Mysteries and menus go hand in hand.  Just picking up A Taste of Murder and quickly wading through it, I knew it was a recipe book that would never leave my kitchen. 

Readers and chefs can expect great recipes, informative thoughts, witty remarks, and bits and pieces from Jo Grossman and Robert Weibezahl, who created the wonderful book, and the mystery writers themselves. An impressive introduction tells readers about the relationship between mysteries and menus, and each chapter adds a little more a long with the recipes. Under the chapter headings of First Instincts, Choose Your Poison, The Pot Thickens, Dressed to Kill, Kneadless Violence, Quick and Painless, Pasta Mortem, Something’s Fishy, Fowl Play, Secret Meat-ings, No Place to Meat, Faithful Sidekicks, Revenge is Sweet, and Just Desserts, you will find some delicious, tempting meals. Expect to find recipes like, Bill Crider’s manly recipe of Sausage-Cheese Appetizer, Cathie John’s tasty Cincinnati Chili recipe with a dash of chocolate. Peter Robinson’s tempting taste of Warm Pear and Stilton Salad, Sara Hoskins Frommer’s bread recipe called Fred Lundquist’s Sourdough Oatmeal Bread, Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone Peanut Butter and Pickle Sandwich recipe, Parnell Hall’s Stanley’s Head Pesto pasta, Anne Perry’s Fish Pie, Leslie Glass’s April Woo’s Crispy Hacked Duck, Penny Warner’s Hangtown Fry, Kate Charles’s recipe for Quick Vegetarian Cassoulet, H.R.F. Keating’s side dish recipe of Carrot Haliva, L.L. Thrasher’s Boiled Cookies, and Jonathan Gash’s British cake recipe called Parkin.

If you own one of those rare Bed & Breakfasts that includes live mysteries in the vacation weekend package, or know anyone who does, this is one recipe book that will add to the fun. It’s a wonderful grouping of talent and taste. The recipes are worthy on their own, but it’s nice to have a little mystery with one’s meal – don’t you think? Others must agree because it been nominated in the Anthony Mystery Awards for Best Non-Fiction. 

You can’t go wrong spending the dough on this one.