Synopses & Reviews
Trixie Matkowski is warming up to running her familys diner in the small town of Sandy Harbor in upstate New York. But the only thing more demanding than serving up piping-hot comfort food twenty-four hours a day is getting to the bottom of a double homicide.... Trixie fondly remembers summers as a child spent visiting the shores of Lake Ontario. Not much has changedthere are still vinyl booths at the Silver Bullet Diner, families eating home-cooked comfort food, and days of swimming in the lake.
But before Trixie can say Orders up,” someones summer is abruptly cut short. One of the cottage residents is found dead, and Trixie suspects the crime might be linked to an unsolved disappearance in the picturesque towns past.
As Trixie works with Deputy Ty Brisco to solve both mysteries, their shocking discoveries will shake up the small town. And when word gets out that shes on the case, Trixies in troubleafter all, the murderer wont spare her life just because she makes a killer corned beef sandwich....
Includes Delicious Home-Style Recipes!
Review
Praise for the Country Cooking School Mysteries
“Visit Broken Rope, Missouri, where the ghosts run free, the residents are a little wacky, and a mystery is shaking up everybodys life.” —E. J. Copperman, author of An Uninvited Ghost
“[A] blue ribbon-winning recipe for a tasty read.” —New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay on If Fried Chicken Could Fly
“[Paige Shelton is] a prevailing voice in the culinary cozy genre…[A] rib-tickling read with a sturdy family core filled with amusement, hijinks, and love…Shelton writes with a Hitchcock essence that readers once found missing…until now…If Fried Chicken Could Fly simply warms your spirit with delicious homespun goodness.” —Blogcritics
“If Fried Chicken Could Fly has terrific characters, including a wonderful ghost, and a perfect setting…” —Lesas Book Critiques
Review
“Like good old-fashioned comfort food,
Second Helping of Murder will satisfy your mystery-loving taste buds. Trixie Matkowski is a frisky, sassy sleuth with a heart of gold.”—Daryl Wood Gerber, national bestselling author of the Cookbook Nook mystery series
Praise for the Comfort Food Mystery series:
"The first Comfort Food mystery is a real treat! Well plotted, itll keep you guessing right up to the final chapter." --Romantic Times, Top Pick!
"A comfort foodie and cozy readers delight!" --Escape With Dollycas (blog)
“Culinary mystery fans have a new series to sample.” -The Poisoned Martini
Review
Praise for the Country Cooking School Mysteries
“[O]ne of those series that has you waiting with bated breath for the next book to come out.”
—Debbies Book Bag
“[A] blue ribbon-winning recipe for a tasty read.”
—New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay
"[A] treat for cozy mystery lovers."
—Lesas Book Critiques
Review
“Im addicted to [these] mysteries…Ghosts, history of the Old West, and cooking are blended together skillfully.”—
Lesas Book Critiques
“[A] blue ribbon-winning recipe for a tasty read.”—Jenn McKinlay, New York Times bestselling author
“Shelton lets readers hit the ground running.”—Cozy Mystery Book Reviews
Synopsis
At Gram's Country Cooking School, Betts and Gram are helping students prepare the perfect dishes for the Southern Missouri Show-Down, the cook-off that draws the first of the summer visitors. Everything is going smoothly until they discover the body of local theater owner Everett Morningside in the school's supply closet, and Everett's widow points an accusatory finger at Gram. Now, Betts has to dig deep into Broken Rope's history to find the modern-day killer-before the last piece of chicken is served...
Synopsis
When Trixie Matkowski agrees to take over her aunts diner, she pictures lakeside views and delicious comfort food in the small town where she spent summers as a child. But the sweet scene turns sour when someone puts murder on the menu
Trixie is in need of a fresh start away from her cheating ex-husband, but she may be biting off more than she can chew when she moves to upstate New York to run her familys famed Silver Bullet Diner. Not only is she caught off guard by the small towns resident heartthrob, Deputy Ty Brisco, but her first health inspection turns into a nightmare
when the inspector keels over in his Blue Plate Special.
It seems someone made a deadly addition to an old family recipe, and Trixie is determined to find out whodunit. But between serving up orders and sniffing out clues, shed better watch her backor her next meal might be her last.
Includes recipes!
Synopsis
At Grams Country Cooking School, Isabelle Betts” Winston and her grandmother share their home-style culinary secrets. But what they keep to themselves are the secrets of Broken Rope, a quiet little Missouri town, that isn't nearly as quiet as it seems...
A fresh school year begins as Gram and Betts anxiously await the arrival of their new crop of students. But their enthusiasm is thwarted when a stranger named Freddie OBannon arrives and claims to have proof that he was accepted to the school despite what is in their files. And when the ghost of Cylas Gent, a young man who might have a romantic past with Gram, also appears, there are suddenly two mysteries demanding their attention.
But just as Gram and Betts start sifting through the past, one of their new students is murdered. Does the seemingly sweet Freddie OBannon have something sinister to hide, or are Grams ghosts trying to teach her a lesson? Either way, its up to the country cooks to catch a killer before another living soul gets burned.
Includes delicious recipes!
Synopsis
Betts Winston has inherited more than her cooking skills from her grandmothershe can also see and talk to ghosts of people that once roamed the streets of Broken Rope, Missouri, in the days of the Old West
With Grams Country Cooking School on spring break, Betts and Gram are taking part in this years cowboy poetry convention, offering lessons on frying catfish over an open campfire. But when a staged gunfight ends in real death and her brother Teddy becomes a prime suspect, Betts may be the one to jump from the frying pan into the fire.
After her ghostly guardian Jerome appears to watch her back and a spectral Pony Express rider gallops into town with some unfinished business, Broken Rope starts to seem more like a cowboy ghost convention. With trouble on both sides of this mortal coil, its up to Betts to clear her brother, put the spirits to rest, and make sure the true killer doesnt become the one who got away.
Includes Recipes!
Synopsis
The New York Times bestselling author of If Catfish Had Nine Lives returns to Broken Rope, Missouri, where ghosts of the Old West seek assistance from country cooks and amateur sleuths Betts Winston and her grandmother.
With summer tourists flocking to Broken Rope, locals volunteer to keep chaos to a minimum. Old West skits are running smoothly, actors are behaving, and stagecoach rides are more popular than ever, but when a spectral visitor appears by ghost train, its a job only Betts and Gram can handle.
Gram soon starts having nightmares about their ghostly visitors demise. And if a ghost and the hot summer weather werent making things sticky enough, one of the towns volunteersa man notorious for having more than his fair share of ex-wivesis murdered. When Jerome, Betts otherworldly friend, makes an unsettling appearance, this simmering double mystery becomes a recipe for disaster.
Includes delicious recipes!
About the Author
Paige Shelton is the author of the New York Times bestselling Farmers Market Mysteries, including Bushel Full of Murder, Merry Market Murder, A Killer Maize, and Crops and Robbers. Previous books in the Country Cooking School Mysteries include If Catfish Had Nine Lives, If Bread Could Rise to the Occasion, If Mashed Potatoes Could Dance, and If Fried Chicken Could Fly. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and son. When shes up early enough, one of her favorite things is to watch the sun rise over the Wasatch Mountains.