Ginger Snapped: A Spice Shop Mystery

Oust deliciously upends a cozy trope—amateur sleuth vs. professional cop—in her fifth Spice Shop mystery (after 2016’s Curried Away). Fortyish, divorced Piper Prescott offers “anise to za’atar” and sage advice at Spice It Up!, her Brandywine, Ga., shop, but when murder’s the matter, detect she must—to the perpetual annoyance of police chief Wyatt McBride. Now he needs her: realtor Shirley Randolph’s naked body is found in the fishing hole behind his house. They were seen sharing chili fries; suddenly he’s a suspect. Even before the death is tagged homicide, he’s suspended without pay. Interim chief Sgt. Beau Tucker likes the top badge for the crime and only halfheartedly investigates. But Piper would bet her last ginger rhizome that gorgeous, widowed Wyatt is innocent. Between deliveries of goulash and pizza to his house, she courts danger stalking likely villains with sidekick Reba Mae Johnson. And she risks social opprobrium and her teenage daughter’s wrath by agreeing to chaperone the senior prom and asking Wyatt to escort her. Their prom date is hilarious and touching. Ginger lore and simple recipes provide lagniappe. Agent: Jessica Faust, BooksEnds. (Dec.)