Death on Eat Street

A Biscuit Bowl Food Truck Mystery, Book #1

By J.J. Cook

ISBN#  9780425263457

Author’s Website:  www.joyceandjimlavene.com

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie

Synopsis:

Zoe Chase always wanted to own her own restaurant—but first, she’ll have to serve up a heaping helping of meals on wheels, with a side of mystery… …

When she’s once again passed over for a promotion at work, Zoe decides to take the big leap and go for her dream. She quits, gives up her fancy digs, and buys a fixer-upper diner in a shady part of town. To keep above water during the renovation, she buys a used food truck to serve the downtown and waterfront of Mobile, Alabama.

Zoe starts to dish out classic Southern food—but her specialty is her deep-fried biscuit bowls that blow traditional bread bowls away.

After a promising start, things start to go downhill faster than a food truck without brakes. First, someone tries to rob the cash register. Next, Zoe is threatened by the owner of a competing food truck for taking their spot. And when the owner ends up dead inside Zoe’s rolling restaurant, Zoe and her sole employee, Ollie, find themselves hopping out of the frying pan into the fryer. They need to find the real killer, before both of them get burned. (Goodreads )

Review:

A bad day has to get better, right? Not for Zoe, whose day went from bad to worse when she became a murder suspect in the untimely death of a rival food truck driver.  The only suspect, in fact.

Okay, I never thought that driving and selling fast, tasty meals from a food truck would be a terribly dangerous job.  And Zoe’s menu is unique – biscuit bowls that would be the envy of every southern cook, brimming with a variety of special, delectable fillings. The only danger I could think of is that I would start to look like a food truck after a few weeks of taste-testing new fillings!

However, at the end of a long, unprofitable day in which Zoe had a loud disagreement with the driver of a rival food truck,  Zoe picked up her plump Persian puss, Creme Brulee, from her special on-board basket and found … the unsavory competitor, Terry from Terry’s Tacky Tacos in the driver’s seat.  Of her truck.  Dead.

From her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend, Tommy Lee, to her mother who is campaigning to be a judge, Zoe’s attorney Miguel Alexander, her newest employee and friend, Delia, Detective Patti, and her friends from the nearby shelter, there is no shortage of opinions on whodunit and what she should do next.  Zoe, however, just wants to clear her name and get her biscuit mobile back on the road.

Can’t get worse, can it?  Oh, yeah.  Her business venture begins to turn even more deadly with threats, break-ins, kidnappings, and gunshots. It seems that everybody thinks that Zoe now has what Taco Terry was supposed to have on him when he was murdered.  A stolen, hand-written recipe that Thomas Jefferson wrote out personally and brought back from France for Creme Brulee. Seriously?  The only Creme Brulee that Zoe knows is her pampered puss.

As she mulls over the possible players and suspects, Zoe experiments with new recipes for her biscuit bowls, and her business multiplies overnight.  She’ll be able to open the doors of her restaurant soon if business continues to boom.  If she is able to stay out of jail.  And if she and her friends live.

This first Biscuit Bowl Food Truck Mystery is at times witty, surprising, and sweet. It is also about sorting through deceit and hair-raising danger.  Death on Eat Street is also about working toward the career of one’s dreams and the value of friends and family.

Zoe is amazing, an intuitive young lady who could have almost any career her parents could school her for, yet she is strong enough to pursue her own dreams. I admire her creativity and perseverance.  Zoe’s Uncle Saul and her new friends are an eclectic, likable mix of folks who  have little to give except their friendship, loyalty and help.   Creme Brulee (the cat, not the recipe) is all feisty feline, using her cat-sonality to the max to help identify the good guys and fend off the bad guys.

The novel wouldn’t be complete without Zoe’s biscuit recipes.  Since my attempt to prepare much of anything in a kitchen would be a crime in itself, I haven’t tried them, but those of you who aren’t kitchen challenged will enjoy them.

I highly recommend this delightful cozy to anyone who enjoys cooking, mystery, and a touch of romance and whimsy.  It could be enjoyed by teens and adults of any age, and I, for one, am looking forward to the next book in the series.  Zoe and Creme Brulee are a hit!!