Food Fiction

"Eggnog Murder": When a gift-wrapped bottle of eggnog proves to be a killer concoction for a Tinker's Cove local, all Lucy Stone wants for Christmas is to find the murdering mixologist who's stirring up trouble. "Death By Eggnog": Food and cocktails columnist Hayley Powell has never cared much for Bar Harbor's grouchy town librarian, Agatha Farnsworth. But after the Scroogy senior has a fatal - and suspicious - allergic reaction to supposedly non-dairy eggnog, it's up to Hayley to ladle out some justice.

A wartime train station encounter changes a lifetime... After losing her fiancé in WW1, Margaret Parker settled into a quiet, lonely life as the town librarian in North Platte, NE. After the US enters WW2, Margaret volunteers as the historian for the Servicemen’s Canteen organized by the women of North Platte. When Captain Tom Carver strolls into the Canteen, he’s immediately drawn to Maggie and works hard to woo her, via letters, as he heads off to war. While reluctantly falling in love long-distance, Maggie also opens her heart to the teenaged girl she supervises and the townswomen ...

When the Swan Of The Sea's housekeeping manager is found dead near a shipping container, the crew is rocked—and not just by the waves. The ship’s security chief, Steve Johnson, is benched due to a long (and loud) history of arguments with the victim, Luisa Diaz. So temporary Captain Ethan Lee turns to the one person who always manages to find trouble—and solve it: Addi. The deeper Addi digs, the murkier things get. From a secret burglary ring to a scammed gambler with a grudge, Luisa had plenty of enemies—and plenty of secrets. Why was Luisa snooping around passengers’ rooms ...

Key Zest food critic Hayley Snow and her groom, Police Detective Nathan Bransford, chose Scotland for their long-delayed honeymoon, hoping to sightsee and enjoy some prize-winning scones. But their romantic duo swells to a crowd when they're joined by Nathan's family as well as octogenarian Miss Gloria. Nathan's sister Vera takes the women on a whirlwind tour of some of Scotland's iconic mystic places as research for a looming book project. But the trip takes a deadly tartan turn when a dinner party guest falls ill and claims she was poisoned.

Join best-selling authors Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Peggy Ehrhart for a collection of the coziest Christmas capers! Everyone dreams of a picture-perfect small-town Christmas, but when murder is in the cards, some holiday greetings are addressed to kill....

One ship, two oceans, and a "ghost" that refuses to mind its own business... Addi thought working a cruise to Alaska with her best friends would be smooth seas and starry nights. But when they answer a distress call and find an abandoned freighter with a frozen body aboard, the real trouble begins. Soon, passengers are whispering about a ghost haunting the ship, and a cranky businessman vanishes. But Addi doesn’t believe in ghosts—she knows something, or someone, is behind the eerie sightings. With bff's Cece and Sam at her side, Addi’s racing to uncover the truth before rumors sink ...

For a sheltered mama's boy like Demarcus, everything was coming up roses until a life-changing experience showed him that every rose has thorns. After a well-orchestrated set-up, Demarcus' plans to go to college are derailed by a trip to state prison. It is while in the belly of the beast that the mama's boy has to make the choice between being a man - or being a victim. Upon his release, Demarcus tries to get his life back on track, but his felony conviction causes door after door to be slammed in his face.

Paying off a debt to the gods is never easy. In Kuala Lumpur, deities from a handful of major faiths tiptoe around each other and damned souls number in the millions. Now the Dragon King of the South wants to throw sorcerer and former triad soldier Rupert Wong right in it. The ocean god's daughter and her once-mortal husband have been murdered, leaving a single clue: bloodied feathers from the Greek furies. It's a clue that could start a war between pantheons, and Rupert's stuck in the middle.

Get ready to cook up a generous helping of Pricilla Crumb and her hilarious schemes to serve up justice in this first book in the series. Pricilla Crumb, a superb cook and articulate hostess, plans an informal buffet at her son’s mountain lodge, but the dinner party turns to chaos when a guest is found dead after sampling one of her salmon-filled tartlets. Pricilla’s determination to save her reputation and find out the truth begins her unofficial career as a novice detective—and second chance for romance.

Three generations of women fight to survive in this heart pounding glimpse into an apocalyptic future where one man is determined to be the last alive. As world leaders and street walkers alike succumb to the effects of the widespread biochemical weapon, no one is safe. Cady Warren, who once believed in radical ideas like wiping out an entire civilization to save the rainforest, has grown up. Nothing is as simple as it once was. She’s now a mother, microbiologist, and a slightly paranoid prepper. Her ideals have changed--but Jackson Aimes doesn't know that. Jackson Aimes is determined to ...

No more pretending to be someone you’re not. Emily Bawler has only been interested in women since high school. Then why does she keep having this undeniable yearning for a man? But not just any man. These yearnings are for someone she considers a dear friend; a brother even. She believes she should let the feeling pass and try to move on. Yet, her heart won't let her. The fear of rejection can cause you to miss out on happiness. Daniel Tase was stuck between a rock and a hard place. For years he’s been in love with someone he shouldn’t. It was a secret he’d kept from his family and ...

A is for Aronia, berry member of the apple family, clothes-stainer, super-fruit with reputed healing power. D is for Durian, endowed with a dramatic rind and a shifting odor - peaches, old garlic. M is for Medlar, name-checked by Shakespeare for its crude shape, beloved by gardeners for its flowers. In this work of unique invention, these and other difficult fruits serve as the central ingredients of 26 lyrical essays that range from deeply personal to botanical, from culinary to medical, from humorous to philosophical.

Aspiring potion-witch Isabella Proctor dreams of a normal life away from magic. But when she stumbles upon her mentor's lifeless body, her world turns upside down, and a simple life seems far from reach. Suddenly entangled in a murder investigation, Isabella finds herself the prime suspect in the eyes of the newly-arrived Detective Palmer. Juggling a failing apothecary, a grandmother who sees people that aren't there, and a police department inexperienced in solving murders, Isabella must use her wits and magic to clear her name. With danger lurking around every corner and her freedom on ...

Twentysomething Frida Rodriguez arrives in Paris in 1991, relishing the city’s butter-soaked cuisine and seeking her future as a war correspondent. But then she writes to a bookshop in Seattle, and receives more than just the book she requests. A friendship begins that will redefine the person she wants to become.

A Killer is Lurking… and the Proof is in the Pie! When Kylie Berry agrees to bake pies for the town’s biggest food festival, she’s hoping to impress the crowd—not become the center of a murder investigation. But when the contest takes a dangerous turn—with sabotaged pies and a dead contestant—all eyes are on Kylie. Someone at the festival has a secret to hide, and they’ll do whatever it takes to keep it buried. With her café’s reputation on the line and the police sniffing around, Kylie teams up with her fearless best friend, Zoey Jin, to track down the truth. Who tampered ...

A story of family, friends, and strangers who are drawn together by forces over which they have no control.The small town of Clare Harbor has always been home for Sara Merryn even though in recent years her visits have been few and far between because of her busy schedule. Now she’s returning for another reason. There is a storm coming and she has to somehow convince her grandparents to leave their home just outside the small southern city of Clare Harbor. That seemingly simple task is made more difficult by her grandmother’s disabling fears. Sara is determined that between the two of ...

Tucked away down a Kyoto backstreet lies the extraordinary Kamogawa Diner, run by Chef Nagare and his daughter, Koishi. The father-daughter duo have reinvented themselves as “food detectives,” offering a service that goes beyond cooking mouth-watering meals. Through their culinary sleuthing, they revive lost recipes and rekindle forgotten memories.

In the heart of the Deep South, Stanley Sinclair’s dream simmers quietly in a worn-down kitchen behind a wood-burning stove. But when he dares to serve more than food—to serve comfort—he ends up feeding more than stomachs. He feeds a town. Grease, Grits, and Glory is a soulful, funny, and deeply satisfying story about second chances, family (by blood and by biscuit), and the magical messiness of life when you live with your heart wide open. With a cast of unforgettable characters—including a kazoo-playing oddball, a fiercely wise little girl, and a goat with too much personality—...

Running and hiding is looked upon as a way out for the weak. It is something Omar never thought he would do. As a child, he didn't even play hide-and-seek for that very reason. Unfortunately, after being sentenced to death by his cousin, Demarcus, Omar was left with no choice. Moving to Detroit wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. It didn't take long for him to reign supreme. The change of location didn't change his conniving and coldhearted ways, however.

Lois Clary is a software engineer at General Dexterity, a San Francisco robotics company with world-changing ambitions. She codes all day and collapses at night, her human contact limited to the two brothers who run the neighborhood hole-in-the-wall from which she orders dinner every evening. Then, disaster! Visa issues. The brothers quickly close up shop. But they have one last delivery for Lois: their culture, the sourdough starter used to bake their bread. She must keep it alive, they tell her—feed it daily, play it music, and learn to bake with it.