Death of a Crabby Cook by Penny Pike is the first book in the new “Food Festival” mystery series. Publisher: Obsidian

At the San Francisco Seafood Festival, someone is steamed enough to kill a cook….

When restaurant reviewer Darcy Burnett gets served a pink slip from the San Francisco Chronicle, she needs to come up with an alternative recipe for success quickly. Her feisty aunt Abby owns a tricked-out school bus, which she’s converted into a hip and happening food truck, and Darcy comes aboard as a part-timer while she develops a cookbook project based on recipes from food fests in the Bay Area.

But she soon finds someone’s been trafficking in character assassination—literally—when a local chef turns up dead and her aunt is framed for the murder. The restaurant chef was an outspoken enemy of food trucks, and now Darcy wonders if one of the other vendors did him in. With her aunt’s business—and freedom—on the line, it’s up to Darcy to steer the murder investigation in the right direction and put the brakes on an out-of-control killer…

I like it. This was very enjoyable and I love the pacing and flow of this light whodunit. This mystery was hard to put down and I especially like the humor that was contained within the pages. Darcy is a wonderful character and I adore the relationship she has with her Aunt Abby and her cousin Dillon whose appearance is not what it seems. Jake and the other food truck vendors round out this delicious cast of characters and I can’t wait to read the next book in this delightfully entertaining series.

previously posted on the Cozy Chicks blog