Culinary Mystery

After a long hot summer in Balsam Dell, Carly Hale is ready for crisp Vermont weather and gourmet grilled cheeses at her Grilled Cheese Eatery. And the upcoming Halloween food competition is the perfect way to impress the locals. But Ferris Menard, the owner of Sub-a-Dub-Sub, is nursing a serious grudge against Carly. Two days before the competition, one of Carly's employees quit his part-time gig at Menard's sub shop, sending Menard into a serious snit. In a confrontation at the Eatery, Menard accused Carly of sabotage and vowed to bring her down.

The peaceful atmosphere of Los Robles is shattered when a murder takes place at the neighborhood cheese shop, causing chaos among the tight-knit community. Local innkeeper and vineyard owner, Avery Parker, is shocked to discover that she is implicated in the mysterious death in her small hometown. As Avery begins to investigate, she encounters a myriad of suspects, each with a convincing motive. She uncovers secrets and betrayals from past and present love interests, a disgruntled ex-employee, and a suspicious resident. Her captivating journey leads her to hidden agendas in the search to ...

Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura are finally living out their dream as the proud owners of the Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery. But their first big client is a nightmare. She's a bridezilla who wants 500 custom cupcakes for her wedding. When Mel stumbles upon the bride-to-be dead - by cupcake - Mel becomes the prime suspect. To save themselves and their business, the ladies need to find the real murderer, before the cupcake killer ices someone else.

Amateur baker Claire Walker is thrilled to be a contestant on Britain’s Battle of the Bakers. She can almost smell the fresh pastries wafting through the air. If she can win the grand prize, she can ditch her teaching job and launch her baking career. The Viscount of Colburn, Jonathan Ainsley, is the custodian of Blackfirth Park and an eligible bachelor. He reluctantly agrees to allow the cooking competition show to film on his estate, but when a contestant is found dead soon after filming begins, Jonathan is forced to get involved.

Bar Harbor, Maine, is quieter in the off-season, but the population has just increased a bit with the arrival of Tim and Trudy Lancaster. Tim's taking over for a retiring minister, and Trudy runs a food truck called Wicked 'Wiches. When she stops in at the Island Times office to place an ad, Hayley happily devours the sample sub Trudy offers - and the two become fast friends. But when Trudy tragically dies in her truck while catering a Halloween party, suspicion falls on a cranky, competitive caterer who'd made veiled threats to Trudy.

Havana, Cuba, 2003: Matt, a San Diego journalist, arrives in Havana to marry his girlfriend, Yarmila, a 24-year-old Cuban woman whom he first met through her food blog. But Yarmi isn't there to meet him at the airport, and when he hitches a ride to her apartment, he finds her lying dead in the bathtub. Lovelorn Matt is immediately embroiled in a Cuban adventure he didn't bargain for: the police and secret service have him down as their main 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.

Domestic diva Sophie Winston is getting into the Halloween spirit; her decorations for a community haunted house are so good, it's scary. Not to be outdone, rival domestic diva Natasha is throwing a spooktacular Halloween party at her house. But when Sophie arrives, she discovers one of Natasha's guests dead in a Halloween display and a pale, fanged partygoer fleeing the scene.

1929: Miss Clara Vale is a woman ahead of her time. Rather than attending Oxford to bag an eligible Duke (as her mother, Lady Vale, so desperately hoped), she threw herself into a degree in chemistry, with aspirations to become a scientist in her own right. But the world isn't ready for Clara. Unable to land a job in science because she's a woman, she is stuck behind the desk at a dingy London library. Until her estranged Uncle dies suddenly, leaving her his private detective agency, and laboratory, in his will.

When Pinewood Hollow’s annual bake-off takes a deadly turn, Violet “Vi” Dumont can’t help but dig into the mystery—especially when one of the contestants is found unconscious after tasting her own entry. As tensions rise and suspicions swirl, Vi’s trusty ginger cat, Muffin, is hot on the trail of clues. With rivalries simmering and sabotage in the air, Vi must figure out who’s using the bake-off as a battleground for something far more sinister. Can Vi and Muffin uncover the truth before someone else’s recipe for disaster is served?

It’s been over three years since Sienna’s fresh start in her new hometown in Middle Tennessee. Her culinary gifts were equally praised with her keen ability to solve mysterious crimes. Today she finds herself at the most charming wedding venue in Columbia, for the unexpected wedding of…. When her dearest friend Aurelia Simpson seeks Sienna’s help when her nephew Riley is accused of attempted murder, the strangest of circumstances unfold. The next brief lull in Sienna’s amateur’s sleuthing is interrupted by a notorious copycat killer making his way to her cozy hometown. Perhaps ...

Welcome to Holiday Hills Georgia where the coffee’s hot, and magic is on the menu! Join good witch Abby Odell, her talking Burmese cat familiar, and her quirky cast of friends and foes in the magical town of Holiday Hills, where books, coffee, pastries, and magic are what matters most. Something strange is brewing in Holiday Hills, and it’s not just the potions. Magic is totally out of control. Witches are losing their grip—literally. Bessie accidentally turned a customer into a baby, and several witches have lost their powers altogether. Werewolves have traded their fearsome forms ...

Life is sweet and business is booming at the Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery - and the fact that Mel and Joe are getting married is the icing on the cake. Their reception will be held at the swanky resort where Oz works as the pastry chef. The wedding planning is all fun-fetti and games until Mel and Joe meet the head chef at the resort who has been making Oz's life miserable. When the eccentric chef insults Mel's bakery, Oz gets into a blowout argument with the culinary prima donna.

Thirteen bitter sweets. Thirteen bitter suspects. One unhappy ending. World-famous Chandler's Chocolates has unveiled a new storybook-inspired chocolate collection, Once Upon a Truffle. It's up to Anna Clementine, the company's event coordinator, to promote the product by hosting a fairytale-themed beauty pageant. To set the scene, contestants are invited to an abandoned castle deep in the Smoky Mountains. After all, every little girl dreams of being a princess in a palace- unless that castle turns out to be haunted. Anna soon finds herself in a cursed castle, surrounded by spoiled ...

Another winner from AJA Gardiner with tons of intrigue and many unexpected twists. Good read as always... Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water Our last visit to Cairncroft ended with Sam booking a cruise for her honeymoon. Then Daisy asked if she could come too. What do you think happened next? I loved the suspense, the action, and the characters in this book, but most of all I loved the humour. I smiled, snorted, and laughed out loud many times. Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What do you do when your craft beer keg comes with a side of murder? In Murder on Tap, Jules Brewster—a former fermentation scientist turned gastropub owner—has one goal: to make Pineford’s biggest beer festival the best one yet for her cozy, culinary haven, Brew & Chew. With tourists flocking to the charming Pacific Northwest town, her food-and-flight pairings are prepped, her taps are gleaming, and her staff is ready to serve up small-town hospitality with a twist of hoppy charm. But when a beloved brewmaster collapses in a puddle of his own award-winning IPA just hours before the ...

When Carmella Moretti inherits her grandfather's beloved pizzeria in the quaint coastal town of Wavecrest Cove, she trades her fast-paced New York advertising career for small-town charm and the promise of keeping her family's legacy alive. But her fresh start takes a dark turn when a rival pizzeria owner is found dead, and suspicion falls on Carmella's establishment. Teaming up with the enigmatic Detective Maddox Jones, Carmella must clear her name and uncover the truth behind the murder. As they dive deeper into Wavecrest Cove's secrets, they discover a web of lies, rivalries, and ...

Have your eyes ever deceived you? They’re about to… In sleepy Drifter’s Cove, a fall town raffle to restore the old Starlight Lounge and Theater brings an eclectic crowd—and deadly consequences. Still haunted by a recent car bomb that killed a guest instead of her, amateur sleuth Lilly Livingston tries to juggle managing busy Magnolia Manor with her role as a civilian FBI cold case consultant. Just as the inn's charming reputation had finally been established, an impossibly demanding elite guest arrives—as well as a mysterious job applicant who seems to have risen from the grave. ...

Samantha Barnes was always a foodie. And when the CIA (that’s the Culinary Institute of America) came calling, she happily traded in Cape Cod for the Big Apple. But then the rising young chef’s clash with another chef (her ex!) boils over and goes viral. So when Sam inherits a house on the Cape and lands a job writing restaurant reviews, it seems like the perfect pairing. What could go wrong? Well, as it turns out, a lot.

Annie Murray's festive plans at the Secret Bookcase are thrown into disarray when a celebrity baker drops dead during a gingerbread-baking competition… As whispers of foul play swirl like snowflakes, Annie soon finds herself tangled in a web of secrets, small-town rivalry, and long-buried mysteries. With pub owner and new love Liam by her side and the help of her loyal bookstore colleagues, Annie sets out to solve Redwood Grove’s latest murder mystery.