MYSTERY

By Cook or by Crook: A Five-Ingredient Mystery

by Maya Corrigan
Kensington. Nov. 2014. 310p. ISBN 9781617731389. pap. $7.99; ebk. ISBN 9781617731396. M
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Cookbook publicist Val Deniston left New York under a cloud after she was involved in a terrible car accident that injured a celebrity chef. Now she lives in Bayport, MD, with her grandfather, while working at a fitness club snack bar and gathering material for her own cookbook. On the morning that she is scheduled to meet real estate agent Nadia, who wants to hire her to cater an event, Val arrives at the club and finds Nadia's body, stabbed through the neck with a wooden tennis racket. Is that a clue? Unfortunately, the prime suspect is Monique, Val's cousin, who accused Nadia of having an affair with her husband. Then there's Gunnar, the debonair visitor from DC, and, Luke, Val's old boyfriend from high school.
VERDICT Lots of suspects abound and the puzzle solution is deftly handled in this charming cozy debut that is appealingly set on Maryland's Eastern Shore. With recipes included, this is definitely a starter for fans of Diane Mott Davidson, Lou Jane Temple, and Virginia Rich. [Corrigan was a winner of the 2013 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Unpublished Mystery/Suspense for The Art of Deceit.
Reviewed by Viccy Kemp , Nov 01, 2014
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