Literary caterer Letitia ‘Tish’ Tarragon fights to save her reputation and catch a killer when a murder occurs during a fundraising dinner for the local library.Letitia ‘Tish’ Tarragon has just moved to Hobson Glen and opened a new restaurant and catering business, Cookin’ the Books Cafe. So when her new landlord, Schulyer Thompson, recommends her to Binnie Broderick, the executive director of … executive director of the local library, Tish is delighted. Binnie needs a last-minute caterer to create a literary inspired three-course dinner for the library’s annual fundraiser, one of the highlights of Hobson Glen’s social season. But there’s a problem: Binnie Broderick is a notoriously difficult woman to please. And when she chokes to death from arsenic poisoning after dousing her main course in hot sauce, Tish suddenly finds herself fighting to save her business – and her reputation. It seems that very few of Hobson Glen’s residents escaped Binnie’s disapproval. But who would want her dead, and why?
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Cookin’ the Books has an interesting premise with a literary themed café. The author came up with some clever names for the food dishes with my favorite being The Prime Rib of Miss Jean Brodie. Tish Tarragon is our main character. I liked Tish, but I wish we had learned more about her. There is an assortment of secondary characters including Enid Kemper who walks around with her bird, Langhorne on her shoulder (she is banned from the library by Binnie). Jules Jefferson Davis, Tish’s friend and local weatherman, is a gregarious man who works hard to promote Tish’s new endeavor along with Mary Jo Okensholt, Tish’s friend). The story had varied pacing. I found it a bit slow in the middle and could have done with less internal dialogue (Tish thinking). There is romance (of course) for Tish with her landlord, Schuyler Thompson. It is obvious from the beginning that Binnie will be the victim (it is mentioned in the blurb as well). Binnie is an unlikeable woman who goes out of her way to antagonize people. There are multiple suspects and good clues. I have a feeling many readers will not be surprised by the killer’s identity. There are literary puns that will delight book lovers. The town is beautifully described (we get more on the town than on Tish). It is a small town where everyone knows your business and gossip spreads faster than butter on hot pancakes. There are many lovely cozy moments in the book for readers to enjoy. Cookin’ the Books is a charming story and a positive way to begin A Tish Tarragon Mystery series.
I read the second book in this series and loved it so much that I couldn’t wait to go back and read the first book to get some backstory on the characters. I love Tish Tarragon, the owner of Cookin’ the Books Cafe, that is preparing to open in this book, the first in the series. I also love the secondary characters, Mary Jo and Jules, and how they support Tish but also have their own personalities and their own skills that add to the story. In this book a prominent woman in killed but there are so many suspects because she wasn’t very nice to people and used their secrets against them. Unfortunately for Tish this happens at her first catered event and the woman was poisoned. Will Tish’s dream of the cafe die before she can even open? Will the townspeople ever want to eat her food again? This forces Tish to get involved in the murder and to save her reputation. This was a great start to this series and I can’t wait to read more books in this series.
“Then, to answer your question,I worked in banking for twenty years bore giving it up to become a caterer. In both professions, killing difficult clients would hardly be considered a viable career plan”
Letitia “Tish” Tarragon has just moved to Hobson Glen in hopes of opening a cafe/catering business. She’s renting from Schulyer Thompson, who seems to want to be more than her landlord. Although Tish is intrigued, she is “taking it slow” since her divorce.
With friends Julian and Mary Jane in tow, the three take on a catering job for the local library fundraiser. However, more than recipes are found out as the library director drops dead at the head table, leaving a confusing trail of questions and innuendo. Whether she wants to be or not, Tish is seen as a suspect that needs to prove she’s anything but…all before Cooking the Books even opens!
This is the first in a series of cosy mysteries by Amy Patricia Meade. Having already read/reviewed the second, I can see that the first was a great start, the second is certainly nothing to sneeze at, and, hopefully, any subsequent additions are a great find. Highly recommended 5/5
[disclaimer: I received this book from the library and chose to read and voluntarily review it]
As soon as I saw this book listed I knew I had to read it. Amy Patricia Meade has given me many hours of enjoyable reading (the Majorie McClelland mystery series, Pret’ Near Perfect mystery and Rosie the Riveter mystery) and this series debut did’t let me down. Tish Tarragon is opening a literary themed restaurant and murder tries to derail it before her first day in business. The very much disliked director of the library wants to hire Tish to cater an event for 300 people which would be great except that she is being hired to replace the previous caterer and she has very little time to pull it off. The event is in full swing when Binnie the library director drops dead after eating a couple of bites of Tish’s creation. The police suspect poison and, when it’s confirmed, all attention is focused on Tish and her crew. Needless to say, Tish has the best reason to find out who used her food as a murder weapon. This may be a small town but it is chock full of suspects and their secrets. Tish, along with her friends Mary Jo and Jules are a great team. . I was glad to see that the second book, The Garden Club Murder, is listed for publication 9/1 2019.
“Cookin’ the Books” earns 5/5 Spicy Sauce…Clever Fun and Entertaining!
Amy Patricia Meade has made a fan out of me penning a great first book! Letitia “Tish” Tarragon is starting a new restaurant and catering business, Cookin’ the Books Café, defining herself as a literary caterer. Her first catering job is exactly what her budding business needs, however is dealing with Binnie Broderick worth it? She has been a huge challenge, and her efforts to lowball Tish on the catering is only the beginning. But, she is also a challenge to…everyone, I guess. However, despite a storm and power challenges, the evening’s event is a huge hit. Everyone is raving about the food and Tish’s new café, and Binnie, of course, is commenting that the food is only satisfactory and demanding hot sauce. Then gurgling, gasping, face planted in entree…Binnie is dead! From there the adventure is clever, characters well defined along with vivid descriptions, entertaining banter, and a “Wow!” ending. I love culinary-themed cozies mentioning food, serving food, eating food, and maybe having food posing as the murder weapon…yum! But, I also love having something extra added to my cozy book, and that’s the one thing missing from Amy’s book. There are no recipes for the cleverly named creations Tish created for the dinner or her café menu. It’s not a big deal, nor does it detract in any way from my recommending the book…but I’d love to have a recipe for Cheesy Edgar Allen Poe-lenta and definitely a Tequila Mockingbird cocktail.