Culinary Mystery List

A discussion on Dorothy-L about culinary mysteries prompted me to offer to share the handout sheet I gave to folks who attended my "Cooking Up Murder" lecture at a local library. As promised, here's the link to the PDF. I hope you find some new authors.


Download PDF here

BRUSH WITH DEATH by Hailey Lind (Signet Mystery)

This delightful "Art Lover's Mystery" series will have a wide audience even beyond the art world. Annie Kincaid is a talented artist who's outside the realm of respectibility--partly because of her own talent and partly because her grandfather is a world famous forger. Annie's trying to stay on the straight and narrow, but her faux finishing business just doesn't bring in enough capital. When an opportunity for a profitable job arises, she has to take it, even if it is in a columbarium adjacent to a graveyard. Grave robbers, suspicious suicides, and a missing Old Master provide the framework for a crackerjack mystery. A hunky art thief, a drop-dead goodlooking security expert, and an unscrupulous developer add romance and suspense. Quirky sidekicks and genuinely likeable cameo characters "kick things up a notch." Finally, there's Annie, a hard worker who frequently finds herself between a rock and a hard place. BRUSH WITH DEATH not only escapes the dreaded third book curse, it is surely the best yet! Hailey Lind is a must read.

DEATH AT THE OLD HOTEL by Con Lehane (Thomas Dunne Books)

Serendipitity plays a big part in my life. On the same day I received an early copy of DEATH AT THE OLD HOTEL by Con Lehane, I got an email from Rene Martin at Quail Ridge Books asking if I'd like to introduce him when he came to the store. I'm so glad of this opportunity. Con will be at the store on Tuesday, June 19, at 7:00.

Con's protagonist is Brian McNulty, a bartender in NYC. The hotel where Brian works is old, and the workers are not adequately represented by their union. After a strike begins, murders ensue, a baby is kidnapped, mobsters intervene, and the IRA extends its reach.

Lehane knows his characters well, and so will his readers. This third book in the series will have you begging for more.

OLD WOUNDS by Vicki Lane (Dell Mystery)

Vicki Lane doesn't churn out four books a year; rather, she writes carefully worded Southern sagas that pull the reader into the lives of her characters in the manner of Lee Smith. In this outing, Elizabeth Goodweather is about to put widowhood in her past; she's ready to begin a new relationship. Her daughter Rosemary changes that when she is compelled to investigate the sudden disappearance of her childhood friend more than 20 years ago. Once again Lane explores the lives of people who keep their own council--Cherokee and Appalachian mountain folk. OLD WOUNDS is not just a cracking good mystery; it's a worthy piece of Southern literature. If you can't visit the North Carolina mountains in person, enjoy this literary journey.