Killing Thyme — Peter Abresch

RECIPE FOR MURDER

Take a few ambitious chefs, a handful of amateur cooks on a weeklong tour of Baltimore's greatest restaurants, season with a bit of competition for a spot on a new TV show, A Dash of Thyme, throw in a ruthless killer, and voilà, a perfectly seasoned dish of homicide for amateur sleuths James P. Dandy and his ladylove Dodee Swisher.

Before the pair arrives in Baltimore for the cooking class extravaganza, the chef supposed to lead the group dies from eating poisoned mushrooms. When a second chef falls dead while sampling a bit of endive, it's clear that the main course is murder. A third death--this time a very wealthy member of the cooking tour itself--leads Jim and Dodee on a culinary caper as delicious as it is deadly, with a clever killer eager to serve them just desserts.