Finger Lickin' Dead

The second of the Memphis BBQ mysteries cen ters around Adam Cawthorn's murder - he had moonlighted as "Eppie Currian" a restaurant reviewer and the nasty reviews that he wrote had many up in arms so when his body was found, there were plenty of suspects.

I thought this mystery was great because at the very instant of the mystery I thought I knew who the murderer was and followed that conviction until the end when I was greatly surprised at being wrong!

Fun series, will look for more.

This is a wonderful food cozy. Your mouth will be watering for cornbread and barbeque as soon as you read the first chapter. The story is fun with twists and turns and the food will make you want to go to Tennessee to check out their eating places. I haven't read the first one in the series but have out it on my "to buy list" already.

The murder victim is an anonymous food critic who writes scalding reviews. The main place for a gathering of friends in this book is Lulu's 'Aunt Pat's Barbeque, right on Beale Street. That's where Cheryl, Peggy Sue, and Evelyn come by to shoot the breeze with Lulu.

Lulu is an older woman (like me) with grandchildren, a gentle heart and a little overweight. She accidently got caught up in solving a mystery show more before this book so she has some experience. All of the characters are well developed but I fell in love with one of Lulu's granddaughters, Ella Bella, who was a junior Lulu investigator in the making.

I can think of nothing wrong with this book. I loved the story, the setting, the characters and of course the food.

I recommend this book to all cozy mystery lovers. show less

Aunt Pat’s Barbecue Restaurant in the heart of Memphis (Tenn.) feels a bit of a hit when an anonymous food critic gives it a bad review. Famous for its ribs and spicy cornbread, Aunt Pat’s takes the bad press much better than another restaurant that closes its doors after a bad review.

Lulu Taylor, owner of Aunt Pat’s, is more worried about one of her close friends and loyal customers, Evelyn. It seems Evelyn is blinded by the love of her former husband who has cheating ways and always looking for money.

When it’s learned that Evelyn’s ex (Adam) is the anonymous food critic, things heat up hotter than the Fourth of July. Before long Adam is found dead and the list of suspects begins to grow. Was it his ex-soon-to-be again wife, show more was it his soon-to-be ex-wife, one of the restaurant owners he blasted in a review, or just a loyal restaurant customer upset over his take on the delicious food?

When a second person turns up dead, the situation gets as sticky as the sauce on Aunt Pat’s lip-smackin BBQ ribs. As Lulu tries to sort through the list of suspects, she gets a little too close to the killer. Meanwhile, the gang pulls together to help out one of their own with a most unusual wedding at Graceland.

Author Riley Adams has created a group of characters that will have you laughing, crying and shaking your head. If you live in the South, her take on Southern charm will remind you why you love it so. This is a story about family, friendship, loyalty, and Southern charm, not to mention murder, mystery, mayhem and intrigue.

FINGER LICKIN’ DEAD is the second installment in the Memphis BBQ Mystery series, but is a stand alone book. An added bonus is several of the delicious recipes are included in the back of the book.

Once you pick up FINGER LICKIN’ DEAD, you won’t be able to put it down until you find out whodunit and how the wedding turned out. show less

Meh. I enjoyed the first one, but the story is so-so and the characters aren't strong enough to carry the book. About halfway through, I got bored and put it down. Not to mention, a stick of butter and two cups of sugar for only two cups of cut up peaches in the cobbler recipe in the back!?! Yikes! Most recipes use less butter and sugar than that for twice as many peaches. Makes my teeth ache just thinking about it.

Great cozy mystery. The mystery was interesting. Characters are all entertaining (the Graces in particular) but my favourite character is Derrick - all teenagey - it's funny.

This is a new author and series for me. I did not read the first one in the series. I didn't really feel lost by not reading the first book of the series, but (as another reviewer noted) there are a lot of characters and a lot going on.

I will say that the author did create quite a few suspects all of whom had motive to kill the deceased. I did not figure out which one did it--but I don't usually so your experience may be different.

There are some recipes at the end of the book also.

cute book that took me quite awhile to get thru (a paperback). kept you guessing until the end about who the murderer was.