December MysteryKit: Culinary Mysteries

This month, we're focusing on mysteries involving chefs, caterers, restaurants, and other purveyors of tasty treats. They often come in long series, so there's a lot to choose from. I can't quite offer you a full alphabet of food to choose from; not a lot of food beginning with U, X, Y, or Z.



To broaden the field a bit, there are crime-solvers with occupations that might not instantly come to mind: restaurant inspector, Wild West saloon owner, food critic, bartender, wine journalist:


And with the popularity of shows like Chopped and The Great British Bake Off/Baking Show, it's not surprising that there's at least one "murder at the baking competition" novel:


A note on representation: Culinary mysteries lean heavily to the cozy end of the spectrum -- donut shops and caterers don't lend themselves to noir -- and there are relatively few men writing them (or at least, publishing them under male names). I did what I could to represent the non-cozy and the men in pulling these samples together. Additional suggestions in those areas would be welcome.

And when you've finished reading, we hope you'll take a moment to update the wiki!

Bon appetit!

I can 100% recommend the Deep Dish Mysteries by Mindy Quigley. Book 1 is Six Feet Deep Dish. If I do not finish the latest book, Sleep In Heavenly Pizza, in November, I will read it for this.

>1 KeithChaffee: Dean James writes under various pen names. Although the protagonist of the Cat in the Stacks series is a librarian, the later installments in the series do also involve his girlfriend, a bistro owner.

He also writes Trailer Park Mysteries under the pen name Jimmie Ruth Evans. The detective is a waitress. I can't comment on them because I haven't read any of them.

I have Murder in the East End, part of the Below Stairs Mysteries by Jennifer Ashley sitting on my virtual TBR shelf. The detective is the cook in a Victorian household.

I was going to recommend one you already posted above. I just finished it not long ago: Arsenic and Adobo.

ETA: Not sure yet what I'll read.

Oh, I have a series with a cook as the main sleuth, so I will continue with the next one up.

>2 lowelibrary: Ditto your comments. I have read all the books in the Deep Dish Pizza series.

I'm going with Death by Darjeeling, which I'm sure that I bought a few years ago at the huge fairgrounds book sale. I just flipped through and found that a recipe card for "Creamy Shrimp with Corn & Bacon" had been used as a bookmark.

I was planning on Arsenic and Adobo myself. I don't actually read a lot of culinary mysteries (though I did enjoy the Diane Mott Davidson series once upon a time), so I picked one more or less at random.

Ooh, there are tons of these on Kindle Unlimited! I have started the witches baking series by Nancy Warren so may continue with that. Or begin a totally new series.

I plan on reading Lord Edgeware Dies (also published as Thirteen at Dinner (Hercule Poirot #9; by Agatha Christie) - Since A.C. is known to have had a special interest in poisons and there’s a dinner involved, I suspect there will be food and a murder served up!

I hope to read Lethal Licorice by Amanda Flower, the second in the Amish Candy Shop mystery series. I read the first book earlier this year and liked it very much.

>9 JayneCM: I liked the Witches Baking series, and read the entire set.

Another suggestion is the Nero Wolfe detective series by Rex Stout. "He lives in a luxurious brownstone on West 35th Street in New York City, and he is loath to leave his home for business or anything that would keep him from reading his books, tending his orchids, or eating the gourmet meals prepared by his chef, Fritz Brenner." (from Wikipedia)

I finished reading Lord Edgeware Dies (also published as Thirteen at Dinner (Hercule Poirot #9; by Agatha Christie) - American actress and social climber Jane Wilkerson has her sites set on Duke Merton but there’s a catch in that she is presently married to Lord Edgeware. The problem seems to be solved, as the title suggests but there is a surfeit of suspects each with a strong motive for murdering his Lordship. It’s a Classic whodunnit and there is enough in the plot for the reader to figure it out. That said, though I knew who and why, I couldn’t quite work out the how. It reminded me of The Mysterious Affair at Styles where you had to track teacups— though this time it was about tracking taxi cabs!
In the end I can’t say this was a strong entry for this prompt: There is a dinner, tea, and things ingested but food isn’t as big a factor as I was anticipating it to be. Nonetheless, I’m counting this one while I look for another that might work better.

Final Note: There is some serious Anti-Semitism in the form of stereotyping. Written in 1933, it reflects common sentiment but it was a poor and unnecessary choice. The story could have stood without it and given the rise of the pogroms, more specifically the Holocaust within a few years of the writing, it’s even more distasteful.

>14 Tanya-dogearedcopy: That seems to be an issue with some classic novels. I understand that it reflects the times when the book was written, but it is still disappointing.

>15 LadyoftheLodge: I'm usually generous in my allowances but anti-Semitism as recently as the 1930s feels particularly egregious. In this case, it wasn't just a couple remarks on physical appearance (bad enough), but a presumed flaw in the character based on appearance that made them a suspect. It's really jarring and yeah, disappointing.

I started Eggs in Casket by Laura Childs this morning. I bought at a library sale.

And I found my Culinary Mystery! In 1934, Agatha Christie wrote a play featuring Hercule Poirot called Black Coffee-- And it has #AllTheThings: Black Coffee (natch), tea cups, spills in a vase atop the mantel, and a murder! Sir Claude Amory is a physicist whose formula for an atomic bomb has been stolen. Once he realizes that the formula is gone, he locks everyone into the room and calls for Hercule Poirot. Upon arrival however, Poirot & Hastings discover that the scientist is dead!
Reading this in play form was fun for the imagination with the cues, stage directions, and set descriptions setting up the scenes with detail, and I was able to follow the plot easily, though admittedly I was tracking teacups more than the comings-and-goings of the characters!
Interestingly, Charles Osborne, a biographer of Agatha Christie's adapted this play into a novel in 1998. It might be interesting to compare the play with the novelization, but for now I think I'll stick with the play 🎭

And so, I've completed not only the prompt for the month but the MysteryKit Challenge for the year! I managed to find books for every prompt, rediscover the Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, and return to the world of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot! My favorite book for the year though was actually a re-read: The Ice Harvest (by Scott Phillips; narrated by Grover Gardner). It's noir, and not sexy at all, but it checks off all the boxes for me: good-to-excellent plot, irony/dark humor, a femme fatale, and a load of cash...

Years ago, when YahooGroups were a thing, I used to belong to SLAM (Sounds Like a Mystery)-- an online group that was into mysteries á la audiobooks. After 5 or 6 years(?) the group sort of withered away and after having consumed a fair amount of mysteries of all stripes, I was feeling a little "read-out" of the genre. It's nice to have mysteries back in my stacks :-)

>18 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Apparently, the only Poirot story not included in the TV series

I read Madrigals and Mayhem which involves not only a tea shop and some yummy holiday treats and a madrigal dinner, but also several victims were poisoned by aconite in food (cupcakes and also noodles).

Finished Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala.

>21 KeithChaffee: What did you think? I'm planning to read the 2nd in the series this month.

I liked it. Longer comments in my Club Read topic:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/361744#8687200

I have finished Letzte Ernte. The Xaver Kieffer series isn’t exactly cosy. Here we have international commodity trading, hedging and high-frequency trading, and how to manipulate food prices all over the world, and in a subplot our reluctant hero also gets roped in by a former colleague to participate in a TV cooking show.

I read Assaulted Caramel by Amanda Flower

I read Death by Darjeeling by Laura Childs. The first in the Tea Shop Mysteries series, this introduces Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop in old Charleston. She has a thriving business with locals and tourists, and a staff of loyal employees. With her tea blends included in "The Lamplighter Tour", a historical event, the tea shop can expect even more sales, but a hated land developer attends and is found dead with one of Theodosia's tea cups in his hand. With the news that his tea was poisoned getting out, Theodosia begins investigating herself in order to save her business.
In this murder mystery you get a hefty amount of Charleston's layout and architectural history, and lots of tea talk. It can be silly at times, but it's mostly a complete look at Theodosia's life, from trying to clear her professional name from suspicion to employee issues and trying to build a brand.

I read Killer Christmas by Lin Harper.
A short Christmas story with a basic plot and a romantic twist written in an overly simple, undemanding style. I’m glad this kindle was free.

>27 VivienneR: Thanks for the info! I could use something easy to read some days. Just downloaded, and noted there are others in this series.

>26 mstrust: That was a good read for me. I have the book so I may do a re-read.

I have finished Kaiser, Kraut und Kiberer, a collection of short stories featuring Inspector Nechyba in Habsburg Vienna, who loves to cook and to eat.

The Mousse Wonderful Time of the Year by H.Y. Hanna
This is a fun Christmas mystery novel with a country house murder that had to be committed by one of the residents. I loved the scene with American visitors puzzled by some of the British Christmas customs. There were a few weak spots in the denouement but it did not affect my enjoyment. The beautiful cover is a bonus as are the glossary of British terms and Christmas recipes.

The BB came to me from LadyoftheLodge - thank you, Cheryl.

>28 LadyoftheLodge: I think I came off better in that exchange of BBs, Cheryl.

>29 mnleona: I'd continue with the series, I liked how much the city was part of the story.

I read The Kamogawa Food Detectives, which is much more food than mystery but was a satisfyingly cozy winter read that made me very hungry.

I read Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto. Vera owns a tea shop which is an important part of the story. This was a fun one!

>31 VivienneR: Glad you liked it! Merry Christmas!

COMPLETED Murder in the East End and Death at the Crystal Palace, both by Jennifer Ashley. Historical detective fiction with the main sleuth is the cook in a Victorian household. Lots of descriptions of her kitchen routine.

January MysteryKIT is up! https://www.librarything.com/topic/366524#n8698090

Homicide and Halo-Halo / Mia P. Manansala
3.5 stars

In book 2 of the series, Filipino-American Lila has joined with a couple of friends to open a cafe and they are still setting things up. Meanwhile, her own family already runs their own restaurant. Lila once won the town’s beauty pageant and she has been asked to judge this year’s contest. But there have been threatening letters made toward the pageant. And it’s not long before someone turns up dead.

I enjoyed this. I like most of the characters and their stories; however, there is more food description than is my “thing”, but I’m sure would be appealing for many readers (as well as the recipes included at the end of the book). I do plan to continue the series, though.

I finished Sleep In Heavenly Pizza which catches me up with the series.

I read a few Christmas mysteries involving food:
'Twas the Knife Before Christmas by Jacqueline Frost, the main character helps out at her parent's cafe and her best friend & prime suspect owns a cupcake shop.
Murder in Christmas River by Meg Muldoon, main character owns a pie shop.
And working on Cheddar Off Dead by Julia Buckley, main character works at a catering business and is also a secret chef on the side.