The Chow Maniac is the 11th in the Noodle Shop series, but I think it could be read as a stand alone. There is no over-arching plotline to the series and although we have lots of returning characters, I think they're introduced well.
This time around, Lana, our amateur sleuth, is approached by Lydia, a private detective we've met previously, with a case that involves the Asian community. Lydia has been hired to look into a century-old Asian organization known as the Eight Immortals. Three members have already died under seemingly natural circumstances, but the client believes they were actually murdered and that he may be next.
Lana is a great character. She manages her family's restaurant, but has solved enough murders for people to notice her. She's funny and sassy and does not know how to keep a secret. Per usual cozy rules, she has an adorable dog and is dating a police detective, although neither play a huge part...
I love pizza - extra cheese, no pepperoni if it's from DiCarlo's, add some veggies if it's from another pizza place, which is more or less why I picked up Mozzarella Murder. Denny, our main character/amateur sleuth, is a widower in his 40s who has left his job as a copy editor to open a pizza truck. He is back in his hometown in Eastern Pennsylvania to sell pizzas at the annual Summerfest. His first stop in town is at the cheese shop run by his old friend Ruben. In the shop, the two find the dead body of motivational speaker and former classmate, Charlie Sampson. Denny decides he needs to investigate because it looks like Ruben might be the chief suspect. It turns out Charlie had more than one enemy.
Denny has been out of town for a while, but he reconnects with several old friends and knows enough people in town that he still fits in well. He has...
I can't tell you why I picked up Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng. I don't read a lot of horror, I avoid serial killers, and I haven't been reading many pandemic books. But it was fabulous, in a gory, violent, haunting way.
It's Summer, 2020 in New York City. In the opening scene, 24-year-old Cora Zeng and her sister Delilah are waiting for the subway when a man appears just as the train approaches. He calls Delilah a "bat eater" and pushes her onto the tracks. She is killed by the train and the man is never caught. resulting in her brutal death before Cora's eyes. Unfortunately, the man escapes. The second chapter picks up a few months later. Cora is now working as a crime scene cleaner, a job that fits Cora and her need for cleanliness well, but a disturbing number of the jobs have been cleaning the apartments of murdered Asian women. It's also Ghost...
I had a book on next up on my to-read pile that was a little too dark for Valentine's Day, so I looked for something light and fun and free to listen to first. A cozy mystery with chocolate sounded perfect and it was available through my library. I've read several of the Domestic Diva mysteries and they're always enjoyable.
This time around Sophie is in charge of the 60th Anniversary event for Amore chocolates, including a tasting at the owner's mansion. Unfortunately, the owner, Joe Merano, is missing and his family is trying to keep it quiet. Then, during clean-up after the tasting, Sophie finds a dead body- not Joe, thankfully- in the guesthouse.
Sophie is one of those too good to be true women. She's smart and spunky, a great cook, a spontaneous entertainer, a loyal friend. She's maybe dating a lawyer, is friends with her former former love interest/detective, and is still close to her...
Curds & Whey has only been open two years and Willa needs to solve a sixth murder.
Willa's ex-fiancé, Pierce, and his partner, Willa's former best friend, Riley, have opened a pop-up chocolate shop in the town's revamped bakery. Willa is, reasonably in my opinion, angry that the pair has chosen her town for their newest store, but when a reporter is killed by poisoned chocolates, she knows she's not guilty, even if the police chief isn't so sure. I felt a little bad for the character who got killed. We met him, saw he was pushy, and then he was dead. There was never much consideration that he was even the intended victim.
The reader has several suspects to look at, although Willa would rather not believe any of them are guilty. And was destroying the business's reputation the point, or was someone trying to kill AJ, the newspaper editor, or Willa herself? Turns out Pierce is not a very...
The Secret of the Three Fates picks up a few months after the first in the series, The Curse of Penryth Hall, in October of 1922. This one probably works as a stand alone, but you'll have a much better feel for the characters and appreciate what we learn about their backgrounds here.
This time around, Mr. Owen and Ruby are at a remote manor house in Scotland, supposedly to purchase illuminated manuscripts. Mr. Owen, however, has lied to Ruby and the two of them are actually there to attend a séance- Mr. Owen is hoping to speak to his son, Ben, who died in the War. The séance, hosted by three mediums going by the name of The Three Fates, is frighteningly real. One of the mediums, seemingly possessed by a spirit, delivers an ominous message:
There’s nowhere on earth you can hide from the dead. We have not forgotten … we shall not forgive. The dead know what...
