Appetizers and Alibis

Alphabet Soup Mysteries #1

by Erica J. Whelton

The first in the Alphabet Soup Mysteries and opening night. It's here.Opening night of Chef Jessica Vasquez's new The Crock Pot. With the media spotlighting the opening on the evening news and food bloggers featuring the restaurant online, the pressure is on.At the end of the night, The Crock Pot is a smashing success and Jessica is beaming with pride. That is until she realizes her Sous Chef, Earl is missing. She finds him by the dumpsters shot to death.Suspicion is cast on Jess. She doesn't want to be compared to her father, so she is thrust into the role of sleuth to clear her name and save her business. Along with her two besties, Sawyer and Vee, they quickly find the murderer may be closer than they thought.

Genres: Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Fiction, Ebooks, Amateur Sleuth

209 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 22, 2024

About the author

Erica lives in Houston, Tx with her husband, three kids, and three grandsons. Plus, her dogs, cat, and tortoises. She spent time in the U.S. Navy which was a turning point in her life from awkward teen to young woman. As a child she wanted to be a teacher or a scientist but has always had a love of books. Many of her own experiences with the paranormal helped shape her first book; Premedicated Murder.

Reviews

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting contemporary cozy mystery set in a new restaurant owned by Chef Jess. She has spent her years from high school and beyond developing new recipes and entering cooking contests winning several cash prizes. Now she has worked hard to open a place of her own. Despite her delicious food and careful preparations, her new place is targeted by an unknown person who engages in vandalism and more. I liked the story and characters but the constant spelling errors (or typos perhaps) were distracting. Hopefully this will improve in the second book and beyond.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a ton of typos and grammar errors. The story was pretty good, though. I probably would have given it 4 stars if someone had bothered to proofread it.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent cozy. A great start to a new city. Love the restaurant and her friends. Exceedingly well written and fun. Look forward to. book 2.

[Lise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jessica Vasquez has finally reached her goal of opening a restaurant. An award-winning chef, Jess' inspired menu is creating a buzz. Alas, the death of her sous-chef behind her restaurant overshadows her achievement and the subsequent police investigation casts Jess as a potential suspect. Needing to protect her new business, Jess uses her minimal spare time to catch a killer.

A good portion of this mystery involved a deep dive into the restaurant industry, which provided a great background for the mystery. The side characters felt real (and wonderful), and I loved the relationship between Jess and her roommates. I'm really looking forward to reading more in this series.

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like cozy mysteries and this one was about a chef and a murder in her new restaurant. The story line was fun but a bit drawn out and then suddenly the mystery is solved. I felt it could have been shortened a bit because of all the redundant incidents. There were typos and grammar issues. I enjoyed the story and the recipe listed in the book. I did buy the second book in the series.

[Caren · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was fine but, as others have pointed out, the typos and grammatical errors made it very hard to read.

[Shay]

DNF - I like the concept of the book but as several other reviews said, the grammatical errors/typos/sentence structure made it very difficult to read so I did not end up finishing it.

[Tess Ailshire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I automatically drop one star level for typographic, grammar, and punctuation errors. If I dropped one for *each*, this book would have negative stars. I found myself screaming "EDITOR!" so very often.

The story itself is on par for a cozy mystery. In fact, the concerns of a business owner are significantly better presented than in most cozies, and the red herrings better used. The dialog is a bit stilted, and the three-character main friend group a bit hard to believe, but that's not the problem. The problem is that it feels like a first draft. The final chapter is a "oh, yes, I have to wrap up these issues and I have only two pages to do it".


ETA: Many of the 38 punctuation/grammar errors I noted have been corrected since I downloaded my copy. Perhaps a copyeditor did give it a once-over, but only just. There are still errors.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story

[Liz Nesbitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanted To Love This Book

Honestly I wanted to love this book but I couldn't obvious.She did not research anything to do with please stations , prison or anything

[Ty Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Appetizers and Alibis was a quick, easy, and enjoyable read. The mystery was light, the pacing was smooth, and it never felt overwhelming, perfect for when you want something low-stress but still engaging. I picked this one up for my A-Z challenge and it fit the bill nicely. While I’m not rushing to binge the entire series, I’d definitely be open to finishing it at a later date. Overall, a fun and cozy read.

[Amber Bauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm…

Overall I liked the book, I kept going back and forth on who it was. My biggest pet peeve in the book was the repetition of information.

[Karen Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. It was easy to follow the plot and characters. The characters were interesting, the plot kept me reading. I liked the ending.
Did someone edit the book? If so, they missed a lot. Verb tenses changed from present to past tense, and words were evidently changed and the original wording wasn't deleted, making some passages awkward.
I'm not sure I'll be reading more by Ms. Whelton until she gets a good editor to help make the reading a lot smoother.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun read.

No wonder we couldn't figure out who was guilty. Sheesh! I do wish the police chief had been dealt with - he is unacceptable. Overall, however this was a non-stop action-packed read that many will enjoy.


Only one thing that brought the stars down to four - this manuscript needs editing for many typos tense shifts. Maybe try a freelance editor? (LifeRegeneration Editing)

[Karen Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needs proof reading!

I tried very hard to enjoy this book but there are so many mistakes, it was difficult. If you are writing a book, you should know when to use their and there! There are many other mistakes besides grammar and none of them are typos. It's unfortunate, it could have been a fairly good book.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mostly enjoyed the story - it dragged a bit in the middle. Until the end, I was wondering if the police department was corrupt because they didn’t appear to be doing anything. The editing was atrocious. There were so many grammatical and spelling errors it ruined the flow.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

great characters. slow story, lots of typos/grammar/editing errors

Too many annoying typos/grammar errors, needs to be edited. Story moved slowly. The characters are great. Need to edit some of the drivel out and flesh out the actual story to make it flow better.

[I-Wa · Rating 3 out of 5]

sloppy ending.

It was hard to take the book seriously. Nobody gets shot at or has their business wrecked and then goes out for dinner like nothing is wrong. But, the ending was the hardest thing to accept. Will not read anything else from this author.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good recipes. Predictable plot

[Anniedia Daws]

Very good reading

[karen walker-grimes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Misguided

Chef Jessica dream of opening her own restaurant has come to fruition. Great staff and great reviews, then why did someone murder her sous chef?

[Su · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was pretty good. I would have given it a 3.5 if I could have.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Stevie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating Cozy

This is a great first book in a series. You immediately feel like you know the characters and begin to question everyone along with Jessie. I was surprised and captivated in the truth Jessie learns about her father and the way the murder is tied to other characters in the book. No spoilers, just to say the ending had some surprising twists. Looking forward to continuing this series!

[LuAnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

New to me author. Will definitely read more. Character--Jess has opened up a restaurant--her dream. From opening day things happen and not for the good. Long list of suspects but no real reason why. It all comes to fruition in the end. Had me guessing along the way. Looking forward to next installment.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alphabet Soup mystery

Chef Jessica has opened her restaurant which serves soup and sandwiches and more. During the course of the mystery we meet several characters throughout the mystery. Someone has murdered the sous chef. There is also several suspects and incidents of vandalism and sabotage. We also find out more about Jessica herself. The final reveal was original.

[Rosie Deleon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story with mystery.

I enjoyed the storyline as I am a retired chef of 33 years. I became part of the staff immediately and I understood every aspect of the story. I kept guessing who might be the real killer. But I kept reading up until the ending to find out my clue was somewhat off. I so enjoy the book. Thanks for great writing.

[Rose Mcclarin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jess is thrilled to finally open her restaurant, but things keep going wrong, first her sous chef is murdered, alarms keep going off things keep happening but she hangs in there with the help of friends Sawyer and Vee and her manag34 Noah, in the end the mystery is soled, Great read,

[Judy Christgau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these kinds of books, Cosy mysteries, impossible to put down. It is such fun trying to find the bad people right along with the police and the women who are try to do the job when the police don’t find them quickly. Excellent book!!! Everyone should read it.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 9% (Ch 3): There are SO many typos and plot inconsistencies just in the first 2 chapters. I couldn't get past them. I was spending more time reporting the typos through my Kindle than time spent actually reading. Couldn't continue.