Food Fiction

Birch Tree, Maine, is experiencing a rash of deaths, all mysteriously linked to food trucks that frequent the Birch Point Lake Park. Angel’s new donut truck was doing great, until deathly rumors started. Shanice thought she had customer support when taking over her grandpa’s potato truck, until one started complaining. Marisol’s taco truck is a fixture in the park, until linked to a food judge’s death. Mey’s noodle truck was her ticket to a new life, until her ex-boyfriend threatens to take it away. Could competition between vendors have led to this murder and mayhem?

Casey Han's years at Princeton have given her a refined diction, an enviable golf handicap, a popular white boyfriend and a degree in economics. But no job, and a number of bad habits. As Casey, the daughter of working-class Korean immigrants, navigates an uneven course of small triumphs and spectacular failures, a clash of values, ideals and ambitions plays out against the colourful backdrop of New York society.

"In almost any culture, at any time, you can find food writing,” writes guest editor Mark Bittman in his introduction. “Food means growing and hardship, and health and medicine, and work and holiday. In its abundance it is a gift and a joy, and in its absence a curse and a tragedy. If a culture has writing, that culture has food writing.” The stories in this year’s Best American Food Writing are brilliant, eye-opening windows into the heart of our country’s culture.

Enjoy the holiday season with three festive mysteries set in coastal Maine. This anthology includes "Yule Log Murder" by Leslie Meier, "Death by Yule Log" by Lee Hollis, and "Logged On" by Barbara Ross.

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.

Food critic Hayley Snow and her pal Miss Gloria are overjoyed to welcome Violet and Bettina Booth, aka the Scottish Scone Sisters, to Key West. The sisters will host The UK Bakes!—Key West Edition. But the same day they arrive, the bed-and-breakfast the sisters are staying in gets torched. The contest begins the next morning featuring three local bakers. One is the inn owner’s wife, Rayna, who is not only the most talented chef of the group but now a person of interest in the fire. The next night, a dogwalker discovers a body near the bed-and-breakfast.

During the week between Christmas and New Year's, the year-round population of Key West, Florida, faces a tsunami of tourists and snowbirds. It doesn't help that outrageously wealthy key-lime-pie aficionado David Sloan has persuaded the city to host his pie-baking contest. Every pie purveyor on the island is out to win the coveted Key Lime Key to the City, and Key Zest food-critic Hayley Snow is on the scene to report it. Meanwhile, Hayley's home life is turning more tart than sweet.

Isabella joins a coven... But there are no witches in it. When Isabella's friend Emma changes her religion, Isabella is happy she's found something she can believe in. Until she learns Emma thinks she's a witch. Magic doesn't work that way and now she's worried her friend is being taken advantage of. Isabella is desperate to find out who is killing members of the coven - desperate enough to hunt him down on her own. What will it take for her to capture a witch older and stronger than her, and is she willing to pay that price? *** For fans of Amanda M. Lee, Annabel Chase, and Leighann Dobbs,...

As a single mom, Hayley Powell already has a full plate - she's got deadlines to make and a teenage daughter with eyes for an aspiring singer-songwriter. But when country music superstar Wade Springer rolls into town, Hayley spies an irresistible side gig: personal chef to her all-American idol. After he tries her home cooking, Wade's so impressed that he hires her on the spot - and invites her to dine with him alone.

Every year, Key West’s week long Mardi Gras-style festival has tourists and locals alike lining up for costumed revelry and delicious eats. Key Zest magazine has assigned Hayley to write a piece on the fest’s grab-and-go food, so she’s planning on hitting up the mobile eateries while checking out the party preparations. Hayley’s office mate, Danielle, recently elected Queen of Fantasy Fest, is also buzzing between festivities and fundraisers. But then a former royal rival gets taken out.

For Willow, the ramshackle café overlooking the beach, together with its warmhearted community, offers friendship as a daily special and always has a hearty welcome on the menu. But when a handsome stranger blows in on a warm spring breeze, Willow soon realises that her quiet country life will be changed forever.

Freya Braithwaite knows she is lucky. Nineteen years of marriage to a man who still warms her soul and two beautiful teenage daughters to show for it: confident Charlotte and thoughtful Lexi. Her home is filled with love and laughter. But when Lexi's struggles with weight take control of her life, everything Freya once took for granted falls apart, leaving the whole family with a sense of helplessness that can only be confronted with understanding, unity and, above all, love.

Welcome to The Berry Home: where the food is to-die-for! When Kylie’s tenant next door offers meals to-go, sales at The Berry Home grind to a near-standstill. Unfortunately, the terms of the lease mean that Kylie can’t do anything about the competition… until the tenant is found dead – and once again, fingers begin to point at Kylie. With the help of her friends, Kylie attempts to unravel the threads of mystery surrounding the murder, all while keeping The Berry Home afloat, and befriending a mysterious local who’s come back to town. Meanwhile, Zoey creates a “murder-solving” ...

When a friend needs help... you drop everything for them. Isabella's apartment building has suffered because she lives there. In one year, her landlord has put up iron railings on the windows, revamped the entire security system, and refurbished the entire inside because someone tried to burn her out of the building. When he needed her to prove his son was innocent she agreed without needing to know any of the details. Once she started digging into the case, she started to have second thoughts. Add in the tensions between the witches in the Sorority of Brigid all aimed at her, and she's got...

What can you do when an enemy claims sanctuary in your home? Hester Johnson is no one's favorite person, but when she arrives at Proctor House begging to be hidden, the Proctor family takes her in. When something spooks Hester, she runs away - straight into her killer. Is it coincidence she's left on Isabella's door? The danger has never been greater for Detective Palmer and Isabella needs to protect him, find the murderer, and keep her family's secrets. For fans of Samantha Silver, Amanda M. Lee, and Leighann Dobbs, On a Larkspur is a clever, fast-paced cozy mystery that will keep you ...

With the holiday season in full swing, food and cocktails columnist and restauranteur Hayley Powell has lots to check off her last-minute to-do list. Not included is the sudden arrival of her father, who hasn't been in the picture since she believed in Santa Claus. Dwight Jordan's presence in Bar Harbor might just be the unwanted gift that keeps on giving-especially after he becomes the top suspect in a case of yuletide murder . . .

Maxine Connolly has had a rough year with the loss of her mum, marriage, and job in quick succession, and she’d be the first to admit that she hasn’t been coping. But when her teenage daughter, Sophie, applies for a job at the Comfort Food Café on her behalf, Max realises she’s let things get out of hand. So when the job offer comes, Max decides to embrace this unexpected opportunity and uproot her life for a fresh start on the south coast.

A practical guide to catfish farming Business.

The oldest economic battle is repeating itself! Disruptive businesses must fight against their crony competitors - the ones with friends in government who try and protect them from innovative upstarts. Ethan and Emily Tuttle witness this battle firsthand with their food truck friends as they embark on a campaign to win public support and overturn the laws that shut them down. Recommended listening age: 5-11.

Hayley Snow's life has always revolved around food, but when she applies to be a food critic for a Key West style magazine, she discovers that her new boss will be Kristen Faulkner—the woman Hayley caught in bed with her boyfriend! Hayley thinks things are as bad as they can get...until the police pull her in as a suspect in Kristen's murder. Kristen was killed by a poisoned key-lime pie. Now Hayley must find out who used meringue to murder before she takes all the blame...