A Maryland soul food chef catches a bitter killer while catering her high school reunion in this “sweet-tart and wickedly wholesome” mystery (Publishers Weekly). Halia Watkins loves her life as proprietor of Mahalia’s Sweet Tea, serving the best soul food in Prince George’s County, Maryland. And what better way to celebrate than catering her own high school reunion? Soon she’s serving up her signature macaroni and cheese and famous chicken wings to a host of appreciative ex-classmates. Some folks have blossomed since graduation. But Halia’s high school nemesis Raynell Rollins—currently married to a former football star—hasn’t changed nearly enough. When Raynell is found dead the morning after the reunion, the roll call of possible suspects could fill the school gymnasium. Extra-marital affairs, mega-church scandals and sports secrets—Raynell had her perfectly manicured hand in a lot of sticky situations. With her young cousin’s bungling assistance, Halia is on course to track down the killer. But if she doesn’t make the grade, she’ll be the alumna most likely to meet an untimely end. Features delicious recipes including Double Crust Chicken Pot Pie and Chocolate Marshmallow Cake!

A fast-talking businessman is felled by a frying pan: “Soul food and sassy characters…a feast that will satisfy the appetites of readers.”—Library Journal Welcome to Mahalia’s Sweet Tea—the finest soul food restaurant in Prince George’s County, Maryland. In between preparing her famous cornbread and mashed potatoes so creamy “they’ll make you want to slap your Momma,” owner Halia Watkins is about to dip her spoon into a grisly mystery . . . Halia Watkins has her hands full cooking, hosting, and keeping her boisterous young cousin, Wavonne, from getting too sassy with customers. Having fast-talking entrepreneur Marcus Rand turn up in her kitchen is annoying enough when he’s alive—but finding his dead body face-down on her ceramic tile after hours is much worse. Marcus had his enemies, and the cast iron frying pan beside his corpse suggests that at last, his shady business deals went too far. Halia is desperate to keep Sweet Tea’s name out of the sordid spotlight but her efforts only make Wavonne a prime suspect. Now Halia will have to serve up the real villain—before the killer returns for a second helping . . . Features delicious recipes from Mahalia’s Sweet Tea,including Sour Cream Corn Bread and Sweet Corn Casserole!

Mahalia’s Sweet Tea boasts the most flavorful soul food in all of Prince George’s County, Maryland. But as events at the beauty industry’s leading trade show turn ugly, owner Halia Watkins needs to bite into an unsavory new item on the menu—murder! When the chicest hair convention of the year gets cooking in town, so does business at Mahalia’s Sweet Tea. Halia can barely handle the influx of customers looking to satisfy their appetites after spending the day surrounded by outrageous runway styles. As buzz builds around beauty mogul and pop culture icon Monique Dupree, collard greens start moving out of the kitchen faster than models strutting down the catwalk . . . But the glitz fades the moment Monique is found shot to death. Turns out, the glamorous entrepreneur’s vanity empire was stained by bitter rivalries, explosive affairs, and backstabbers scheming for fame and fortune. With more suspects than ingredients listed on a bottle of deep conditioner, Halia and her cousin Wavonne rush to discover who pulled the trigger—before the conniving culprit dishes another deadly surprise . . .

As the owner of Mahalia’s Sweet Tea, Halia Watkins is famous in Maryland’s Prince George’s County for her down-home cuisine. But when she has the chance to showcase her talents on national TV, she becomes the star of a murder mystery that’s too hot to handle! When Halia is invited to serve as a guest judge on the popular cooking competition show Elite Chef, she’s delighted to add some extra flavor to the mix. But as filming ramps up in Washington D.C., there are too many fiery personalities in the kitchen. Halia discovers that pulling off her small screen debut unscathed means contending with a longtime competing restaurant owner, an infamously crass hospitality mogul, and a group of cutthroat contestants vying for culinary glory . . . The competition sizzles with only a few finalists left standing—and goes cold when the gorgeous young frontrunner is found dead. As murder accusations are slathered over a recently eliminated contestant, Halia, with some bungling assistance from her wise-cracking cousin Wavonne slides into an investigation of their own. A little snooping reveals the victim burned lots of bridges, leaving a slew of alleged affairs and stolen recipes in her wake. With a fast-rising list of potential suspects, Halia must sort through mindboggling clues to fry the flaky culprit before someone else gets baked to a crisp . . .

A Nigerian psychologist travels to a remote southern border town to uncover the truth about the murder of three university students in this "original and fast-paced thriller" (Lauren Wilkinson, author of American Spy). When Dr. Philip Taiwo is called on by a powerful Nigerian politician to investigate the public torture and murder of three university students in remote Port Harcourt, he has no idea that he’s about to be enveloped by a perilous case that is far from cold. Philip is not a detective. He’s an investigative psychologist, an academic more interested in figuring out the why of a crime than actually solving it. But when he steps off the plane and into the dizzying frenzy of the provincial airport, he soon realizes that the murder of the Okriki Three isn’t as straightforward as he thought. With the help of his loyal and streetwise personal driver, Chika, Philip must work against those actively conspiring against him to parse together the truth of what happened to these students. A thrilling and atmospheric mystery, and an unforgettable portrait of the contemporary Nigerian sociopolitical landscape, Lightseekers is a wrenching novel tackling the porousness between the first and third worlds, the enduring strength of tribalism and homeland identity, and the human need for connection in the face of isolation.

Lulu and Merry's childhood was never ideal, but on the day before Lulu's tenth birthday their father propels them into a nightmare. He's always hungered for the love of the girls' self-obsessed mother; after she throws him out, their troubles turn deadly. Lulu had been warned not let her father in, but when he shows up drunk, he's impossible to ignore. He bullies his way past Lulu, who then listens in horror as her parents struggle. She runs for help, but discovers upon her return that he's murdered her mother, stabbed her five-year-old sister, Merry, and tried, unsuccessfully, to kill himself. Lulu and Merry are effectively orphaned by their mother's death and father's imprisonment. The girls' relatives refuse to care for them and abandon them to a terrifying group home. Even as they plot to be taken in by a well-to-do family, they come to learn they'll never really belong anywhere or to anyone—that all they have to hold onto is each other. For thirty years, the sisters try to make sense of what happened. Their imprisoned father is a specter in both their lives, shadowing every choice they make. One spends her life pretending he's dead, while the other feels compelled--by fear, by duty--to keep him close. Both dread the day his attempts to win parole may meet with success. A beautifully written, compulsively readable debut, Randy Susan Meyers's The Murderer's Daughters is a testament to the power of family and the ties that bind us together and tear us apart.

This entertaining cookbook from Angela Lansbury and the cast and crew of the popular television series "Murder, She Wrote" contains more than 350 recipes from the primary cast members and stars, plus recipes culled from the many famous actors who made cameo appearances on the show.