A little dessert with your murder mystery?

I've discovered a new genre of fiction.  It's been labelled many things but culinary mystery is the one I like the most.  In one book, you get a mystery with a strong undercurrent of food.  The build-up of the mystery, the investigating and unraveling, and the final solution all are done in the presence of food...the cooking and baking of it, the eating of it, and the serving of it.  Sounds odd, right?  It is.  But don't knock a culinary mystery until you try one.

I just finished reading Cherry Cheesecake Murder by Joanne Fluke and I loved it!  LOVED it!!  I can't wait to read all of her other books and bake some of the recipes from the book.  General plot...Hannah owns The Cookie Jar, which is (duh!) a cookie shop in a Lake Eden, Minnesota.  She's also an amateur sleuth when murders happen in and around Lake Eden.  The murder mystery unravels through her daily life, which includes baking cookies!  And she describes what goodies she's baking or catering while each piece of puzzle unravels.  For example, in Cherry Cheesecake Murder Hannah is tasked with making cheery cheesecake for a movie director who is in town using Lake Eden as the backdrop for his movie.  Hannah describes cheesecakes and varieties and gets down to the bottom of what the director's favorite type of cheesecake is.  Between chapters is Hannah's recipe...for the reader to make along with her!  Later in the story, she's then tasked with making mini cherry cheesecakes for the movie premiere, and the recipe follows.

The cast and crew use The Cookie Jar as a gathering place.  Hannah tries out different cookie recipes on them and of course, tests them herself.  She's as much of a coffee addict as I am.  She calls it Swedish plasma...that makes me smile.  Anywho, enough rambling...my point, this genre is awesome.  A great story intermixed with baking tips and recipes.  Both leave your mouth watering for more!  I'm not returning the books until I get the recipes written down.

I started another Fluke novel last night.  Cream Puff Murder has quickly captured my attention and I've already added Pistachio Winks to my list of recipes to try.  I spent some time online browsing other authors who have taken on the culinary mystery genre and was surprised to find a lot of other series.  I've seen deli, donut shop, and coffee shop series.  I even saw a flower shop series... Mum's the Word, Snipped in the Bud.  HA!

I feel like a whole new world has opened up to me!  I highly recommend giving Fluke a try.  Or a taste!  I'm sure this won't be the last you hear of her and others on this blog!

Oh, and Happy December!