by Cynthia Chow & Sandra Murphy

This week we have reviews of 3 more cozies to end your March reading-Killing Me Souffle by Ellie Alexander, Murder, She Wrote: Snowy with a Chance of Murder by Jessica Fletcher & Barbara Early, and A Cold Dose of Murder: A Cannabis Café Mystery by Emily George. Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of all 3 books and links to purchase them from Amazon are at the end of each review.

Killing Me Souffle by Ellie Alexander
Review by Sandra Murphy

Jules and her husband, Carlos, are owners of Torte, a bakeshop. As happens in food service, their two best bakers, Stephanie and Sterling, are moving on to a restaurant where they’ll be able to serve fresh caught fish alongside vegan dishes and signature desserts. For the opening, Jules, Carlos, and the rest of the team will be on hand to provide morale.

Things haven’t turned out as promised. Eric, the manager, isn’t managing, deliveries are late or don’t show up at all, there are rumors of mismanaged money and it’s a stressful atmosphere, far more than the usual stresses of a working kitchen. Jules volunteers to pitch in to help when the kitchen receives a fish order with very little time to prep before service.

Stephanie is in the middle of making chocolate souffles and Sterling is whipping up a quick shrimp with linguini and a pan-seared halibut entrée when loud screams are heard. Jules runs to find the cause and discovers Eric’s body at the bottom of a steep and treacherous cliff. It soon becomes apparent that this was no accident.

Will the killer be found before the restaurant flounders? Jules is determined to help the two young chefs any way she can.

This is book 20 in the series. Jules is someone you’d want for a friend and not just because she’s a great cook. She and Carlos have a good relationship, a prime example of supporting each other. I enjoyed reading about what goes on in the kitchen, out of sight of diners. It’s a bonus that Jules shares recipes with readers too.

The recipes are at the back of the book: chocolate cherry sponge cake, chocolate whipped cream, Sunday sauce (for pasta), rhubarb crumble cake, breakfast lasagna, peach cobbler muffins, chocolate souffle, and decaf chocolate cherry on top latte (regular works too.)

You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon.

Murder, She Wrote: Snowy with a Chance of Murder by Jessica Fletcher Barbara Early
Review by Sandra Murphy

Jessica Fletcher is going on a cruise. It’s theme is Mystery Lovers and who better to talk about mysteries than Jessica? It’s a plus that she’ll be able to leave snowy Cabot Cove behind for balmy weather—if she can get her suitcases closed that is.

Even though the walks have been cleaned, a strong wind has added more snow to her front steps. When the taxi arrives, Jessica grabs the largest suitcase and steps outside—and promptly falls. Dimitri, the cabbie, rushes to help but it’s obvious, Jessica is going to miss that cruise.

Both ankles are sprained and she dislocated her kneecap. It’s back in place but she’ll need a brace to keep it there. With a sprained wrist, crutches are out. It’s wheelchair time and for that, she’ll either go to the rehab wing of the hospital or need live-in help.

With limited mobility, she tries to focus on her latest book but is distracted by a new neighbor across the street. If he wasn’t interesting enough on his own, he’s also an ‘artist’ who specializes in snow sculptures. It’s an odd way to make a living but intriguing to watch until the sculpture changes from a pile of snow into a lifelike figure—nude and mooning his behind in Jessica’s direction.

Mooning Man is smashed during the night and the artist seems to take it in stride. The second is a mermaid and in greater detail. The crowds of sightseers seems to grow every time Jessica looks out the window. When the mermaid is smashed too, Jessica is relieved until she realizes the artist is also flattened in the yard. He’s very dead.

Being a mystery writer and housebound, Jessica and her home health care aide, Alice, concoct theories about the killer, a vandal roaming the area, and the identity of two women seen with the artist. Can Jessica solve the mystery without stepping outside? If anyone can…

Jessica proves, whether she’s mobile or not, no killer is able to escape justice when she’s on the case. With a nice twist at the end, she does it again.

This is book 60 in the series. Many have been reviewed in KRL. The long running series continues with book 61 publishing in July, 2025, available for pre-order now.

You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon.

Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch in St. Louis Missouri. She’s the editor for the upcoming Yeet Me in St Louis, an anthology with stories from twelve St. Louis writers. Her own short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Mystery Magazine, and anthologies such as The Perp Wore Pumpkin and I (Almost) Died in Your Arms. ‘Lucy’s Tree’, published in The Eyes of Texas, won a Derringer Award from the Short Mystery Fiction Society. She lives in St. Louis with Ozzie the Westie Impersonator and his sidekick in crime, Louie the Cat.

A Cold Dose of Murder: A Cannabis Café Mystery by Emily George
Review by Cynthia Chow

A Parisian-trained pastry chef, Chloe Barnes never expected to find herself baking cannabis-infused treats in her California hometown of Azalea Bay. But after a breakup and career-tanking bad review, Chloe finds herself specializing in the pastries that were initially created to help her beloved grandmother combat the side-effects of chemotherapy. Now fully invested in her café’s success, Chloe is anxiously anticipating a critical food podcast review of her Baked by Chloe. As it turns out, “Starched Nemesis” gives them a rave review, but podcaster Callista Bryant lambasts the health-themed Sprout restaurant and its owner Starr Bright. So when Callista is found dead underneath a food truck during the Azalea Bay Ice Cream Festival, Starr immediately becomes a prime suspect due to her retaliatory social media post attacking both Callista and those who received favorable reviews.

While the police chief comments on Chloe’s talent for discovering bodies, she prefers to state that her knack is for baking, whereas finding corpses is her unfortunate luck. Evidence and motive point towards Starr, but Chloe also happens to meet Callista’s ex, his fiancée, and someone who may have been stalking the victim. So when not crafting ice cream concoctions with cannabis-infused cream, Chloe questions those who knew the food influencer podcaster.

This third in the series continues to surprise through its unique perspective of a cannabis-specializing pastry chef. No boring pot brownies will appear here, as instead Chloe creates CBD-infused lattes and cannabis-cream blueberry ice cream floats. Despite the very CBD-friendly California culture, there are those in the community still wary of the “drug” culture and send Chloe threatening emails. Her approach to baking is from the perspective of a culinary expert and not a “pothead,” delicately balancing the flavors of cannabis strains with her drink and pastry flavors. Recipes at the end may be a bit adventurous for those where cannabis is less legally-welcoming, but the health benefits that combat cancer treatments are highlighted as well.

This is definitely less of a “stoner” mystery series and more of a cozy one, featuring not just Chloe’s Chihuahua Antonio but a budding (hah) romance with former Wall Street businessman Jake Reed. They’ve been taking their relationship slowly, understandable considering that her last ex is the reason Chloe had a job-ending bad day of cooking. An all-too-brief depiction of Chloe’s Dungeons and Dragons expedition as a human cleric brings back her fun and fascinating adventures with her D&D friends, and one hopes for future explorations of their games and how it forged their new friendships.

This is a compulsively readable culinary mystery that will appeal to foodies and mystery fans who will be charmed when meeting these engaging, witty, and very likable characters.

You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon.

To enter to win a copy of all 3 books, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “mystery fun” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen April 5, 2025. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. Also listen to our new mystery podcast where mystery short stories and first chapters are read by actors! They are also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify.

Cynthia Chow is the branch manager of Kaneohe Public Library on the island of Oahu. She balances a librarian lifestyle of cardigans and hair buns with a passion for motorcycle riding and regrettable tattoos (sorry, Mom).

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.