Culinary Fiction

"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.

Ever since meeting the wary owners of an antique shop opening across the street, Robbie has been scrambling to manage weird incidences plaguing her cafe and country store. Pricey items vanish from shelves without explanation, a fully equipped breakfast food truck starts lingering around the area each morning, and loyal diners mysteriously fall ill. When an elderly man dies after devouring an omelet packed with poisonous mushrooms, Robbie must temporarily close down Pans 'N Pancakes and search for the killer with a real zest for running her out of business - or else.

Tainted by a recent murder, the Cherry Orchard Inn is struggling to attract guests—until celebrated portrait painter Silvia Lumiere books a room for the summer. Whitney Bloom, the inn's new manager, can't believe her good luck. Between her scrumptious scones and the painter's remarkable talent, the inn swiftly becomes the center of the Cherry Cove art scene. However, all is not the bowl of cherries it appears. There's a rotten core in the portrait painter that only Whitney and her friends can see.

Hayley Powell, food and cocktails columnist for Bar Harbor's Island Times, is...well, kind of broke. So when she's selected for that extreme coupon-clipping reality game show coming to town...she's thrilled, especially when her competition is nasty nurse Candace Culpepper. But when Haley stumbles across a face-down-in-the-snow Candace - scissors gleaming between her shoulders - she knows the next thing she'll be selected for will probably be a police line-up.

It seemed like a simple case: the murder of Lewis Trenton, a beachcomber who lived alone in a cabin in the Oregon hills. But the newspaper article piques the interest of Vivian Wainwright, owner of the British-style Misty Bay Tearoom. The photo accompanying the article shows Lewis’s cluttered living room and on the shelf is a replica of Big Ben. Vivian is sure she sold the clock a week before in her shop. Who could have given the replica to Lewis? What was the true motive behind Lewis’s murder? And what secrets can the clock tell—before the killer strikes again?

Tiffany Black is convinced that her client, a homicide detective, is a killer - and she's out to prove it. But it's not so easy to build a case against a cop. And worse, could her instincts be wrong this time? Meanwhile, things will never be the same between her and Stone again.

Early October is "winding down" time in Busman's Harbor, Maine, but there's nothing relaxing about it for Julia Snowden. Between busloads of weekend leaf peepers at the Snowden Family Clambake and a gut renovation of the old mansion on Morrow Island, she's keeping it all together with a potentially volatile skeleton crew - until one of them turns up dead under the firewood. When the Russian demo team clearing out the mansion discovers a room that's been sealed off, Julia's baffled as to its purpose and it's secrets. When one of the workers is found murdered, things come to a boil.

Imogen thought escaping the king's wrath would give her everything she wanted. But her relationship with Prince Hank is tougher than an overcooked flan, and the welcome they get on Badlands Island is far less than friendly. Accused of kidnapping, Imogen proposes they prove their worth by traveling through a deadly forest to retrieve a magical herb at the top of a mountain. Forced to take her baking skills on the road, Imogen and her friends must navigate monsters, secrets, and a possible traitor.

Cat has a full plate at her Aspen Hills Warm Springs Resort, as a group of aspiring cozy mystery authors arrives for a writer's retreat. So when baker Dee Dee Meyer stirs up trouble by filing a false complaint with the health inspector against the B&B - all because she insists Cat's best friend Shauna stole her recipes - Cat marches into the shop to confront her.

When Nell Valenti is offered a chance to move to Tuscany to help transform an aging villa into a farm-to-table cooking school, she eagerly accepts. But Nell gets more than she bargained for when she arrives. With only a day to go until the launch dinner for the cooking school, the villa is in shambles, and Chef O is blissfully oblivious of the work that needs to be done before a group of local dignitaries arrive, along with a filmmaker. The situation only worsens when Nell discovers that the filmmaker is an ex-boyfriend, and he's found murdered later that night.

In the enchanting town of Sweethaven, CT, Marla Gonzalez, the spirited owner of Tiny Delights Bakery, takes a bold step to expand her business by purchasing the adjacent space. But what starts as a promising venture soon turns sinister when a hidden body is discovered within the newly acquired property. With the help of her trusted companions, Mr. Roundbelly and Lulu, Marla embarks on a quest to unravel the mystery behind the grim discovery. As the investigation unfolds, the small town of Sweethaven is rocked by another unexpected death, casting shadows of suspicion and intrigue. Marla ...

Ike Hamilton is a part of the Haven Harbor community just like anyone else, though he's fallen on hard times and has to make do on disability checks and deposit bottles. Most of the locals do what they can to help him out, and needlepointing partners Angie and Sarah are happy to see him at the annual Blessing of the Fleet, honoring all those lost at sea over the centuries. But when harmless Ike is stabbed, suspicion quickly falls on a troubled teenage boy who's new in town. Angie's convinced that young Leo is innocent - but if he didn't do it, who did?

Melanie and Angie are taking a gamble by opening their first franchise of the bakery, and where better to hit the jackpot than Vegas? Holly Hartzmark is a former showgirl who's looking to bring Mel and Angie's sweet treats to Sin City, but Mel isn't so sure she's ready to hand her recipes over to a complete stranger - especially one as brash as Holly. But after the potential bakery location gets blown up, Mel begins seeing another side to Holly.

Is winning a TV show contest worth your very life? Apparently so—just ask novice witch Christelle Seabright, host of the wickedly popular new Kitchen Witch Wars. Two contestants have already been eliminated by “unorthodox” means. When one of those contestants rematerializes and demands to rejoin the cast because, they argue, they were murdered and therefore not technically eliminated, Christelle doesn’t bat an eye. In the paranormal realm you can’t let such things shock you. She is much more concerned about the untimely reappearance of someone from her own past. …And then ...

On the train ride into Dundee, a horrified scream awakens Albert and Rex from their dreams and back to reality...where they discover that a woman has just witnessed a murder. It would be easy to dismiss her claim; she saw something in the window of a house as the train went by, but when there are dangerous men waiting for her at Dundee station, Albert has to accept she might be onto something. Stepping in to defend the woman on the train, they soon find themselves embroiled in something far more sinister than they could have imagined.

Everyone adores Miss May, except the guilty. In a small town where neighbors know each other, lawn chairs come out in the spring; if you sit around chatting long enough, someone brings you pie; and there are still skeletons in every closet. Luckily for Pine Grove, Miss May has a nose for crime. The body was found face-down in the orchard.

Tearoom sleuth Gemma Rose is looking forward to a holiday filled with delicious Yuletide treats, time with friends and family, and maybe even a "white Christmas" in Oxford. But when she's snowed in at a country manor, she finds herself stumbling on a puzzling murder, complete with a body in the library, a house full of suspects, and a trail of mysterious footprints!

When a high-roller requests Tiffany Black as his “lucky” dealer, she doesn't expect the tides of fortune to turn so quickly. She doesn't expect to be asked to leave the high-roller suites almost immediately. Nor does she expect the wealthy casino client to end up murdered. Unfortunately, that's exactly what does happen. Asked to investigate the client’s death by his son, Tiffany discovers that the man had an unpleasant way of doing business: the list of suspects spans the decades, and includes her friend Jack, who’s acting very strangely. Meanwhile “Stoney” shows up with a ...

When Ian and Tiffany’s cousin is accused of murder, the duo scramble to try to discover the real culprit. Unfortunately, a new detective has them in his cross-hairs and seems determined to make their lives miserable – and he seems to barely know what a real suspect is. While there’s no shortage of suspects, Tiffany and Ian have their work cut out for them – and things are made worse when they discover their cousin hiding secrets of her own. Meanwhile, Tiffany’s family enlists Ian to ‘help’ with her love life—help that Tiffany is initially open to accepting, until she ...

Coffee lovers are gathering from far and wide, and Krissy, Rita, and Vicki are excited. But some of the attendees may need to switch to decaf, as a public argument breaks out soon after they check in and then a flavor competition leads to bitter feelings. When the winner of the contest is beaned with a carafe full of cafe mocha, suspicions swirl - along with accusations of bribery. Was the dead man offering perks to the judges - or was something sinister going on in his personal life? This case is going to keep Krissy up all night long.