WHO WE ARE




Our 2025 Schedule

1st Sundays & Mondays

Our Group Blog & Giveaway!

AROUND THE KITCHEN TABLE




1st Sundays & Mondays

Join us as we chat (as a group) 
AROUND THE KITCHEN TABLE about 
different subjects each month. Add your 
own thoughts to our discussion in the 
comments area (with your email address), and 
you will be entered to win our group giveaways
of one or more books. Good luck and have fun!



2nd & 3rd Sundays - Posts from Guest Authors! 

Over the years, we've hosted hundreds of guest authors. From New York Times bestselling writers to brand new authors with debut works. Join us on the 2nd & 3rd Sundays of every month to meet our guests. Our guest authors almost always host giveaways of their works, so be sure to stop by and leave a comment with your email address, and you may be selected as a winner!



4th Sundays & Mondays - Spotlight Sunday and Giveaway! 

On the fourth Sunday & Monday of every month, each of us Mystery Lovers' Kitchen bloggers (listed below) will take a turn stepping into the virtual spotlight to tell you more about our latest book releases and host a giveaway. We think it will be a lot of fun, and hope you will, too.


2nd and 5th Mondays with Kim Davis

KIM DAVIS writes the Aromatherapy Apothecary cozy mystery series, and the award-winning Cupcake Catering cozy mystery series. She has also written several children’s nature articles published in a variety of magazines. For ten years she’s written the Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder culinary cozy mystery blog, in which she features reviews of cozy mysteries along with a recipe from the book, and photos of the prepared dish. And now she's a member of Mystery Lovers' Kitchen!

Kim Davis is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

She lives in Southern California with her husband and rambunctious mini Goldendoodle, Missy, who has become an inspiration for several plotlines. When she’s not spending time with her granddaughters or chasing Missy around, she can be found either writing on her next book, working on blogs, or in the kitchen baking up yummy treats to share.

Click here to sign up here for Kim's newsletter: Newsletter 

Connect with Kim on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Bluesky. 



3rd Mondays (and 5th Sundays) with Ang Pompano

ANG POMPANO is an author, editor, and publisher. His short stories have been featured in numerous anthologies, including the Anthony Award-winning Mystery Most Edible. He was nominated for an Agatha Best First Novel Award. His latest work, Blood Ties and Deadly Lies, is set in the Thimble Islands of Connecticut.

A co-founder of Crime Spell Books , he co-edits the Best New England Crime Stories anthology. A member of Mystery Writers of America, he was awarded a Helen McCloy Scholarship for a Novel in Progress.

He has been on the planning committee of the New England Crime Bake writing conference for eighteen years. He served as a longstanding board member of Sisters in Crime New England and now serves on the board of the Connecticut chapter.

He lives in Connecticut with his wife and their two rescue dogs. Ang's new book, Blood Ties and Friendly Lies, releases on July 1. You can pre-order it here. You can also follow Ang on Facebook and visit his website at angpompano.com. 



1st, 3rd, and 5th Tuesdays with Leslie Budewitz

LESLIE BUDEWITZ writes the Spice Shop Mysteries set in Seattle's Pike Place Market and the Food Lovers' Village Mysteries, set in northwest Montana. To Err is Cumin, the 8th Spice Shop mystery, came out in July 2024. Watch for Lavender Lies Bleeding in July 2025. Her collection of historical short mysteries, All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, came out in September 2024. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody, standalone suspense focusing on the lives of women, including Bitterroot Lake (2021) and Blind Faith (2022).  

Leslie is the proud owner of three Agatha Award teapots: 2018 Best Short Story for "All God's Sparrows," the title story of her new historical collection; 2013 Best First Novel, for Death al Dente; and 2011 Best Nonfiction for her guide for writers, Books, Crooks & Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law & Courtroom Procedure. Her books and stories have also been nominated for or won Spur, Derringer, Anthony, and Macavity awards.

Leslie has served the writing community as president of Sisters in Crime and a national and regional board member of Mystery Writers of America. She lives in NW Montana with her husband Don Beans, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their grey tuxedo cat, an avid birdwatcher.

Contact: Leslie@LeslieBudewitz.com
Website: www.LeslieBudewitz.com
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/LeslieBudewitzAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lesliebudewitz 
Subscribe to Leslie's free newsletter for book news, a peek inside the writing life, and free short stories! 



2nd and 4th Tuesdays with Cleo Coyle 

New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestselling author CLEO COYLE is the pseudonym of Alice Alfonsi, writing in collaboration with her husband, Marc Cerasini. With more than 1 million copies of their books sold, their 21 COFFEEHOUSE MYSTERIES and 9 HAUNTED BOOKSHOP MYSTERIES are published by Penguin Random House. Cleo's books have earned starred reviews from Library Journal and Kirkus, "Best of Year" selection honors from reviewers, and have been recommended by Booklist as among the best culinary mysteries for core library mystery collections. Don't miss NO ROAST FOR THE WEARY (Cleo's 21st Coffeehouse Mystery) now a national mystery bestseller and triple #1 Amazon Category Bestseller, and Cleo's latest Haunted Bookshop releases, including THE GHOST AND THE HAUNTED PORTRAIT, an Aunt Agatha's Best of Year pick. When not haunting coffeehouses or hunting ghosts, Alice and Marc are NY Times bestselling media tie-in writers who have penned properties for Lucasfilm, Fox, Imagine, MGM, Toho, and Disney.

Contact Cleo at: CoffeehouseMystery@gmail.com 
Subscribe to Cleo's Free Newsletter 
Foodie Blog: CleoCoyleRecipes.com 

Follow Cleo:
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Bookbub | Goodreads



1st, 3rd, and 5th Wednesdays with Libby Klein

LIBBY KLEIN, author of The Poppy McAllister Mysteries, graduated Lower Cape May Regional High School sometime in the ’80s. Her classes revolved mostly around the culinary sciences and theater, with the occasional nap in Chemistry. She has worked as a stay at home mom, climbing the ladder up the ranks to the coveted position of Grandma. She also dabbles in the position of Vice President of a technology company which mostly involves bossing other people around, making spreadsheets and taking out the trash. She writes from her Northern Virginia office while trying to keep her cat Figaro off her keyboard. Most of her hobbies revolve around eating, and travel, and eating while traveling.

Contact Libby: Contact Page here
Website: LibbyKleinBooks.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/libbykleinbooks
Twitter: @LibbyKleinBooks
Instagram: Instagram.com/libbykleinbooks



2nd and 4th Wednesdays with Leslie Karst

LESLIE KARST is the Lefty Award-nominated author of the Orchid Isle Mysteries Molten Death and Waters of Destruction, of the Sally Solari culinary mystery series; and of the IBPA Benjamin Franklin and IPPY award silver medal-winning memoir Justice is Served: A Tale of Scallops, the Law, and Cooking for RBG.

After years waiting tables and singing in a new wave rock band, she decided she was ready for a “real” job and ended up at Stanford Law School. It was during her career as an attorney that Leslie rediscovered her youthful passion for food and cooking and once more returned to school—this time to earn a degree in culinary arts. Now retired from the law, in addition to writing, Leslie spends her time cooking, cycling, gardening, and observing cocktail hour promptly at five o’clock. She and her wife and their Jack Russell mix split their time between Santa Cruz, California and Hilo, Hawai‘i.


Contact Leslie: lesliekarstauthor@gmail.com
Website: www.lesliekarstauthor.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lesliekarstauthor
Instagram: www.instagram.com/lesliekarst
Leslie also blogs with Chicks on the Case



1st, 3rd, and 5th Thursdays with Lucy Burdette

Photo by Coppola Photography
LUCY BURDETTE: New Jersey born clinical psychologist Lucy Burdette aka Roberta Isleib is the author of 23 mysteries, including A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS, the latest in the Key West series featuring food critic Hayley Snow (Crooked Lane Books.) Both A DISH TO DIE FOR (#12) and THE KEY LIME CRIME (#10) won the Florida Book Award’s bronze medal for popular fiction. Her first thriller, UNSAFE HAVEN, was published by Severn House in 2021. A contemporary women's fiction title THE INGREDIENTS OF HAPPINESS will be published by Severn House in 2023. Her books and stories have been short-listed for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. She's a past president of Sisters in Crime, and currently serving as president of the Friends of the Key West Library.


2nd and 4th Thursdays with Valerie V.M. Burns

VALERIE (V. M.) BURNS is the Agatha, Anthony, Edgar, and Next Generation Indie Finalist author of the RJ Franklin Mystery series, the Dog Club Mystery series, The Mystery Bookshop Mystery series, and the Baker Street Mystery series. As Kallie E. Benjamin, she also writes the Bailey the Bloodhound Mystery series which will release in December 2023. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers of Color, and The Crime Writers Association. She is also an adjunct professor and mentor in the Writing Popular Fiction MFA Program at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. She was born and raised in Northwestern Indiana, but currently lives in Northern Georgia with her two poodles.

Contact Valerie: author@vmburns.com
Website: www.vmburns.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/vmburnsbooks/
Instagram: Instagram.com/vmburnsbooks/
Bookbub: Bookbub.com




1st and 3rd Fridays with Vicki Delany  

VICKI DELANY is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She is author of four cozy mystery series: Year Round Christmas mysteries for Penguin Random House and Crooked Lane Books, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series and the Lighthouse Library series (as EVA GATES) for Crooked Lane Books, the Tea by the Sea mysteries for Kensington, and the Catskills Summer Resort series fromo Penguin Random House.
 
Vicki lives and writes in bucolic Prince Edward County, Ontario. She is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada.  Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards. Vicki is the recipient of the 2019 Derick Murdoch Award for contributions to Canadian crime writing.

Contact: vicki@vickidelany.com
www.vickidelany.com. 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. 
Twitter @vickidelany  
Instagram: vicki.delany 



2nd and 4th Fridays with Maddie Day 


 MADDIE DAY pens the Country Store Mysteries, the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, and the Cece Barton Mysteries. Agatha Award-winning EDITH MAXWELL writes the historical Quaker Midwife Mysteries and  short crime fiction. With over dozen mysteries in print and more underway, Maxwell/Day lives with her beau Hugh and relaxed cat Martin north of Boston, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook. She hopes you’ll find her on social media under both names. 

Contact: edith@edithmaxwell.com

1st, 2nd, and 3rd Saturdays with Peg Cochran 


PEG COCHRAN writes the nationally best-selling Gourmet De-Lite mystery series. Allergic to Death is out now, and Steamed to Death is coming in June 2013. Under her pen name Meg London, she writes the Sweet Nothings Lingerie series. Murder Unmentionable is out now and Laced With Poison will be released in July 2013. Peg works in marketing communications and lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan with her husband and Westhighland white terrier, Reg and calico cat Frazzle.

Visit her at www.pegcochran.com
and www.meglondon.com.




2nd and 4th Saturdays and 5th Fridays with Molly MacRae

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. Look for Molly's new series, the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries, coming in July 2024. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction and Guideposts. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine since 1990 and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. 

Contact: mollymacrae@comcast.net
Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Twitter  or Instagram. You can also find her on the first Sunday each month at Writers Who Kill. 





Bloggers Emeriti


Krista Davis - New York Times Bestselling author KRISTA DAVIS writes the Domestic Diva Mysteries, the Paws & Claws Mysteries, and the Pen & Ink Mysteries. Krista lives with a brood of dogs and cats in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

Contact: Krista@KristaDavis.com
Website: KristaDavis.com
Twitter: @KristaDavis



Daryl Wood Gerber - Agatha Award-winning author Daryl Wood Gerber writes the nationally bestselling Cookbook Nook Mysteries as well as the new Fairy Garden Mysteries. She also pens the French Bistro Mysteries, and as Avery Aames, the popular Cheese Shop Mysteries. In addition, Daryl writes the Aspen Adams novels of suspense as well as stand-alone suspense. Daryl loves to cook, fairy garden, and read, and she has a frisky Goldendoodle who keeps her in line!

Contact: daryl@darylwoodgerber.com
Twitter: @darylwoodgerber






 Past Contributors to Our Blog 




MAYA CORRIGAN writes the Five-Ingredient Mysteries, featuring a café manager and her live-wire grandfather, the Codger Cook, solving murders in a Chesapeake Bay town. Her 7th book, Gingerdead Man, set during a Dickens of a Christmas festival, is a "spirited holiday cozy"(Kirkus). The 8th book, Bake Offed, praised as "a fun romp" (Mystery Scene Magazine), takes place during a mystery fan fest spiced with a real murder. 

The winner of the Daphne du Maurier Award and the New England Readers’ Award for unpublished Mystery and Suspense, Maya previously taught writing, American literature, and detective fiction at Georgetown University and Northern Virginia Community College. When not reading and writing, she enjoys travel, trivia, cooking, and crosswords. Visit her website for easy recipes, fun food facts, and mystery history and trivia. 



KORINA MOSS writes the Award winning Cheese Shop Mystery series (St. Martin's Press) set in the Sonoma Valley, CA. Her books have been featured in PARADE magazine, Woman's World, AARP magazine, and Fresh Fiction. Her first book, Cheddar Off Dead, won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. 

For the past several years, Korina has been on her own Eat, Pray, Love journey, which seems to have stalled at the Eat phase. When not writing or sampling new cheeses (a perk of the job), she can be found with a new favorite cozy, doing jigsaw puzzles, or discovering new travel destinations. She's an empty nester living in a small New England town. She also blogs on Writers Who Kill.



TINA KASHIAN writes the best-selling Kebab Kitchen Mediterranean mystery series, and her first book, Hummus and Homicide, spent six weeks on the B&N bestseller list. Tina is an attorney and a mechanical engineer whose love of reading for pleasure helped her get through years of academia. Tina spent her childhood summers at the Jersey shore building sandcastles, boogie boarding, and riding the boardwalk Ferris wheel. She also grew up in the restaurant business, as her Armenian parents owned a restaurant for thirty years. 





Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author ABBY COLLETTE loves a good mystery. She was born and raised in Cleveland, and it’s a mystery even to her why she hasn’t yet moved to a warmer place. As Abby Collette, she is the author of the Ice Cream Parlor mystery series, about a millennial MBA-holding granddaughter running a family-owned ice cream shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and the Books & Biscuits mystery series, starring a set of fraternal twins who reunite and open a bookstore and soul food café. 

Writing as Abby L. Vandiver, she is the author of the Logan Dickerson Mysteries, featuring a second-generation archaeologist and a nonagenarian, as well as the Romaine Wilder Mysteries, pairing an East Texas medical examiner and her feisty, funeral-home-owning auntie as sleuths. Abby spends her time writing, facilitating writing workshops at local libraries and hanging out with her grandchildren, each of whom are her favorite.





MIA P. MANANSALA (MAH-nahn-sah-lah) is an award-winning author from Chicago who "loves books, baking, and bad-ass women."

Her debut novel, ARSENIC AND ADOBO, published by Berkley/Penguin Random House was the first in her Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery series with many more to come!

Visit Mia and learn more about her current projects at her online home: MiaPManansala.com 





MARY JANE MAFFINI - Lapsed librarian and former co-owner of Prime Crime Mystery Bookstore, MJ is the award-winning author of three and a half mystery series and two dozen short stories. Her Charlotte Adams professional organizer mysteries have been optioned for television. Watch for book six. Death Plans a Perfect Trip in May 2022. 

MJ’s Camilla MacPhee mysteries are set in Ottawa, Canada’s capital, and the Fiona Silk capers take place in a quirky Quebec village. As Victoria Abbott, she collaborated on the book collector mysteries with her daughter, Victoria (read more about them below). MJ cooks, knits and plots in Ontario with a pair of miniature dachshunds, at her feet.  Her husband sleeps with one eye open. Visit her at  MaryJaneMaffini.com or on FACEBOOK




DENISE SWANSON, New York Times bestselling author, was a practicing psychologist for twenty-two years. She writes the Scumble River, Chief-to-Go, and the Devereaux’s Dime Store mysteries, and as well as Change of Heart and Delicious Love contemporary romance series. Her books all feature small-town heroines with lots of heart.

Denise’s books have been finalists for the Agatha, Mary Higgins Clark, RT Magazine's Career Achievement, and Daphne du Maurier Awards. She has won the Reviewers Choice Award and was a BookSense 76 Top Pick.

Denise Swanson lives in rural Illinois with her husband, classical composer David Stybr. 




SHEILA CONNOLLY, talented and beloved New York Times bestselling author of four mystery series, is sadly no longer among us. Her books and short stories live on, though, including her immensely popular County Cork series. Read about them at her web site, http://sheilaconnolly.com/.








LINDA WIKEN is the author of the Dinner Club Mysteries and the Castle Bookshop Mysteries, the latter written under the name Essie Lang. As Erika Chase she wrote the Ashton Corners Book Club Mysteries. She was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel for A Killer Read. She has also been shortlisted for an Arthur Award from Crime Writers of Canada for Best Short Story. She lives with her Siamese cat, Keesha in Ottawa, ON, where she continues to write new projects. 








VICTORIA ABBOTT and The Book Collector Mysteries are a collaboration of artist and photographer Victoria Maffini and her award-winning mother, Mary Jane Maffini. Both are still writing together and separately. 









Julie Hyzy


JULIE HYZY, author of the White House Chef Mysteries and the Manor Mysteries, is now penning new projects. Visit her at http://www.juliehyzy.com/








Jenn McKinley


JENN MCKINLAY is also staying very busy!  She writes the Cupcake Mysteries, the Library Lover's Mysteries, and more.  Catch up with Jenn and her many projects at http://www.jennmckinlay.com/




Elizabeth S. Craig/Riley Adams






ELIZABETH CRAIG: Watch for exciting new projects from Elizabeth. She has authored many cozy series including the Southern Quilting Mysteries the Memphis Barbecue Mysteries (as Riley Adams) and the popular Myrtle Clover Mysteries.  Learn more at http://elizabethspanncraig.com








Wendy Lynn Watson

WENDY LYN WATSON authored the Mysteries a la Mode and the Pet Boutique Mysteries (as Annie Knox). She live in Denton, Texas, where she earns her keep teaching American government to college kids … a task she says is more daunting than hitting the New York Times list. Learn more about Wendy's latest projects at wendylynwatson.com



Ellery Adams





ELLERY ADAMS is a prolific author. Among her past series are the Charmed Pie Mysteries and the Books by the Bay Mysteries. She was also 1/2 of New York Times bestselling author Lucy Arlington. Keep up with Ellery and her new books at http://elleryadamsmysteries.com


  



How did Mystery Lovers' Kitchen start?

 Mason Canyon wrote a lovely piece about origins of Mystery Lovers' Kitchen and the original 6 members who launched it.  Read it by clicking here. 


 


Click here or on the image above to see
our 10th Anniversary Party Blog Post and read
our blog memories. 





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