Please join me in welcoming back author Lori Pollard-Johnson. Today, Lori is sharing a guest post about the popularity of food and recipes in cozy mysteries. Foodies will relate to the many reasons readers enjoy this theme. Fans of cozies will delight in this new release featuring a feisty sleuth.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Title: Toxic Torte
Author: Lori Pollard-Johnson
Genre: Cozy Culinary Mystery
BLURB:
Jess Harriet writes for the Seattle Sun, a weekly newsrag best known for its personal ads. When her latest assignment turns out to be yet another obituary, this time for caustic restaurant critic Perry Lowell, she seriously considers quitting. But before the memorial buffet is replenished, detectives appear. Perry didn’t die of a heart attack after all. He was murdered…with a toxic torte, likely served at the Valentine’s Day Chocoholic Ball. Jess seizes the opportunity to solve the murder and scoop the story, but she’ll have to outwit Cherrie Belle, fellow Sun Reporter by week, cheerleader by weekend; Tom, a college dating disaster who holds a flame for Jess and the elusive Chocoholic Ball guest list; and a cadre of unsavory chefs who invite her to a dinner she suspects is a recipe for danger.
GUEST POST:
Death By Chocolate
What do coffee and tea shops, ice cream parlors, bakeries, and chocolate have to do with murder? Apparently, plenty.
An Internet search of cozy culinary mysteries revealed 681 hits, ranging from the well-known Diane Mott Davidson’s series with amateur sleuth and caterer Goldy, and Kate Lansing’s winery-themed series showcasing amateur sleuth and winery owner Parker Valentine, to my own contribution to the genre, “Toxic Torte.” “Toxic Torte” features Jess Harriet, a young, sassy newspaper reporter who dips into the world of gourmet desserts when cracking the case of caustic restaurant critic Perry Lowell’s poisoning at the Valentine’s Day Chocoholic Ball.
It got me to thinking. What is it about food-rich environments that screams murder? Is it because we love both a good yarn and a smooth Merlot, or a twist-filled plot and a slice of cherry pie? Or maybe it’s the recipes so commonly found embedded within the stories that we’re eager to try out. Then I thought, could it be something more than the food? Maybe so. Perhaps the attraction could be the people who make the food.
In each of the series, there’s a cadre of chefs, cooks, caterers and artistic gourmands who are preparing delectable foods that engage our senses as readers—it’s a full-body experience reading these books. But there’s something much more yummy than the meal itself—and that’s the people around the table–the family, be they blood-related or chosen.
The way I see it, food is a gathering opportunity, a time for communing and sharing thoughts and ideas with others dear to our hearts over a craft beer and cheesy nachos, or a cup of Earl Gray and slices of Gruyere and prosciutto. It’s a time for connecting—maybe the only time for connecting–in an incredibly busy world that demands so much of us every day. The preparation and enjoyment of food is, simply put, a time for fellowship. In a culinary mystery, the food fills our stomachs, and the camaraderie fills our souls.
So it’s not really a surprise that food finds its way into our favorite cozy mysteries. We get to spend time with characters we love, and love to hate, and satisfy our tummies. Looking back, I feel certain my love of chocolate and the people who make it led me to write “Toxic Torte.”
Hungry for more? Check out “Toxic Torte,” the first in my new “Just Desserts” mystery series, available as an eBook or in print.
AUTHOR BIO:
Lori Pollard-Johnson is a retired educator and current wife, mama and grandma. She writes from her homes in Washington and Arizona, and has been published in fiction, nonfiction and poetry, in publications as diverse as Vegetarian Journal, Seattle, Black Belt, Bridal Connections and The Binnacle, in addition to five novels. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her grandbabies, braiding rugs, perfecting her shavasana, swimming, hiking, practicing her releves, renovating fixer-uppers, reading, or watching javelinas dance through her backyard.
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
PURCHASE LINKS:
Jill Piscitello 
Sounds like an interesting story.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absolutely! Thank you for stopping by.
LikeLike