Just finished reading...

Pepperoni Pizza can be Murder by Chris Cavender.*

This is the second of the Pizza Lover's Mysteries. The protagonist, Eleanor Swift is the widowed owner and chef of A Slice of Delight, a small pizzeria in the small town of Timber Ridge, North Carolina.

Eleanor's only employees are her sister, Maddy and a young college student named Greg Hatcher. Greg's grandparents were killed in an explosion the previous year, and their will divided their estate between Greg and his spoiled older brother Wade. But Wade believes he should get 3/4 the$200,000 estate, and is planning a lawsuit to that effect.

Greg shows up at work one day with a bloody nose, received in an altercation with his brother. Late that night, she's awakened by a phone call from the police chief, who asks her to return to her restaurant. Wade's was found on the floor with a bloody rolling pin next to him, and Greg is the chief suspect.

Certain that the young man, whom Eleanor thinks of as family, is innocent, she and Maddy set out to figure out who the real killer is. Their quest is not aided by the fact that Eleanor dated Police Chief Kevin Hurley in high school, and things are still uncomfortable between them. Also, Greg and Wade's mother, learning of their quest, tries to stop Eleanor and Maddy by planting a cockroach in a meal she ordered at their restaurant.

The sisters' quest to clear the name of their employee and friend is very believable; they talk to residents of their town in plausible scenarios. The characters and the relationships between them are also well-drawn.

Chris Cavender is the pen-name for Tim Myers, who writes several other cozy mystery series under his own name and various others. I enjoyed this so much that I'm going to check out some of those other series.

*The author was kind enough to send me an ARC of the book.