Mary Ryan Mystery

San Francisco pastry chef Mary Ryan is back teaching at her old alma mater, trying to straddle the worlds of both her original mentors and her contemporaries. To make matters worse, Homicide Detective O'Connor has enrolled as a student, claiming to be on disability from the San Francisco Police Department. In the middle of this turf war, Mary is confronted by the dean Robert Benson, who tells Mary she must either force Coolie Martin to leave the school or lose her job. Why would Coolie's father, a member of the Board of Directors, allow this? But when faculty and staff begin dying, Mary thinks that Coolie's forced exit might only be part of a larger, more sinister plot. Acting on a hint from O'Connor, Mary contacts the only person who can help her: her nemesis, Thom Woods. Will Mary and Thom uncover the truth before another chef bakes his last pie?

Pastry chef Mary Ryan has sunk a lot of time and talent into the American Fare, San Francisco's hottest spot, while grieving over her broken marriage. Then, arriving at work very early one day, she discovers a laundry bag stuffed with the dead body of one of her employees. The ensuing investigation soon exposes all of the dirty secrets that the food industry would like to keep hidden—philandering chefs, illegal aliens, and subsistence-level pay scales. Events begin to spiral and in time take out the restaurant's celebrity chef and force Mary to use her unique skills to uncover a poisonous scheme.