A Taste for Murder

In Claudia Bishop's A Taste for Murder, the first installment int he Hemlock Falls Culinary Cozy Mysteries series, this debut series packs a punch of culinary delights and a lot of surprises. For Sarah "Quill" Quilliam and her sister Meg, they prepared to get ready for the Hemlock Falls History Days skit at their inn. While Quill managed the business end and Meg the kitchen, they had an electric bunch of guests to reside in the inn. But things took a turn for the worse, when first there was an accident on the balcony and two mishaps during the play outside of the inn, when two people ended up murdered--one of them was no accident. As Quill looks for clues on her own and her accountant John disappears from the inn, making him look up a prime suspect, she did her snooping on her own and pointed her finger at her other guests in the inn, including the uncouth Keith Baumer who's been nothing but rude. Though Quill has growing feelings for Myles the sheriff, Quill and her sister put their heads together to pick out the most unlikely suspect, when Meg becomes sick from her poisoned coffee. In the end, she couldn't believe her eyes on who done it and why for the most unsavory reasons of them all.

This was intriguing debut to this culinary cozy series.  I've found that both Quill and Meg are very careable and likeable people as sisters, co-workers and friends. I could see some chemistry between Quill and Myles, while Meg whips up some delectable recipes for the hotel guests. The recipes are too die for in the back of the book. I did like Hemlock Falls as an idyllic and visionary small town in New York state with compelling scenic scenes and picturesque locations. This would make you hungry for the food, starving for a good light, and to be compelled to read more in one or two settings with non-stop drama, suspense, mystery, and a dash of action.

Will you have a hankering taste for murder today?