelous Parisian couple. But the murder of one of the guests casts a shadow over everyone's vacation, and things go from bad to worse when a violent storm cuts off all communication with the mainland.

The Hopeless Tigers just won the biggest football game in school history! But as often happens in the quirky yet snakebitten town of Hopeless, Idaho... there's a bit of a problem. A dead body has shown up. And as usual, Investigative reporter Hope Walker is on the scene.

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?

Love is in the air at FairyTale Cupcakes as Angie prepares for her wedding, but, at the same time, her co-owner, Mel, is about to help with a breakup. Mel's old friend Diane has decided to dump her fiancé after discovering he's only marrying her for her money. She wants Mel to personally deliver a batch of caramel breakup cupcakes to the louse and give her a play-by-play of his reaction. But when Mel finally tracks the man down, the look on his face isn't what she expected: he's dead.