When the glamour of the culinary world conceals a dark secret, murder is on the menu… Angie Amalfi is ecstatic when she lands a job on a pompous chef's call-in radio show, believing she'll whisk her way to stardom. But the murder of a popular restaurant owner sends shockwaves through the city's elite dining scene. Angie knows this world and leaps fork-first into the mystery, inadvertently complicating the investigation of the man who has stolen her heart, Homicide Inspector Paavo Smith As the body count rises, the dangers increase in a shadowy underworld where money, power, and illicit film producers stir the pot. Oblivious to the simmering peril, Angie soon finds herself in the middle of a deadly stew, where not only her new job, but her budding relationship with Paavo face being poisoned into extinction. Will she and Paavo navigate the twists and turns, saving not just their lives but also the fragile bond forming between them? Or are they doomed to be the next deadly course? The kitchen is hot, and a mystery is served in this latest Cook and Inspector Mystery. NOTE: The main characters in this story appear in an early mystery series by the author. This is a completely reimagined and updated version of Too Many Cooks.

The first book in M. C. Beaton's New York Times bestselling Agatha Raisin series—now a hit show on Acorn TV and public television. Putting all her eggs in one basket, Agatha Raisin gives up her successful PR firm, sells her London flat, and settles in for an early retirement in the quiet village of Carsely. But she soon finds her life of leisure isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Bored, lonely, and used to getting her way, she enters a local baking contest: Surely a blue ribbon for the best quiche will make her the toast of the town. But her recipe for social advancement sours when the judge, Mr. Cummings-Browne, not only snubs her entry but also falls over dead! After her quiche’s secret ingredient turns out to be poison, she must reveal the unsavory truth. . . . That is, Agatha has never baked a thing in her life! In fact, she bought her entry ready-made from an upper-crust London quicherie. Grating on the nerves of several Carsely residents, she is soon receiving sinister notes. Has her cheating and meddling landed her in hot water, or are the threats related to the suspicious death? It may mean the difference between egg on her face and a coroner’s tag on her toe. . . . The Quiche of Death, the first book in this beloved series, is now a Minotaur Signature Edition, complete with a discussion guide and essay by the author.

When murder is served at a California pie shop, the head baker turns amateur sleuth in this New York Times bestselling author’s cozy mystery series debut. After moving to the California coast with her fiancé, Valentine Harris thought her dream of running her own business was just pie in the sky. Five months and a broken engagement later, Val is still in San Nicholas—and running her own pie shop. But when one of her regulars keels over at the counter while eating a quiche, Val feels like she's living a nightmare. After the police determine the customer was poisoned, business at Pie Town drops faster than a fallen crust. Convinced they’re both suspects, Val's flaky, seventy-something assistant Charlene drags her boss into some amateur sleuthing. At first Val dismisses Charlene’s half-baked hypotheses, but before long the ladies uncover some shady dealings hidden in fog-bound San Nicholas. Now Val must expose the truth—before a crummy killer tries to shut her pie hole.

Oklahoma City boomed out of the prairie in 1889 with a land run, and it hasn’t stopped since. At the literal crossroads of the nation where I-35 meets I-40 and one of the key cities on Route 66, OKC welcomes travelers from across the country and world. Today they call it the “Modern Frontier,” where there is no shortage of people to meet or things to do. Take a drive to see highlights of Route 66 like the Gold Dome, Milk Bottle Building, and Lake Overholser Bridge, the background of countless road trip movies. Get to know the history of the city and take in some fabulous culture in museums like the First Americans Museum, Oklahoma Hall of Fame at the Gaylord-Pickens Museum, and the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center. Have a night on the town with a musical canal cruise, a Ferris wheel ride, and the best slice of pie you’ve ever eaten. Shop the new Farmers Market at Scissortail Park, tour the town’s hidden record shops, and the chic’est chic of OKC’s numerous art districts. When you’ve done all that, you’re just getting started! In 100 Things to Do in Oklahoma City Before You Die, you’ll get the best tips from local researcher and ghost-tour guide Jeff Provine and journalist Dennis Spielman on where to meet Sir Indiana Bones the Museum Cat, where to hunt for fairy houses in the park, and where to play retro video games while sipping signature cocktails. There’s always something new to do in OKC!

A guide to series fiction lists popular series, identifies novels by character, and offers guidance on the order in which to read unnumbered series.

Many bibliographers focus on women who write. Lawyer Barnett looks at women who detect, at women as sleuths and at the evolving roles of women in professions and in society. Excellent for all women's studies programs as well as for the mystery hound. Look at the popularity of such reading guides as Willetta Heising's Detecting Women (3rd ed. 0-9644593-7-X) or Amanda Cross' fiction (Honest Doubt 0-345-44011-0 11/00).

A QUICHE BEFORE DYING Could there be murder on the menu at Andre’s in San Francisco? If so, it had better be served up quickly, because Palmer Blake’s trendy, upscale restaurant is rapidly going belly up. On top of that, a lady friend of his has vanished, and he is compelled to hire the services of Wilmot Biggs, an abundant, gruff, gourmand investigator who frequents Andre’s. The pot au feu thickens when Palmer gets involved in the case himself, from North Beach to Acapulco. His amateur sleuthing results in the anonymous offer of a great sum of money—enough to save his restaurant—to call off the search. As one might guess, this offer also includes the promise of something extremely unpleasant if the money is refused. But with Palmer, there’s an emotional reason to continue. The missing woman, Sara Longwith, is a breath of Venus, desired by most men who meet her. Palmer has never known her intimately, but her disappearance has triggered a sort of melancholy longing that grows on him as the quest continues. A few corpses later, however, Palmer is even more tempted to take the money and walk. As for Biggs, the answer is simple: more garlic and a pinch of oregano.