by Cynthia Chow
& Maggie Toussaint
The owner of Shell Island’s Holloway Catering, River Holloway Merrick is thrilled to have been hired to cater the Nature Coalition’s special event dinner. She’s especially honored to be serving veterinarian Jasmine Garr as they name her their Volunteer of the Year, which makes hearing the news of her death two days later all the more shocking. Found shot in the back in her yard, Jasmine’s quirky Chicken Lady neighbor becomes one of the first suspects for the shooting.
by Steven Sanchez
People in the Central Valley are odd when it comes to their perceptions about the Valley. This is an area where the youth beg to leave to experience life whether it be going to college, traveling, finding a career, and the list goes on. They have good reasons to depart, and no one really enjoys the heat much. But yet, at the same time, no matter how long people are a way from the area, people always find a way to come back. Whether to visit or move back. The famous line is true, “There’s no place like home.” And for Demetrius Porter, he would agree.
by Sandra Murphy
& Joanne Fluke
Mayor Bascomb likes being a big shot in Lake Eden, ‘pulling strings’ to get friends out of a bind. When that doesn’t work out like he planned, he loses his temper and it’s a fierce one. This time he’s unleashed it on Andrea. She’s Hannah Swenson’s sister, Hannah being the cookie baker in town. Andrea can hold her temper for quite a while, but when Bascomb tells her she’s stupid, that’s the final straw. Hannah and Bascomb’s secretary are waiting in the outer office, and even they can hear the sound of Andrea slapping Bascomb so hard, his office chair overturns.
by Sandra Murphy
& Cynthia Chow
This week we have another fun group of mysteries-A Wicked Yarn: A Craft Fair Knitters Mystery by Emmie Caldwell, Egg Shooters: A Cackleberry Club Mystery by Laura Childs, Shucked Apart: A Maine Clambake Mystery by Barbara Ross, and A Deadly Chapter: A Castle Bookshop Mystery by Essie Lang. Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of all 4 books and links to purchase them at the end of each review–you may not be able to see the Amazon links if you have ad blocker on.
by Tom Sims
It started with one man’s love of “*boujie” foods and grew to embrace a good friend who loved meat and potatoes. Mike Carriosa and his wife, Noel, have long enjoyed the fruits of their gourmand taste buds. Mike’s buddy, Joey Abbs, has long loved meat and potatoes. Together, they embarked, over a year ago, on an adventure to discover and review foods that Joey could not spell.
by Terrance McArthur
The 2021 Fresno Rogue Festival has come and gone, it’s virtual shows departed, but I still have my memories…of food. Usually, I write about all the Tower District restaurants I go to during the festival. Instead, I picked up meals on the way home from work or threw something together at home. This episode of The Great Food Search will follow the journey of what I ate during Virtual Rogue 2021.
by Peggy Hatfield
Feasts and celebrations are incomplete without all the delicious foods, and we all know that simple occasions will become special if there are foods to share with your family and friends. You can only see and taste certain foods during a particular event, which is why some people look forward to the experience. One of the most famous celebrations includes St. Patrick’s Day.
by Cynthia Chow
This week we have a fun group of food mysteries-A Game of Cones: An Ice Cream Parlor Mystery by Abby Collette, A Pairing to Die For: A Colorado Wine Mystery by Kate Lansing, Death Bee Comes Her: An Oregon Honeycomb Mystery by Nancy Coco, and Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop: A Beacon Bakeshop Mystery by Darci Hannah.
by Steven Sanchez
In the state of California, when you think of the havens that are considered vegan, you would imagine cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles. Rarely would you think of the Central Valley. And by reputation, deservedly so. We are the agricultural capitol of the world, especially when it comes to meat and dairy. You can’t go a square mile in this area and not see a farm of some sort.
by Sandra Murphy
& Cynthia Chow
This week we continue to catch up on our reviews with some more fun mysteries featuring book clubs, wine tastings, house flipping, and a historical-A Catered Book Club Murder: A Mystery with Recipes by Isis Crawford, A Lady Compromised: A Rosalind Thorne Mystery by Darcie Wilde, Wine Tastings Are Murder: A Poppy McAllister Mystery by Libby Klein, and Murder With a View: A House-Flipper Mystery by Diane Kelly.
by Terrance McArthur
Look, this has been a strange month. I will be retiring in March (from my real-world job, not from Kings River Life), and there is a lot of paperwork and running back and forth involved in it. I went to six different restaurant locations in the last month, intending to review each one for The Great Food Search…but I’m only going to do one of them. Therefore, I wish to temporarily apologize to…
by Kathleen Costa
Sunset Palms Beach Resort is a popular venue for many events, like a mystery writers’ conference or a Key Lime Pie baking contest, so seeing bikini-clad beauties strutting around the resort was just another day in paradise. Bronzed Babe Sunscreen is holding a contest to choose the next face—or body—for the company’s ad campaign, the “Ultimate Bikini Babe,” and first up is a photo shoot on a luxury catamaran hosted by the company owner Don Palmer. Invites were extended to Aunt Olive, of whose books he is a fan, and Ellie, as her plus one, to enjoy the sun, sea, and high fashion spectacle.
by Margaret Mendel
Time has an interesting way of blending the present with a bit of lingering tastes from the past. Some days when I look back and remember falling in love with my husband, it doesn’t feel like it was all that long ago. But over four decades later my feelings for him are still strong, and though it would be hard to have realized back then, my love for him has only grown stronger.
by Terrance McArthur
What a year for the Great Food Search! Quarantine! Lockdown! Shelter in Place! forced to review my own cooking! Take-out Time! Looking for places that kept COVID-safe!
Here are my top eateries of 2020—a year that will go down in infamy!
