Food Crimes

Food Preneurs, one of the hottest cooking shows on TV, has decided to feature Jewel Bay in an upcoming episode, and everyone in town is preparing for their close-ups, including the crew at the Glacier Mercantile, a.k.a. the Merc. Not only is Erin Murphy busy remodeling her courtyard into a relaxing dining area, she's organizing a steak-cooking competition between three of Jewel Bay's hottest chefs to be featured on the program.

During the week between Christmas and New Year's, the year-round population of Key West, Florida, faces a tsunami of tourists and snowbirds. It doesn't help that outrageously wealthy key-lime-pie aficionado David Sloan has persuaded the city to host his pie-baking contest. Every pie purveyor on the island is out to win the coveted Key Lime Key to the City, and Key Zest food-critic Hayley Snow is on the scene to report it. Meanwhile, Hayley's home life is turning more tart than sweet.

"Murder, magic, and gourmet pet treats—welcome to a mystery you won’t want to miss!" Welcome to Largo Island, where magic is real, ghosts are cheeky, and mysteries abound! Alyssa, the determined owner of Alyssa's Gourmet Paw Cuisine, thought her biggest challenge was creating the perfect gourmet pet treats. But when her right-hand woman quits, a menacing stranger threatens her, and a dead body is discovered, Alyssa's life is thrown into chaos. With her business teetering on the edge and her safety in jeopardy, Alyssa reluctantly teams up with Malachite, her enigmatic ex-fiancé and step...

Beneath the gloss of star chefs and crystal-laden tables, the truffle supply chain is touched by theft, secrecy, sabotage, and fraud. Farmers patrol their fields with rifles and fear losing trade secrets to spies. Hunters plant poisoned meatballs to eliminate rival truffle-hunting dogs. Naive buyers and even experts are duped by liars and counterfeits. Deeply reported and elegantly written, this exposé documents the dark, sometimes deadly crimes at each level of the truffle’s path from ground to plate, making sense of an industry that traffics in scarcity, seduction, and cash.

In the glittering heart of Vancouver, inside a lavish hotel, the quest for eternal youth takes a sinister turn. For four individuals, the looming dread of aging becomes an obsession, fueling their desperation for Jeanine Bouchard's revolutionary skin cream – a miraculous concoction promising not only to reverse the ravages of time but to heal any wound. But how far would one go for a second chance at youth? As rivalries intensify, the line between ambition and madness blurs, turning desire into a deadly game. With a stellar ensemble of characters and a twist you won't see coming, this ...

A Grisly Murder, a Desperate Ghost, and a 100-year-old Secret? Buying the rundown Vineyard on Spell's Bay is Verity's Do-Over. It just needs a little TLC. And maybe a bulldozer. It's here in the Magic-Filled town of Veil Falls that she will find out she's something more than Over-the-Hill and Broke... According to Honor, her handsome next-door neighbor and resident Vine Warlock, she has a certain gift. Only a Wine Witch isn't all she is. When the Naked Ghost on the Chair in her Bedroom starts asking questions, she's certain she's ready for the Not so Funny Farm...and determined to get rid ...

This box set includes the first three books in Lucy Burdette's cozy culinary Key West Food Critic Mystery series: An Appetite for Murder, Death in Four Courses, and Topped Chef.

This novel take on the history of wine reveals that, whether by adding toxic sweeteners or passing off counterfeit bottles, wine fraud is abundant—and as old as wine itself. Vintage Crime will intrigue even the most sated of wine drinkers with its juicy tales of deception, raising interesting questions along the way: what counts as wine, why do we drink it, and what makes a wine truly authentic?

What does the Mission Lighthouse in Veil Falls have hanging around? And who is the Fresh specter putting the moves on Verity at the Supermarket? Honor Mason’s Annual Snowshoe, Shuffle, and Flight Wine Event has the customers all a titter with delight…and maybe a glass of his best Moscato… As the less than delighted hostess for her neighbor’s event, Verity is learning a thing or two about the wine business and speaking in front of an overly enthusiastic crowd. But the last stop on the tour at the Mission Light House comes with a view…and he’s swinging from the upper gallery… It...

Whiskers, Witchcraft, and Whodunit: Join BMC on a Psychic Purr-suit to Unravel a Tail of Mystery!When BMC, a psychic talking cat, loses his beloved human, he's determined to use his newfound powers to find her. But relocating to a mysterious town with a Light Witch guardian and an inquisitive pug named Bugsy, BMC finds himself in a web of lies and danger. As animal control threatens his freedom, and haunting secrets of his new human's past emerge, BMC must navigate a world of meddling ghosts, old lady witches, and estranged family ties. Teaming up with Bugsy and rediscovering his family's ...

Autopsies and Bubble Baths should be Sacred... That’s one fact Verity is sure of! After the body of a young woman washes ashore in Spell’s Bay, and the victim’s ghost arrives just in time for her own dissection, Verity will be forced to reassess her opinion. When the same mischievous ghost interrupts her favorite Honeysuckle-Rose Bubble bath and dips a ghostly toe, Verity is forced to take desperate measures. Add in the imposter at Martina's Culinary School that has everybody astir, and Verity, accompanied by her not-so-loyal feline familiar, Lois, set out on a hair-raising adventure ...

For millennia, fresh olive oil has been a necessity - for food, medicine, beauty, and religion. Today's researchers continue to confirm the remarkable, life-giving properties of true extra-virgin, and "extra-virgin Italian" has become the highest standard of quality. But what if this symbol of purity has become deeply corrupt?

A murdered woman. An antique Art Deco necklace. A reason to celebrate And a reason to mourn. The future couldn’t have been brighter now that Joan had sold her business and had planned an around the world trip with her husband. With the sale completed, she had the money and the time to do exactly what she’d always wanted to do. Along with her husband, family, ex-business partner, and several friends, she attended an outdoor concert to celebrate the sale. It was the culmination of everything she’d ever wanted. When she briefly left the concert at intermission, she decided to walk away ...

Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant. Run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare, the Kamogawa Diner treats its customers to wonderfully extravagant meals. But that's not the main reason to stop by... The father-daughter duo have started advertising their services as 'food detectives'. Through ingenious investigations, they are capable of recreating a dish from their customers' pasts – dishes that may well hold the keys to forgotten memories and future happiness.

On October 12, 2005, a massive fire broke out in the Wines Central wine warehouse in Vallejo, California. Within hours, the flames had destroyed 4.5 million bottles of California's finest wine worth more than $250 million, making it the largest destruction of wine in history. The fire had been deliberately set by a passionate oenophile named Mark Anderson, a skilled con man and thief with storage space at the warehouse who needed to cover his tracks.

Alan Woolsham was at the top of his game. He was an acclaimed television star in England and had come to New York to film four special TV shows dealing with British antiques. The shows were to be taped at the Whitney Museum, and Alan hoped to open up a whole new viewing audience for his wildly successful show. But things didn’t go as planned. Murder does have a way of changing things. So much for stardom in the States. Marty and her husband, Jeff, were in New York City for what the hype promised to be a television and museum extravaganza about British antiques. Marty, an art and antique ...

Was it just an untimely Accident? Or was it Murder? When Honor Mason’s sister, Martina, arrives; a despairing widow, with five rambunctious kids in tow, and haunted shadows in her eyes… Verity and Honor wonder. Are they coming home to stay…or running for their lives? And then they find the first body… Just a taste of what’s to come. A brand-new Paranormal Cozy to keep you up at night. Burgandy Blunder will hit the shelves this November.

Trouble seems to follow Penny Preston wherever she goes, but as usual when life gives her lemons, she makes lemon bars. Her trusty sidekick, Linda, has convinced her they need their Private Investigators licenses. The only problem is she can’t figure out how to tell the overprotective Deputy Hanson, now that they are dating, that she’s going all in on this mystery business.Penny’s new adventure takes a back seat when the local baker, Violet, turns up missing. With the baker’s ex-fiancé mysteriously returning to town it seems like the police may have a viable suspect, that is until ...

City Developer Murdered at Historic Castle Anna's Cafe is flourishing. But the town of Dolphin Bay is in uproar as a city developer proposes new construction on the scenic Coastal Walk. Locals flock to the town meeting to protest. Hours later, the man is dead, stabbed to death in a room full of people. The police face a big challenge since everyone present had a motive to kill. When Anna’s friend and local resort owner Charlie Robinson becomes the top suspect, she reluctantly steps in to help. Can she ignore his sordid reputation and trust he is innocent? New secrets are revealed and ...

'Primal Cuts' aren't all that's Hooked and Hanging at Bussard's Meats in Veil Falls. Fledgling Vine Witch Verity Blume has agreed to provide the guests at the upcoming Matching the Wine Festival with a 'foodie experience' they won't soon forget. Everybody loves a Pig Roast, right? If only she can just bring herself to sentence 'The Right Pig' to be Saturday's dinner. And get the neighboring farmers to stop fighting long enough to fill the order. But Wining and Dining the guests isn't all that's in store for its citizens. And Verity is serving up more than just an attention grabber. It's ...