In 1990, Diane Mott Davidson published the first mystery in the Goldy the Caterer series (Catering to Nobody) and the culinary mystery was born. There was something about the combination of solving murder and cooking great food that really hooked readers. Perhaps it is the contrast between horrible violent death and the celebration of life through eating. Or maybe just the description of food complete with recipes to try out yourself.

But Davidson was not really the first. Food had long had a place in mystery and detective fiction. Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot appreciated the finer things in life, including a good meal. Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe was a gourmand who loved cooking good food and drinking fine wine. So much so that Rex Stout and his editors created the Nero Wolfe Cookbook. The first writer to include the recipes in her novels was Virginia Rich. She published her first Eugenia Potter book, The Cooking School Murders in 1982. Eugenia was older and widowed and loved cooking and wanted to share her food and recipes with others. This was the first time that recipes were included in the novel itself. Rich only wrote a few entries in the series before she passed away, but Nancy Pickard added a few more, writing from copious notes that Rich had left about future series entries.

Like Davidson’s Goldy, Faith Fairchild first appeared in 1990 in The Body in the Belfry by Katherine Hall Page. Faith was a former caterer from New York City who had married an Episcopal priest and was trying to adjust to life as a pastor’s wife and mother in a quaint New England town when she stumbles over a dead body. The first entry or two in this series did not have recipes, but they were soon added, perhaps to capitalize on the popularity of Davidson.

China Bayles is the heroine of the series by Susan Wittig Albert. She is a former lawyer from Houston who moved to the Texas Hill country and started a shop selling herbs. Often accompanied by her best friend, Ruby, she solves all kinds of murders and in the process finds herself falling in love. (Lots of echoes of Davidson here–kooky friend, later in life romance, and yet I find these have a very different feel.) As I recall, the recipes came later in this series as well. (There are many recipes on Susan’s website.)

It is a shame that Lou Jane Temple is no longer publishing her Heaven Lee series. I have read all of them, and I love her sense of humor and wit. Revenge of the Barbecue Queens is a close look at the world of competitive barbecuing which starts when one of the star chefs is found sticking out of a pot of barbecue sauce.

Lately I have been reading a lot of Joanne Fluke. Unfortunately, I am now caught up with all the entries in the Hannah Swensen series. Hannah is a baker who owns a bakery and coffee shop called the Cookie Jar in Lake Eden, Minnesota. Her first case (Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder) involved proving that her chocolate chippers were not the cause of the milkman’s death. I highly recommend the audio version of these tales, as the reader is excellent, and for some reason, listening to the recipes being read aloud makes them sound especially appetizing. Hannah is younger than many of the other culinary sleuths (just 30 I believe), and is involved in a love triangle which is now a square since a third man has entered the picture. For all those cat lovers, Hannah also has a cat Moishe who makes regular appearances in the series.

Sandra Balzo is fairly new to the culinary mystery scene. In Uncommon Grounds, Maggie Thorsen getting ready to open a gourmet coffee store, except her partner is electrocuted by the espresso machine right before their grand opening. This series has a little more grit than a lot of other cozy series, but was still very enjoyable.

Take a culinary mystery and cross it with chick lit and you’ll get the Gourmet Girl series by Susan Conant and Jessica Conant Park. In the first in the series, Steamed, foodie Chloe thinks maybe she has found the perfect boyfriend when she meets Eric, a restaurateur and investor online.  Unfortunately, when they go on their first date, things do not go so well.  Eric is a selfish boor and Chloe is desperately trying to think of some way to end their date when he turns up dead in the restroom of the restaurant.

There are many new series joining these every year–Laura Childs’ Tea Shop Mystery series, Miranda Bliss’ Cooking Class Murder series, Livia Washburn’s Fresh Baked Murder series,  and Cleo Coyle’s Coffeehouse Mystery series, to name just a few.  Try a few bites, you might just discover murder is delicious!