October MysteryKIT: Mysteries Featuring Food

Welcome to October MysteryKit!

This month our reading will focus on “Mysteries Featuring Food.” There are quite a few to choose from, and the list I included here is just a starting point. I am looking forward to discovering some new series and authors as our participants post their reading choices and suggestions.



Suggested Titles and Series

Amish Candy Shop Mysteries by Amanda Flower
Amish Sweet Shop Mysteries by Naomi Miller
Bakeshop Mysteries by Ellie Alexander
Black Coffee by Agatha Christie
Cast Iron Cooking Mysteries and Donut Shop Mysteries by Jessica Beck
Goldy Culinary Mysteries by Diane Mott Davidson
Hannah Swenson Mysteries by JoAnn Fluke
Ice Cream Shop Mysteries by Meri Allen
Key West Food Critic Mysteries by Lucy Burdette
Misty Bay Tea Room Mysteries by Kate Kingsbury
Mrs. Jeffries Mysteries by Emily Brightwell
Noodle Shop Mysteries by Vivien Chien
Oxford Tearoom Mysteries by H.Y. Hanna
The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley
Tea Shop Mysteries by Laura Childs



The wiki is here: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/MysteryKIT_2022

I'll be reading my next Bruno mystery, The Templars' Last Secret by Martin Walker. I have others that would work too so if I have time I'll read another one.

The cases Armand Gamache solves in Louise Penny's Three Pines series are not necessarily about food, but everyone in the books eats very well and I'm always hungry reading them!

Another series where people eat lots of good food is the Verlaque and Bonnet series by M. L. Longworth, which is set in Provence. I plan to read the 4th book in the series this month: Murder on the Île Sordou.

I think I will go with Agatha Christie's Sparkling Cyanide.

Looks like next month will be another cozy! Will have to choose from my tbr.

I think the next Bruno is up in our challenge for October so I'll probably read that one--The Body in the Castle Well by Martin Walker. I'm sure I'll read/listen to others. I'll try to remember to pick ones with food.

The Isle of Man Cozy Mysteries by Diana Xarissa (featuring Aunt Bessie) are a good fit for this one, too. I have only read the first two, but the main characters gather for dinner almost daily and food is mentioned a lot throughout.

I recently got a copy of Ramen Assassin by Rhys Ford, which may fit here as a cross between action thriller and romance involving a ramen restaurant owner and a former child star who witnessed some bad guys disposing of a body.

I'm currently listening to Dinner with Edward by Isabel Vincent. Since I only listen in the car while driving, it may carry over into next month.

Most likely, I will read:
Book Clubbed / Lorna Barrett

I'm as yet undecided, with three leading contenders:
H. F. Heard, A Taste for Honey
M. L. Longworth, A Noel Killing
Georges Simenon, Maigret and the Wine Merchant

We seem to have a good selection of novels to choose from here. Thanks to everyone who suggested titles so far.

>9 dudes22: - Duh! I forgot it was Mysteries & food. Guess this book won't work as it's not a mystery. I'll need to look some more.

>13 dudes22: I own the book you mentioned, and I guess I did not think about the idea that it should be a mystery. Double duh!

I'm going with a witchy read for October; Brownies and Broomsticks.

I have finished Teufelsfrucht which is about the shenanigans of the food industry. Xavier Kieffer, who runs a small restaurant in Luxemburg, gets accidentally involved in it when a critic from a restaurant guide dies in his place.

>2 clue: Thanks for your mention of the Inspector Bruno series. This is a new one for me, and I enjoyed Martin Walker's first novel in this series, Bruno, Chief of Police

I read All Wands on Deck by Mara Webb. Though the protagonist owns a cafe, food didn't really feature much in the story.

My plan was to read another book but now that I've read the 16th Cat Who mystery I realize they are full of food! The title is The Cat Who Came to Breakfast but breakfast is the name of the island that is the setting, and has nothing to do with food. Because so much of the plot is advanced over a meal, we know pretty much what the protganist eats every day and what he likes or doesn't about the food. In addition, one of five myserious deaths on the island is caused by poison. Thinking back I realise that all of the books have food involved, I just hadn't been aware of it.

>19 clue: I am hoping to add to my collection of Cat Who novels when we go to a large book sale later this week.

>20 LadyoftheLodge: That huge booksale sounds fantastic and I look forword to seeing what you find. Hopefully you'll be bringing some Cats home! I actually bought one yesterday at a charity bookstore for $1.

I have read Sinfully Delicious, a mystery in a small diner that does not contain a lot of food, so I am also reading Red Beans and Vice a Heaven Lee Culinary Mystery, which includes recipes as dividers between chapters and a chef solving the mystery.

I read Chef Maurice and a Spot of Truffle by J. A. Lang. This British cosy is free for Amazon Kindle and quite enjoyable.

I read Murder in Chianti by Italian-American author Camilla Trinchieri. Guaranteed to make you hungry!

>21 clue: I found four Cat Who novels from my list, along with quite a few Christmas books and some nice copies of the Aunt Dimity mysteries.

I read this mystery centred on a silver teapot.

The Silver Locomotive Mystery by Edward Marston
One of Marston's Railway Detective series featuring Inspector Colbeck, written in the style of a Victorian melodramatic mystery, although I noticed a couple of modern phrases slipped in. This time, Colbeck is investigating a murder and theft in Wales. The murdered man is the silversmith who created a finely crafted silver teapot in the shape of a locomotive, which is now missing. The intended owner, a domineering woman, is implacable, she wants that teapot not another one, even though there is no other silversmith who could make one. Filled with colourful Dickensian characters, this is light entertainment but in the end unremarkable.

I'm trying to picture a teapot shaped like a locomotive and not quite succeeding. Would the tea be poured out the faceplate? Pouring it out the smokestack would get messy very quickly. Although I suppose such a teapot would be merely decorative.

>27 rabbitprincess: I had the same thought! My mind kept wandering off to the infamous cow creamer from Bertie and Jeeves novels.

I have finished Mord in Sunset Hall where some senior citizens share a house and get involved in a murder. There's much talk about food, even the chapters are named for a food item.

>29 MissWatson: That sounds intriguing! I just picked up The Thursday Murder Club from the bookstore last night.

>30 LadyoftheLodge: I have been wondering who came up with this idea first. I have yet to read The Thursday Murder Club, but it's on the pile.

>31 MissWatson: I read a sample on my ebook reader, and of course it ended just when things were getting good.

I read Aunt Bessie Considers by Diana Xarissa, the third book of the Isle of Man Cozy Mysteries, because in the first two books of the series the characters often meet for tea, order food, eat cookies etc. Even better, food itself plays an important role in the plot of this one because the first victim, being highly allergic to peanuts, eats a brownie baked with exactly those and dies.

Ok, so the food was not the focus; Angelica owns a lunch place, though, and the books in this series always include "Angelica's" recipes at the end

Book Clubbed / Lorna Barrett
3.5 stars

Tricia’s sister Angelica is now president of the town’s Chamber of Commerce. Unfortunately, they don’t have a real place to work out of, so the secretary (Betsy) is working in Angelica’s business space. It’s not long before there is a ruckus in the back and Tricia and Angelica discovery Betsy’s body in the back crushed by a book case! Betsy wasn’t well-liked, so when it’s discovered it wasn’t likely an accident, there are a number of people who might have done it. Tricia, as usual, chats up people around town to see what she can find out.

I liked this one (although I’m not sure there are any in this series I have disliked yet). It’s the 8th book in the series, and I really enjoy many of the characters, though there are definitely some odd “ducks” in the crowd! Tricia’s (current lack of) love life is a bit creepy, though, as two former suitors are still interested and trying to win her back. But really, I think this series (at least for me) is just as much about the characters and their relationships to each other as the mysteries themselves. There was one extra worrisome (and surprising) bit in the book toward the end.