Five-Ingredient Mystery

Take one burned-out city girl. Add a crusty codger, a pinch of gossip, and a dash of romance. Stir in a generous helping of murder and you've got the ingredients for one truly delicious mystery. . . Haunted by the car accident that ended her career as a cookbook publicist, Val Deniston has traded in the chaos of New York City for a quieter life near the Chesapeake Bay. Living with her curmudgeonly grandfather in the tourist town of Bayport is hardly glamorous, but she enjoys working at the Cool Down Café at the local fitness club, and she finally has time to work on her long-planned cookbook. But when one of the club's patrons is found dead, she'll have to cook up a scheme to find the killer. As the number of suspects rises like crabs in a bucket, it's out of the pan and into the fire for Val. If she can't find the culprit soon, she might as well be chum in the water. . . Includes 8 five-ingredient recipes!

Val Deniston loves the historic Chesapeake Bay town where she lives with her grandfather, the Codger Cook. Running the fitness club's Cool Down Café-and salvaging the five-ingredient dishes Granddad messes up-keeps her busy. She's used to his catastrophes in the kitchen, but not in the dining room… Especially when one of his dinner party guests winds up face down in the chowder. The demised diner apparently scammed Granddad's best buddy, and since the other dinner guests have suddenly clammed up, the police have all the ingredients to cook up a conviction for Granddad. With his freedom-and Val's café job-on the line, Val is in a sweat trying to avert a catastrophe. But dredging up old secrets might just be a recipe for murder… Includes 6 five-ingredient recipes!

Val Deniston certainly has her plate full running a café, dabbling with recipes, and helping her grandfather prepare for the town's upcoming tri-centennial celebration, but she's grown fond of her new life in the Chesapeake Bay town of Bayport. . . So when Val is asked to reclaim her old position as a cookbook publicist in New York City, she puts off her decision in order to help her grandfather perfect his chocolate fondue for the weekend festivity's dessert cook-off. But after the opening ceremonies, Val finds a houseguest strangled to death in her grandfather's backyard. She suspects a classic case of mistaken identity, especially when another guest nearly bids her life a fondue farewell. Now it's up to Val to keep the killer from making another stab at murder . . . Includes 6 five-ingredient recipes!

It's a cold January in the Chesapeake Bay area, but Cool Down Café manager Val Deniston has plenty to sweat over-like catering a book club event, testing recipes for her Granddad's cookbook, and catching the author of a deadly tale of murder... The last thing Val needs in her life is an unsolved murder, especially when the victim, an actor famed for impersonating Edgar Allan Poe, happens to be dressed exactly like her Granddad. To keep an eye on Granddad, whose latest job takes him to the home of Rick Usher, a local author inspired by Poe, Val gets herself hired as a cook in Rick's House of Usher. When she discovers the actor wasn't the only one doing an impersonation, separating the innocent from the murderous becomes a real-life horror story. But Val must decipher a killer's M.O. sooner rather than later... or she can forget about finding poetic justice. Includes 6 delicious five-ingredient recipes!

Managing a fitness club café and collaborating on a cookbook with her grandfather are Val Deniston's usual specialties, but she's about to set sail into nearby Chesapeake Bay-straight into a murder case . . . Since catering themed events is a good way to make extra cash, Val agrees to board the Titanic-or at least cater a re-creation of the doomed journey on a yacht. The owner of the yacht, who collects memorabilia related to the disaster, wants Val to serve the last meal the Titanic passengers ate . . . while his guests play a murder-mystery game. But it is the final feast for one passenger who disappears from the ship. And that's only the tip of the iceberg. Now Val has to reel in a killer before s'more murders go down . . . Includes delicious five-ingredient recipes!

Val Deniston is catering the debut of Bayport's newest bookstore-but the death of a customer is about to draw her into a real-life murder mystery … Suzette Cripps has been occupying a spare bedroom at Val's granddad's house while she takes classes in this Maryland Eastern Shore town-but she's always seemed a little secretive and fearful, and any talk about her past is a closed book. After winning the costume contest at the Halloween-themed bookstore party, Suzette is mowed down by a hit-and-run driver-and Val and her grandfather start to wonder whether it was really an accident or if someone was after Suzette. Granddad is a little distracted by his new enterprise as a ghost-buster, but as Val talks to Suzette's coworkers and fellow creative writing students, she grows more convinced that the dead woman's demons weren't imaginary-and that she needs to rip the mask off a killer … Includes delicious five-ingredient recipes!

When Santa is sleighed by a poison gingerbread cookie at a holiday party, Val Deniston's reputation is on the line ... This holiday season Bayport, Maryland, is a dead ringer for Victorian London. Val and her grandfather are taking part in the Dickens of a Holiday festival. Val is hosting a private tea party serving the festival's costumed volunteers, who range from Dickens divas like Madame Defarge and Miss Havisham to Ebenezer Scrooge and old St. Nick himself. But one costumed reveler may have gotten the holidays mixed up. The winner of the creepiest outfit, robed in black with a gift bag covering the head-okay, Ghost of Christmas Present, Val gets it-hands out gingerbread men with white icing skeleton bones. This year's sour Santa has none of the big fellow's mirth but plenty of his appetite, and it's no secret Santa loves cookies. But when the man in red turns blue, Val and Granddad have a cookie-cutter killer to catch before the New Year ... Includes delicious five-ingredient recipes!

Managing a fitness club café and collaborating on recipes with her grandfather are Val Deniston's usual specialties, only she's about to set sail into another murder case-this time at a mystery lovers convention! When the Deadly Desserts bake-off lives up to its name, Val and Granddad turn up the heat on a killer . . . The Maryland Mystery Fan Fest sounds like exactly the fun getaway cafe manager Val Deniston and her grandfather could use. Granddad will even compete in a dessert competition in which contestants assume the roles of cooks to famous fictional sleuths. Playing Nero Wolfe's gourmet cook Fritz is an exciting challenge for Granddad. A restaurant manager is playing Lord Peter Wimsey's valet and cook Bunter. But Granddad is steamed to learn who will be playing Sherlock Holmes's landlady, Mrs. Hudson-his nemesis Cynthia Sweet, who he believes ripped off his five-ingredient theme from his column "Codger Cook" to use in her own recipe column. Apparently, he isn't the only one who has a beef with his not-so-sweet competitor. When she's found dead in her room with the teakettle whistling, it's up to Val and her grandfather to sort through the festival goers to find out who was most definitely not a fan of Cynthia Sweet . . . Includes delicious five-ingredient recipes! PRAISE FOR CRYPT SUZETTE "Grandad is a hoot and his jobs as a food reviewer and part-time detective provide endless possibilities for fun and murder . . . Charming." -Kirkus Reviews