S'More Murders

When Val and her grandfather are hired to cater a Titanic re-creation dinner on board a yacht everything seems to be going smoothly. In S'more Murders by Maya Corrigan, the wealthy yacht owner Otto Warbeck wants his guests to also participate in a murder mystery game he wrote.

Unfortuntely some of his characters reseble the real peopl too . closely. Included in the guest list is his curent wife, his ex-wife, her son, a neighbor couple, an antique dealer and a last minute substitution. Otto hid the solution to his mystery game somewhere on the ship, but when Otto disappears and is found dead, there are plenty of suspects.

As an aside, I never understand the fascination with the Titanic and why people would want to replicate any event related to it. Titanic to me means an epic tragedy. Anyway back to the book.

Uing the script booklets, Val tries to find a clue to the murderer. Is Otto's death related to some

missing Titanic artifacts or is there something more sinister going on.

Complicating issues for Val is a new wrinkle in her relationship with her boyfriend Gunnar, accountant/actor. This situation pulls her in two directions, but she still manages to solve the murder.

Another fun read from Maya Corrigan.

Five-Ingredient Mysteries

The Codger Cook and his granddaughter are at it again in Maya Corrigan's Final Fondue. It's the Tricentennial in Bayport, Maryland, and every room in town is booked including rooms at granddad's house. Val has been shipped off to stay with her cousin Monique, but remains at he house for part of the evening to help prepare appetizers for the guests.

A wedding party is on a scouting mission for venues in Bayport and they are the house guests. While they wait for the bride to arrive at the house, an icy silences surrounds them. Once the bride arrives, they head to the festival and Val sets out on her own. To her surprise she encounters the irate chef who caused her to lose her job in New York. After a bitter argument, Val decides to return home frightened by the angry encounter.

While Val is cleaning up after the guests, she takes the trash outside and stumbles on the body of one of the guests - strangled with a rope still around her neck. Who would have killed the bubbly bridesmaid? Was it a case of mistaken

identity?

When the bride is attacked in the Festival Corn Maze, Val puzzles out that attack and who might have been behind it. Both Sarina and Noah were nearby. Do they hold a grudge for an experience on a blind date 10 years again?

In the meantime Val agonizes about accepting the job offer to return to her PR job in New York. On tap for this momentous decision is Val's mother and her former fiance, Tony. Tony is in town either for a reconciliation or closure, Val is not sure, but she does know she doesn't want any part of it.

Mysterious texts and other threats, Val pieces together the back story of the group and discovers the shocking truth about them.

The first in the Five-Ingredient Mystery series is By Cook or By Crook.