loribonesscaswell

The Taste of Town Festival has Inspiration Valley, North Carolina overflowing with people. The Novel Idea Literary Agency has its own event featuring Celebrity Chefs and their books. There are cooking demonstrations, cookbook giveaways, and even a culinary writing contest.

What happens what you get a group of Celebrity Chefs together? You find out they really don’t like each other very much but is one of them a murderer? We find out as an explosion rocks the demo kitchen and kills one of the chefs. Lila quickly finds herself in the middle of the investigation that has way too many suspects. Is one of her clients really a killer?

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Let’s face it, I want to be Lila, even with exploding kitchens and dead bodies! :)

This writing team continues to amaze me. Their characters jump off the pages. Even the new ones, these chefs, their families and their assistants are so credible and real. Some real crazy but still real.

There is a bit of romance for Lila’s friend Makayla, she has a secret admirer. Sean and Lila romance is heating up too in more ways than one. Lila’s son Trey comes home from college after hearing of all the trouble in Inspiration Valley. What a wonderful young man. I also appreciate the relationship Lila has with her mother.

Of course the mystery itself is complex and I completely devoured it. With the foodie theme came terrific description of several tasty treats too. This story keeps the reader fully engaged from the first word until the last. I was following the clues right along with Lila and we both had that “aha moment” together.

Inspiration Valley is a town everyone would love to visit, from Walden Woods Circle to the Expresso Yourself Coffee Shop to the Magnolia B & B and everywhere in between. Lucy Arlington has created the perfect setting for this cozy series. I look forward to returning soon.

*There is also a peek at Ellery Adams new cozy series. The first chapter of Murder in the Mystery Suite (A Book Retreat Mystery) has me very intrigued.