Culinary Mystery

This set includes the first three novels in the Cape Bay Cafe Mysteries, starring amateur sleuth Francesca Amaro—barista, baker, and owner of Antonia’s Italian Café: Cappuccinos, Cupcakes, and a Corpse; Tea, Tiramisu, and Tough Guys; and Margaritas, Marzipan, and Murder.

Old West ghost towns are as American as apple pie. So what better place to sponsor a pie-eating contest than the Bar X, a fake ghost town available for exclusive private events on the edge of Silicon Valley. Valentine Harris is providing the pies, hoping to boost business for her struggling Pie Town shop and become a regular supplier for the Bar X. But no sooner does she arrive in town than a stray bullet explodes the cherry pie in her hands. The delicious dessert is not the only victim. Val finds the Bar X bartender shot dead in an alley.

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.

Amateur sleuth and proud owner of Dogwood Donuts Maggie Sharpe was gearing up for the holidays and having just another normal day in charming southern Missouri, when an unfortunate accident occurred in front of her shop in the wee hours of the morning. When a bus full of elderly potential witnesses on their way to a Christmas event puts out a distress call, Maggie feels obligated to find some answers. She discovers that what she thought was an accident was actually a murder, which makes things anything but jolly in Dogwood Mountain.

Identical twin sisters Alex and Hannah are the owners of Murder and Mayhem, a mystery bookshop that sells their famous poison-themed Killer Chocolates. But now, there’s a real killer in their midst. Shortly before Christmas, their septuagenarian neighbor, Jane, confides to Alex that a murderer from a true-crime show has taken up residence in the village. Unfortunately, she’s also shared her suspicions with town gossip Netta. The next morning, Alex shows up at Jane’s house to watch the show, but instead she discovers Jane's body, with a box of Killer Chocolates nearby.

When famous TV chef Matteo McLeish turns up at the Old Forge Café and offers chef Charlie Hunter a place in his kitchen for the duration of Hampden Green's local opera festival, she thinks it's because he rates her cooking skills. In fact it's because he's heard she's good in a crisis. The wholesome star of Nonna's Kitchen is being blackmailed by one of his team.

Ja, 'zefix! Was ist denn mit den Eberhofer-Weibern los? Die Oma beschließt nach ca. 2.000 Kuchen und noch viel mehr Schweinsbraten, Semmelknödeln und Kraut, sich der häuslichen Pflichten für immer zu entledigen und nur noch zu chillen. Ausgerechnet an Weihnachten! Und die Susi verfolgt ausschließlich ihre Karriere als stellvertretende Bürgermeisterin. Und dann wird der Franz direkt nach der Christmette von der Mooshammer Liesl abgefangen. Der Steckenbiller Lenz ist verschwunden.

Satisfying her hunger for epicurean adventure in the French provinces, small-town caterer and minister’s wife Faith Fairchild decides to throw the perfect dinner party. But during cleanup, after the last guest has departed her gastronomical triumph, she encounters something neither expected nor welcome: a dead body lying in her vestibule. Unfortunately it doesn’t help la belle americaine’s credibility when the corpse vanishes before the local gendarmes arrive. But Faith realizes that, though the police refuse to take her seriously, a killer just might.

Angie and her County Seat staff are all prepared for some much-needed R&R. Hope's been hinting at an arts-and-crafts-themed retreat. Instead, they end up at a military veteran's home, where it's their job to get it spic-and-span for summer. In between weeding the garden and painting the rooms, Angie starts up a conversation with an older vet who wants to make amends with his son before it's too late. Unfortunately, he has no idea of his son's whereabouts. It's the perfect side job for the County Seat team, but someone keeps blocking their efforts.

Cat-cafe owner Lauren Crenshaw and her cousin Zoe attend their first advanced latte-art class, excited to learn intricate designs. But when their world-famous instructor is murdered, they decide to investigate!

When Yale Yee discovers her cousin Celine is visiting from Hong Kong, she is obliged to play tour guide to a relative she hasn’t seen in twenty years. Not only that, but her father thinks it’s a wonderful idea for them to bond by running a food stall together at the Eastwood Village Night Market. Yale and Celine serve small dishes and refreshing drinks, and while business is slow, it eventually picks up thanks to Celine’s surprisingly useful marketing ideas. They’re quite shocked that their bubble tea is a hit—literally—when one of their customers turns up dead.

It really is murder on the dance floor.... A new dance school opens in Whitstable run by celebrity tango champions – Tony and Tanya Ballard. Pearl Nolan knows herself to be an ace cook and a sharp private eye but has always left the dancing to her mother, Dolly, a former member of the town's infamous Fish Slappers dance troupe. But Pearl becomes intrigued by the Ballards when they visit The Whitstable Pearl restaurant, and she realises that dance classes could provide the perfect cover for her clandestine relationship with DCI Mike McGuire....

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?

For all its merriment, Christmas can also bring melancholy-and in Magic Springs, Idaho, Mia finds that the season has brought her an unhappy ghost who's pulling poltergeist-style pranks to get her attention. When she demands an explanation, the ghost just sends a message: Ask Mary Alice-that is, Mia's beloved Grans, who's been training her to develop her witchy talents. If anyone can figure this out, it's Grans . . . even if she still hasn't managed to free Mia's cat from a previous spell that she cast.

Annie Hart, daughter of Bryan Hart—talent agent to the stars—spends her life getting roped into whatever new task her father needs her to do for his VIP clients. So when she inherits a yarn shop in the small Indiana town of Franklin, she is curious to see what it feels like to have something that is solely hers! But when her arrival is greeted by the local law enforcement, Annie senses things are not quite as they seem in this idyllic town . . . everyone knows everybody in Franklin yet when it comes to the death of the shop's previous owner, nobody seems sure of anything!

Newly single pizzeria owner Delilah O’Leary is determined to keep her restaurant afloat in the picturesque resort town of Geneva Bay, Wisconsin. To boost her bottom line, she sets her sights on winning the hefty cash prize in the town’s annual “Taste of Wisconsin” culinary contest. In her corner, she’s got her strong-willed, “big-boned” cat Butterball, her wisecracking BFF, her cantankerous great-aunt, and a nearly-flawless recipe for Pretzel Crust Deep-Dish Bratwurst Pizza.

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.

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.

A surprise trip to Miriam's parents in Punta Cana, which should be filled with arroz con pollo and breezy days under the tamarind tree, quickly becomes a hunt for a possible property saboteur. But before Miriam can begin to uncover the person damaging the vacation rentals her parents manage, she’s called away to Puerto Rico to film a Three Kings Day special. She's welcomed to the blue ballast-stone streets of Old San Juan by crime-scene tape, and things only get worse from there.

In the first book of the Lexi Fagan Mystery series, Baker's Dozen, Lexi is newly arrived in San Francisco and lands a job working at McCracken's Bakery. When her lover, firefighter Jerry Stevens, turns up dead in a devastating hotel fire, Lexi has no time to mourn. Homicide detective Robert Reiger discovers Jerry's death was no accident. Caught up in the investigation, Lexi uncovers a shocking secret that just might get her killed.