Off My Rocker

Recommendations From a Book Nut

Cooking Mysteries
June 2009

I surely never hope to view
A steak as luscious as a stew.
The latter is the tasty goal
Of elements in perfect whole,
A mad assemblage of legumes
Exuding warm ambrosial fumes,
Each seasoning of proper length,
Proving in Union there's strength.
A steak is grander, it is true,
Yet needs no special skill to brew.
It is an art a stew to make,
But anyone can broil a steak.
--Author Unknown

Virginia Rich was the creator of the grandmother of culinary sleuths, widowed Eugenia Potter

Mrs. Potter migrates between her homes in Iowa and the Southwest. In this homecoming, she has taken advantage of the presence of noted gourmet, James Redmond to organize a continuing education cooking-class.

Within hours of the first class, a young woman is found with her throat cut with a knife from the cooking class. From there the bodies begin to pile up as Eugenia attempts to work out what’s happening and why.

This is a cozy mystery, rather innocent by today’s standards and replete with culinary lore.

I would so give up my house to live in Corinna Chapman’s apartment building which also houses her bakery. This building is a character in its own right; well-built and practically sound proof, it contains delicious apartments, each with it’s own name and style.

Written by the author of the Phryne Fisher mysteries, Earthly Delights is a bakery in Melbourne, Australia, owned by former corporate accountant, Corinna Chapman, who has grown weary of the dishonesty of her former clients and her former husband.

The new business is going well until one morning in the alley outside the bakery, Corinna discovers a half-dead junkie, the latest victim in a string of heroin overdoses. Then someone threatens the building's occupants, and Corinna and her neighbors—Meroe, the witch; Mistress Dread, proprietor of an S&M shop; and the Lone Gunmen, three computer nerds—join forces.

Utterly delightful and recipes are included.

Other culinary mysteries for your enjoyment are: Hell Hath no Curry, by Tamar Myers and No Just Desserts, by Elizabeth Bastion.