Turn Up the Heat: A Gourmet Girl Mystery

Murder’s on the menu at Simmer, a popular Boston restaurant, in the third saucy cozy to feature “gourmet girl” Chloe Parker from daughter-and-mother writing team Conant-Park and Conant (after 2007’s Simmer Down ). When Leandra, a Simmer server, turns up strangled with her own apron strings in a seafood delivery truck belonging to Owen, the fiancé of Chloe’s best friend, Adrianna, there are plenty of suspects. Most of the restaurant’s staff appear to have despised the petite blonde, who happened to be the girlfriend of Simmer’s owner, but did they hate Leandra enough to kill her? Chloe discovers Owen’s been lying to Adrianna about something important, and Simmer employees and some of their significant others have a penchant for stealing. The snooping foodie dives deeper into danger as she decides to check out that delivery truck one more time. The authors serve up another delectable dish of detection. (Mar.)