Jodie “Nosey” Parker and her daughter Daisy have moved back to Jodie’s hometown after her bitter divorce. It is a small Cornish village where everybody knows everybody and everybody’s business. But her mother lives there and so do her friends from her childhood.
A former police officer, Jodie has decided to change her career. She has opened a catering company and by luck her ex-boyfriend Tony has become her first client. Tony is getting married, and their caterer has backed out. Although Tony is thrilled Jodie has said yes, his fiancée Cheryl does not seem as excited. Cheryl does not give Jodie that warm and fuzzy feeling, but Tony seems to adore her so that’s all that matters.
Hoping her first catering job ever “kills it”, unfortunately does not go as planned. The night before the wedding, Tony’s ex-wife Mel shows up and starts an argument at the rehearsal dinner telling Tony that Cheryl does not really love him and is just marrying him for his money. Tony owns an antique shop.
The next morning, Mel is found dead at the hotel site and Cheryl is missing, although her car and suitcase are still on the premises. Tony is despondent and can’t believe Cheryl would kill Mel or disappear without talking to him. He asks Jodie to see if she can find out what happened to Mel and why Cheryl has vanished.
In the meantime, DCI Withers, has been put in charge of the case and he has no patience for Jodie’s meddling. Nor does he feel he needs any assistance from a caterer. No matter how hard Jodie tries to help, it seems Withers has his eyes on only one suspect. He then arrests Tony for the murder of his ex-wife! Jodie knows Tony would never hurt anybody, well she hopes he wouldn’t and against the advice of her mother and the inspector who has had quite enough of her antics, she puts her detective’s hat back on.
So, who did kill Mel and where on earth is Cheryl? How is it possible for such a small village to have so much drama, AND so many suspects??
Murder on the Menu is a very funny, interesting cozy mystery with a terrific surprise ending. It would be very easy for the reader to fall in love with all the interesting characters found in this tiny village. Since this is Book 1, I can only assume there will be a second and quite frankly I can’t wait!
Thank you #NetGalley #OneMoreChapter/HarperCollins #FionaLeitch #MurderontheMenu for the advanced copy.
Lisa's Cubby 