To that end, I'm considering a trio of mouth watering mysteries that should whet my appetite for more to read. Due to a blurb for Vivien Chien's latest Noodle Shop Mysteries(Egg Drop Dead, which I'm saving for a readathon this spring!), I learned of a savory series known as Pizza Lovers Mysteries.
Written by Chris Cavender, the first book is entitled A Slice of Murder, where A Slice of Delight pizzeria owner Eleanor Swift finds herself being accused of delivering more than one of her massively topped pies to a customer.
It doesn't help that the local police chief, Kevin Hurley, is a former high school classmate of Eleanor's who still feels that she rejected him back then. Eleanor's business begins to decline as suspicions mount against her, especially since she did have a public argument with the deceased(who received a well deserved slap for his rude moves!). However, with the aid of her married sister Maddy, Eleanor is out to solve this case before the next lethal slice is literally on her.
This does sound like delicious reading and with the stories set in North Carolina, it'll be interesting to check out the food scene in that part of the country. When it comes to pizza, that is one dish that does travel well yet thankfully the same can't be said of murder:
After pizza, one does tend to think about cheese and yes, there is a Cheese Shop Mystery series. Avery Aames starts things off with The Long Quiche Goodbye, where Charlotte Bessette is thrilled to be taking over the French style cheese shop that her grandparents first set up when they first settled into the town of Providence, Ohio.
With her cousin Matthew running a wine business along side her cheese mongering in the store, Charlotte is sure of success. Yet, when a dead man is actually found on the shop's doorstep and her grandmother is the prime suspect, Charlotte has no choice but to take her food focused skills and aim them in the direction of the real killer.
One of my favorite things about cozy mysteries,especially the food flavored ones, are the punny titles that do crop up and this series has some great snackables in that department. Titles like Lost and Fondue, Clobbered by Camembert, To Brie or not to Brie and my favorite so far; For Cheddar or Worse!
Plus, while I am all about All American cheese, the French do have a nice flair when it comes to that dairy delight and this series could offer some edible education as well as entertainment there:
Of course, the key ingredient for making any pizza is dough but in this instance, I came across the next best thing, donuts. Jessica Beck's Donut Shop mysteries begin with Glazed Murder, as recently divorced Suzanne Hart decides to use her settlement money to open up Donut Hearts in her home town of April Springs in North Carolina.
Being free of her less than gainfully employed actor husband Max, Suzanne feels as if her life is truly about to start. Unfortunately, a dead body being dropped off at the door of her shop in the dead of night puts that dream on pause for the moment.
Speaking of punny titles, this series offers up a nice plateful with the likes of Sinister Sprinkles, Fatally Frosted, Powdered Peril and Illegally Iced. Now, you might be thinking "How did you go from pizza to cheese to donuts here?" Well, as it turns out, Jessica Beck and Chris Cavender have something in common other than setting their books in small North Carolina towns.
Jessica Beck and Chris Cavender(along with a few others) are pen names for writer Tim Myers, who has several cozy mystery series in print. His other tales include lighthouse keeping and candle making but I think that his food related series(he also has a Classic Diner set of mysteries!) sound more like my style of cozy culinary reading.
Not to mention that donuts do have the reputation for pleasing police officers and that along with a cup of coffee sounds like the perfect pairing for some crime solving fun:
I'll be seeking these series out at either my nearest library or book seller soon, especially since the current headlines these days seem to be encouraging folks to stay inside and read for a little while longer this season. Hopefully, things will get better soon and we can all engage in some culinary mystery capers with lighter hearts and full fictional stomachs:
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