Mahalia Watkins Soul Food Mystery

Halia Watkins has her hands full cooking, hosting, and keeping her boisterous young cousin, Wavonne, from getting too sassy with customers. Having fast-talking entrepreneur Marcus Rand turn up in her kitchen is annoying enough when he's alive-but finding his dead body face-down on her ceramic tile after hours is much worse. Marcus had his enemies, and the cast iron frying pan beside his corpse suggests that at last, his shady business deals went too far. Halia is desperate to keep Sweet Tea's name out of the sordid spotlight but her efforts only make Wavonne a prime suspect. Now Halia will have to serve up the real villain-before the killer returns for a second helping . . .

Now available in mass market! A high school reunion takes a deadly turn in the second in A. L. Herbert's fresh and inventive series set within the bustle of a top soul food restaurant-the first cozy mystery series with a predominantly African-American cast. When the organizing committee for her upcoming high school reunion desperately needs a caterer, Halia agrees to help out. Soon she's serving up her signature macaroni and cheese and famous chicken wings to a host of appreciative ex-classmates. Some folks have blossomed since graduation. Others, like manipulative Raynell Rollins, currently married to a former football star, haven't changed nearly enough. When Raynell is found dead the morning after the reunion, the role call of possible suspects could fill the school gymnasium. Extra-marital affairs, mega-church scandals and sports secrets . . . Raynell had her perfectly manicured hand in a lot of sticky situations. With her cousin Wavonne's bungling assistance-and a helping of unwelcome dating advice from her mother, Celia-Halia is on course to track down the killer, before she becomes the alumna most likely to meet an untimely end . . .

Mahalia's Sweet Tea boasts the most flavorful soul food in all of Prince George's County, Maryland. But as events at the beauty industry's leading trade show turn ugly, owner Halia Watkins needs to bite into an unsavory new item on the menu-murder! When the chicest hair convention of the year gets cooking in town, so does business at Mahalia's Sweet Tea. Halia can barely handle the influx of customers looking to satisfy their appetites after spending the day surrounded by outrageous runway styles. As buzz builds around beauty mogul and pop culture icon Monique Dupree, collard greens start moving out of the kitchen faster than models strutting down the catwalk . . . But the glitz fades the moment Monique is found shot to death. Turns out, the glamorous entrepreneur's vanity empire was stained by bitter rivalries, explosive affairs, and backstabbers scheming for fame and fortune. With more suspects than ingredients listed on a bottle of deep conditioner, Halia and her cousin Wavonne rush to discover who pulled the trigger-before the conniving culprit dishes out another deadly surprise . . .

As the owner of Mahalias Sweet Tea, Halia Watkins is famous in Marylands Prince Georges County for her down-home cuisine. But when she has the chance to showcase her talents on national TV, she becomes the star of a murder mystery that’s too hot to handle! When Halia is invited to serve as a guest judge on the popular cooking competition show Elite Chef, she’s delighted to add some extra flavor to the mix. But as filming ramps up in Washington D.C., there are too many fiery personalities in the kitchen. Halia discovers that pulling off her small screen debut unscathed means contending with a longtime competing restaurant owner, an infamously crass hospitality mogul, and a group of cutthroat contestants vying for culinary glory ... The competition sizzles with only a few finalists left standing and goes cold when the gorgeous young frontrunner is found dead. As murder accusations are slathered over a recently eliminated contestant, Halia, with some bungling assistance from her wise-cracking cousin Wavonne slides into an investigation of their own. A little snooping reveals the victim burned lots of bridges, leaving a slew of alleged affairs and stolen recipes in her wake. With a fast-rising list of potential suspects, Halia must sort through mindboggling clues to fry the flaky culprit before someone else gets baked to a crisp ...