Making a summer meal out of these culinary mystery treats

While this is not definitely the ideal summer many of us had in mind, there is still joy to be found within the pages of a good book.

Given the fact that indulging in fabulous food also goes along with this particular brand of seasonal fun, the culinary mystery genre is the perfect go-to for indoor entertainment. I've found a trio of current and upcoming titles that ought to whet your literary taste buds and then some:

First up is a debut mystery from Abby Collette called A Deadly Inside Scoop, set in the town of Chagrin Falls, Ohio where Bronwyn,aka Win, Crewse comes home to revive the family ice cream parlor.

Due to the shop needing major repairs, Win is unable to reopen the business until December, where a snowstorm shuts down the opening day plans. To cheer herself up, she goes out to collect a bit of snow for one of her famed grandmother's recipes and uncovers a frozen corpse whose demise was not from natural causes.

Turns out the body is that of Stephen Bayard, whose dirty dealings in town included conning Win's grandmother Kay out of her shop. When her father is considered a suspect in the case, Win is highly motivated to find the real killer, with the help of Maisie, her addicted to British murder mysteries best friend. Can she save her father as well as the shop from being destroyed by Bayard again?

This just sounds deliciously fun, with ice cream recipes as the cherry on top of this sleuthing sundae. The book was released this May and the sequel(A Game of Cones,nice title!) already planned for next year. Plus, the idea of ice cream made from snow is a chilling pleasure to behold during the hazy days to come:

Something that pairs up nicely with ice cream is cake and Ellie Alexander has Nothing Bundt Trouble to serve up by the end of June.

This latest entry in The Bakeshop Mystery series has Juliet "Jules" Capshaw looking into a cold case from the 1980s. This time around, she gets some help from a most unexpected source: her late father.

Coming across his journals, Jules not only learns the origins of her beloved family bakery Torte but gains a few clues into a hit and run incident that nearly tore their small town of Ashland apart. Should she be digging up the past like this or stick to the present day concerns all about her?

Getting some extra backstory and world building is a special sweet bonus for fans ready to devour this new slice of mystery cake. Interestingly enough, Alexander has an ice cream themed book due this fall called Chilled to the Cone-winter ice cream seems to be a new trend in this genre and I like it!:

If you're in the mood for a more savory story, it's not too early to put in an order for Vivien Chien's Killer Kung Pao that'll be ready this August.

In this new addition to the Noodle Shop Mysteries, restaurant manager Lana Lee is handed another plate to balance as she witnesses an altercation between two cars in the parking lot of the Asia Village mall(which is a small town into itself).

It's bad enough to get in between tough cookie June Yi, owner of a local tea shop/bakery and determined Mah Jong player Mildred Mao over a fender-bender but when one of the ladies in question winds up dead during a pedicure, Lana has no choice but to solve the case before more havoc breaks loose.

These books are wicked good and I'm glad we have more to come, with the promise of Fatal Fried Rice next March! Of course, it's best to take each story telling course as it comes and this mystery dish should be suitably satisfying this summer indeed:

Having a few great books on hand does take the edge off of anxiety, I've found and while we must keep an alert eye on the headlines, this will be a stressful summer and there's nothing wrong with a little relief from the heat every now and then.

So, think of food themed mysteries as having a picnic with your favorite author and/or their delightful characters, sharing a sandwich and maybe some engaging insights as well: