A Chili Death

Classic Diner #1

by Jessica Beck

Husband and wife team Victoria and Greg run The Charming Moose Diner in Jasper Fork, North Carolina, along with the rest of her extended family. Greg’s in the kitchen at the grill while Victoria runs the register and takes care of any trouble that comes their way, something that happens all too often. When a stranger shows up one day and tells Victoria that he owns the land the diner was built on, there’s a scramble to dig up secrets from the past that lead into the present when the stranger is found murdered in The Charming Moose’s freezer! Victoria and Moose make an unlikely sleuthing team at first, but they soon learn how to work together to track down a killer.
Recipes for real Diner comfort food are included!

Genres: Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Cozy, Fiction, Mystery Thriller

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 2012

About the author

Jessica Beck is a pseudonym used by
Tim Myers.
Jessica Beck is the penname of an author who has been nominated for the Agatha Award and named an Independent Mystery Booksellers Association national bestseller nearly a dozen times.

Jessica Beck loves donuts, and has the figure to prove it. It's amazing what people can convince themselves is all in the name of research! For each recipe featured in the donut mysteries, a dozen more are tried and tested.

When not concocting delicious treats, Beck enjoys the rare snowfalls near her home in the foothills of North Carolina.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/jessic...

Reviews

[Genevieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this start to a new series. One of the things I enjoyed is the fact that the main character Victoria is happily married and runs the Charming Moose Diner together. So no love triangle or bad dates to go through. I love Victoria's grandfather and the rest of her family. I also really liked the story line and was guessing till the end who the killer would be. Of course the Sherriff letting them investigate is a little far fetched but a really good quick read.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of Jessica Beck's Donut Shop Mysteries, so I was stoked when I found the Classic Diner Mysteries. I have to say that I'm quite disappointed with this book. I just couldn't connect with the characters-frankly I found them pretty boring. I was 100 pages into the book and I had to force myself to keep going, as I just couldn't take another page with Moose blurting out to the suspects that they were there for their alibi! No mystery to getting people to open up to them at all. I doubt I'll read any other books in this series, and will instead wait for the next Donut Shop book.

[Denise Zendel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Victoria and her husband, Greg, run The Charming Moose Diner in Jasper Fork, North Carolina, assisted by the rest of her extended family. One day a stranger serves Victoria with papers indicating he owns the land the diner was built on. Victoria’s grandfather purchased the land from the original owner, the mystery man’s father, but of course he can’t find any documentation on it. Things were done on a handshake in those days. The mystery man winds up dead in the diner’s freezer and Victoria’s family heads up the suspect pool.

I only got 67% through this book, so take my review with a grain of salt. I remember trying to read this once before, back in the early days of owning a Kindle, and gave up because I found the characters annoying. Fast forward a few years, it was free, I’d forgotten I tried to read it previously, and I like the author’s other work.

This was a slooooow read for me. In fact, the only reason I made it as far as I did was because I was on the elliptical machine at the gym and I didn’t want to slow down to pick out another book. The plot had some potential, but the characters were boring and annoying. I did like the relationship between Victoria and Greg, but everyone else, including the grandfather, got on my nerves. I finally gave up in frustration. I can highly recommend some of the author’s other series (“she” is a he and writes under several pseudonyms), but this one – meh.

[Jeannie and Louis Rigod · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first volume in the new series that takes place in Jasper Fork, North Carolina. We have a husband and wife team owning a diner named "The Charming Moose."

The husband, Greg, and his wife, Victoria really love their lives. The diner has been in Victoria's family for decades and her Grandparents, and parents have deeded it down to the couple. Now, the deed is in question.

A man no one has ever seen nor heard of, Howard Lance, walks in and announces with a legal Eviction notice, that his Father, deceased, never actually sold, or recorded the sale of the property, and they are being served with the papers to evict. Naturally, this is not something Greg and Victoria are willing to do without a battle.

This is cause for a family meeting, and we are introduced to 'Moose,' Victoria's Grandfather and fellow sleuth.

I enjoyed this tale, but wish that there was more background on the main characters, for instance, a last name? How did Greg and Victoria meet? What is behind the moniker of Grandfather? Perhaps, we will find out in the next book, "A Bad Beef."

[Vicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I enjoyed most of the book, I found it to be mostly filler. I assume (I hope correctly) that it was setting up the characters for the next in line "A Deadly Beef". I did find discrepencies in it being a friendly town and the actual goings on between characters though. And Moose never demonstrated the personality the author was trying to give him through Victoria's words. On to book 2 now....

[margaret clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

The family dinner is a great place to eat but a terrible place to be murdered.

The story is ok, but not spellbinding. The characters are weak and the dialogue is choppy. I won't spend my time reading another one in the series. However the recipes are good!!

[Renee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm torn about this one. It was fun and it was written well, and I did enjoy it. I'm not sure, though, that I'll make an effort to read more in the series. It was a little awkward in places and I'm not 100% hooked on the main character. Eh.

[Lara Frater · Rating 1 out of 5]

Apparently this author is a best seller and won awards. I don't know how. This book is written in the language of a ten year old.

[Hemavathy DM Suppiah-Devi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It starts of slow, slow, slow. I had to force myself to read past the first half of the book. Since this is a cozy mystery it was pretty obvious that Victoria would find a way to inveigle herself into the investigation, and he the way it was done with the family voting and encouraging her was rather clumsy. Moose too, though supposed to be charming, just came across as annoying. The killer was fairly easy to spot as they as there is a scene in which they are purposefully brought to the reader’s and the family’s attention. Pathetic ending was well done, and for once the heroine did not try to outsmart the police. That was the good thing about the book, the sheriff wasn’t the enemy but and ally. And it was nice change to have diner recipes, though I wish there had been more.

[Alabama Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a very good story for an opener of a series.
A quirky 3 generation family doesn’t got looking for trouble but it seems to find them.
Life in a small town means that the police department doesn’t have much of an advantage over townsfolk who know everyone and everything that goes on around them.

Somehow a stiff has been found in the diners freezer and the owners and family are all suspects.
With almost no evidence some of the family members work on clearing their good name and the reputation of the diner while putting their own lives at risk.

Off to see how the next installment turns out!

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The thing I like about cozy mysteries is that they are light, fast, easy reads where my blood pressure rarely rises. The characters are always charming and likable, and even though bodies might be dropping, no one seems that put out by it.

The thing I don’t like about cozy mysteries is that there’s almost never any actual mystery involved.

This is a typical cozy mystery.

[Gene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, with a great ending, but not quite as good as the Donut Shop mysteries. The characters are better drawn out and more interesting though the plots are about as good. I think I like the characters better as well.

[Deb Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fun, pulled me right in. Could not put it down. The family interactions were a joy to read about. The plot was twisting right to the end.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really good start to a new series.
Victoria and her family will grab your heart in a loving embrace, even though there is a murder to solve, too.
Enjoy!

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

An American 'cozy' - I do plan to read #2 in the series.

[Rhea Folland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great... sounds like a great Series to read!

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as good as the donut shop series!

[Christie Lose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read and seems like it’s going to be a great series! Can’t wait to read the next.

[Sinthu murali · Rating 3 out of 5]

its a regular cozy,no fuss ,heroine family owns a diner when stranger named Howard Lance threaten them to evict them,along with some other people who bought land from his father,they riled up ,but the next day heroine found him stuffed in her diner freezer,that makes her the prime suspect so she and her grandfather become a team to find the real killer .
Then you might wonder why only 3stars ?because the heroine family is too perfect, 3 generations of people finding that true one ,love of their life,soul mate,etc is just too far fetched for me

I found out a truth while reading that book,which my brain took its sweet time to come up with ,the truth as followsI am still in love with my last cozy mysteryMum's the Wordflower shop mystery bookbook
Unconsciously my mind try to find similarities

1)heroine with good heart and head
2)hero who loves her,protects her with a balance
3)a crazy but lovable familyfamily
4)a murder

Its like Cinderella transformation for me,I never knew l had it in me to be picky
No offense to this book,it is good but if the killer is not within their community they would never find him/her.

[Deanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started out wonderful, but the further I got into the story, I could
tell that the writer was running out of material. There were also some
glaring mistakes in the book. For example, Victoria is talking to Moose
and she grabs her jacket. She continues talking to him and grabs her jacket
again. (She must have been really cold.) The major error that I can't get over
is as follows...

Error Spoiler below.....

Cynthia told Victoria and Moose that Margie Collins came by and filled her in
about Howard Lance being murdered in their diner. (page 169 on my nook) Yet
when Margie and Hank come back from their elopement - they had no idea that
a murder took place. Someone tell me how Cynthia knew about the murder if Margie
wasn't there to tell her?

Also the ending was a little lukewarm, which is another reason I gave this book
a lukewarm rating. I really wished the book was better as I really did like the
start of it.

[Lori Henrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this. It was a unique combination for investigators. I was afraid that it was going to be another woman investigator that falls in love with the police officer. That particular story line is getting kind of old.

Victoria teams up with her grandfather "Moose" to solve the crime. When a man shows up in The Charming Moose Diner with looking for Moose. Victoria is a bit wary of him. He is rude and the attitude he portrays is not a pleasant one. He claims that the land the diner is on belongs to him and that they need to vacate the property. This is shocking news, but when the man who claims to own the property is found dead in the diners freezer the family joins together to figure out who did the nasty deed.

Good story flow and good style. I like the characters and the development of the story. Hope I can get the next in the series.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Victoria and her husband run her family's diner, happy to work long hours and visit with their customers. When a man tells them that he owns the land under their business--and many other local businesses--they try to prove him wrong. But when he's murdered, all the local business owners are suspects. Victoria, and her grandfather Moose, decide to help the local police chief by investigating on their own.

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I loved how Victoria worked to try to keep her Grandfather in check. Even better was when she was the one to get thrown out of an establishment rather than him. The family affair of crime solving was fun. An getting reading to purchase the next in the series to see if it lives up to this one.

[Cathy Hendren]

This is the third series by Jessica Beck that I have read or started to read. There is a similarity to the books but still enjoyable. The main character is Victoria who has to find the murderer of a man killed in her walk in freezer at her family restaurant. I will be reading the others in this series.

[Sallee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and fast paced mystery about a 3 generation owned diner, called The Charming Moose. When a man shows up and sets to evict them and several other businesses in town saying there was no proof of ownership for the current owners. When that man ends up dead in the walk in freezer at the diner, all the possible evictees become possible suspects.

[Versel Rush · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually the audiobook edition.

I'm giving it a 4 when it may only deserve a 3 but I like Beck's Donut Shop series and am giving her the benefit in this case.

Good--plot details, sprinkling of clues, interesting characters

Not so good--dialogue (very stilted and unnatural made more glaringly so by being an audiobook)

[Emily Cullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a man who claims to own the land that the Charming Moose Diner is on ends up dead in their freezer, diner owner Victoria must clear her family name. This is the first in the cozy mystery series "The Classic Diner Series". I liked this story well enough but I do not feel compelled to read on to the next. Their are too many other great mysteries and other books out there to read!

[Glenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice cozy mystery..about a nice family, that run a nice family diner. When the family business is in danger of being taken over they must solve a murder to protect it.. I enjoyed it. good clean book. I will certainly read more in the series.

[Sharla · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were so many scenes of "my grandpa is great because.." Aggghh! I expected so much more from this author and after I finished the book, I felt irritated. I don't even want to read book two in this series. The main character is overly feisty about "nothing".