Just finished reading...

Toast Mortem by Claudia Bishop.*

It's been a while since I read a Hemlock Falls mystery, and I realized that I'd missed Quill and Meg like old friends I hadn't seen in a long time. The previous book in the series (#15, A Carol for a Corpse) was published in 2007.

Since then, Quill has become a parent to Jackson Myles McHale, almost two. Her husband, Myles, is overseas on an extended assignment for the government, so she and Jack have moved back into her rooms in the Inn. A culinary school (the Bonne Goute Culinary Academy) has opened nearby and the Inn at Hemlock Falls, though filled with guests, is not serving many meals. Most of the people registered at the Inn are there to tour and dine at the Academy.

Meg, the head chef at the Inn, is understandably upset. But when the owner of the Academy, well-known chef Bernard LeVasque, begins to harass her by spreading rumours of deadly viruses at the Inn, and advertising that the Inn is serving free food, she is also extremely confused. Is it because she took in the pastry chef he fired?

When, a few days later, LeVasque is found in his wine cellar with a knife in his throat, pastry chef Clarissa is the prime suspect. Certain that the Hemlock Falls sheriff is not going to look any further, Meg and Quill begin investigating again.

Welcome back to the Quilliam sisters. Here's hoping we see you again soon!

*Review copy provided by the publisher.