On the third Wednesday of each month, I’ll feature a cozy mystery I read long ago. Backlist titles make my heart sing and hopefully you’ll find some new to you reads for your cozy TBR. This month we’re going back to the year 2024.

Cornbread, Ribs, and Murder by Brenda Whiteside and Joyce Proell

313 pages, Kindle Edition, Published April 30, 2024

About the Book:

It’s a rib cookoff…with a recipe for murder. Nicole Earp and Emma Banefield are celebrating another birthday at the Dulce Inn with the added fun of a rib cookoff in the park. Not only are chocolate martinis in their plans, Nic has her heart set on winning the cornbread contest. But as the excitement bakes, someone is stirring up trouble for the inn and its employees. The third book in this amateur sleuths, cozy mystery series will have you chuckling and on the edge of your seat as the sisters solve the murder.

My Thoughts:

This was my first introduction to the Chocolate Martini Sisters Mysteries and it was such a fun read. While this is book three in the series, it read well as a standalone. Nic and Emma are lots of fun–stories of sisters are some of my favorites, and these two make a great pair. They play off of each other well and have the open and honest conversations that only sisters can have. They are also a hoot together–certainly not afraid to get a little messy in the hunt for the truth. I chuckled several times, wondering how they were going to get themselves out of certain spots. The mystery was solid and had excellent pacing. The many suspects and clues (and red herrings) had me turning the pages quickly, eager to reveal the culprit. And I’m certainly curious to know what a chocolate martini tastes like, although I’m much more likely to try the delicious cornbread recipe tucked in at the end of the novel. While this was my first adventure with Nic and Emma, it certainly won’t be my last!

See info about the whole series HERE (including info about book four, which I’m adding to my TBR as I type!)