What do you think?
Rate this book
A Food Festival Mystery #1
Death of a Crabby Cook
First in a new series!
At the San Francisco Seafood Festival, someone is steamed enough to kill a cook....
When restaurant reviewer Darcy Burnett gets served a pink slip from the San Francisco Chronicle , she needs to come up with an alternative recipe for success quickly. Her feisty aunt Abby owns a tricked-out school bus, which she’s converted into a hip and happening food truck, and Darcy comes aboard as a part-timer while she develops a cookbook project based on recipes from food fests in the Bay Area.
But she soon finds someone’s been trafficking in character assassination—literally—when a local chef turns up dead and her aunt is framed for the murder. The restaurant chef was an outspoken enemy of food trucks, and now Darcy wonders if one of the other vendors did him in. With her aunt’s business—and freedom—on the line, it’s up to Darcy to steer the murder investigation in the right direction and put the brakes on an out-of-control killer….
RECIPES INCLUDED!
At the San Francisco Seafood Festival, someone is steamed enough to kill a cook....
When restaurant reviewer Darcy Burnett gets served a pink slip from the San Francisco Chronicle , she needs to come up with an alternative recipe for success quickly. Her feisty aunt Abby owns a tricked-out school bus, which she’s converted into a hip and happening food truck, and Darcy comes aboard as a part-timer while she develops a cookbook project based on recipes from food fests in the Bay Area.
But she soon finds someone’s been trafficking in character assassination—literally—when a local chef turns up dead and her aunt is framed for the murder. The restaurant chef was an outspoken enemy of food trucks, and now Darcy wonders if one of the other vendors did him in. With her aunt’s business—and freedom—on the line, it’s up to Darcy to steer the murder investigation in the right direction and put the brakes on an out-of-control killer….
RECIPES INCLUDED!
324 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 5, 2014
18 people are currently reading
621 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
January 16, 2016
At the San Francisco Seafood Festival, someone is steamed enough to kill a cook….
Dollycas’s Thoughts
I absolutely loved Penny’s Party Planning Mysteries so I am so glad she has returned with this Death of a Crabby Cook: – A Food Festival Mystery Series.
We meet Darcy Burnett who wrote restaurant reviews for the San Francisco Chronicle, I use the past tense because she was laid off as the story began. She quickly starts helping her Aunt Abby with her food truck with hopes of writing a cookbook based on recipes from food fests in the Bay Area.
Penny Pike has written quite a mystery and for most of the book I thought I knew whodunit and happily was so wrong. She had twisted me into quite a pretzel. No pretzel food truck in the story though but there is The Coffee Witch, Dream Puffs, The Yankee Doodle Noodle Truck, Road Grill, The Big Yellow School Bus and more.
Darcy’s aunt worked in a school cafeteria until she retired and opened The Big Yellow School Bus where she serves comfort food like Crabby Cheerleader Mac and Cheese and Science Experiment Spaghetti.
There is a local chef, Oliver Jameson, who owns a restaurant adjacent to where the food trucks park daily and he is sure they are the reason his restaurant is going broke. He has had very public arguments with most of the food truck owners but he had a huge one today with Aunt Abby. So when his dead body is found she is the number one suspect.
Darcy knows her aunt would never hurt a soul, she may yell at someone but kill them, no way!! All the clues keep pointing to Abby so Darcy knows she is being framed. With a little help from her techie cousin Dillon, Darcy is going to catch the killer one way or another.
All these mobile restaurant owners are truly unique and most have some kind of secret. I was really surprised at how much we found out about these characters in this first book. My mother ran a restaurant/cafe for years in our small town. Aunt Abby reminds me a lot of my mom. She cooked comfort food too. She was also very independent just like Aunt Abby. Darcy is a little like I was back then, I couldn’t cook worth a darn and sometimes was a little too nosy for my own good. Thankfully my life was never in danger.
This story is a lot like the food Aunt Abby served, comfortable with a few surprises to keep those pages turning at a pretty speedy pace. My only problem with the story is that it didn’t come with food samples. I know there are recipes included but I sure could go for a Dreamy Cream Puff or 2 or 3, any flavor drizzled with chocolate and sprinkled with powdered sugar right now and the whole time I was reading this story!!
Dollycas’s Thoughts
I absolutely loved Penny’s Party Planning Mysteries so I am so glad she has returned with this Death of a Crabby Cook: – A Food Festival Mystery Series.
We meet Darcy Burnett who wrote restaurant reviews for the San Francisco Chronicle, I use the past tense because she was laid off as the story began. She quickly starts helping her Aunt Abby with her food truck with hopes of writing a cookbook based on recipes from food fests in the Bay Area.
Penny Pike has written quite a mystery and for most of the book I thought I knew whodunit and happily was so wrong. She had twisted me into quite a pretzel. No pretzel food truck in the story though but there is The Coffee Witch, Dream Puffs, The Yankee Doodle Noodle Truck, Road Grill, The Big Yellow School Bus and more.
Darcy’s aunt worked in a school cafeteria until she retired and opened The Big Yellow School Bus where she serves comfort food like Crabby Cheerleader Mac and Cheese and Science Experiment Spaghetti.
There is a local chef, Oliver Jameson, who owns a restaurant adjacent to where the food trucks park daily and he is sure they are the reason his restaurant is going broke. He has had very public arguments with most of the food truck owners but he had a huge one today with Aunt Abby. So when his dead body is found she is the number one suspect.
Darcy knows her aunt would never hurt a soul, she may yell at someone but kill them, no way!! All the clues keep pointing to Abby so Darcy knows she is being framed. With a little help from her techie cousin Dillon, Darcy is going to catch the killer one way or another.
All these mobile restaurant owners are truly unique and most have some kind of secret. I was really surprised at how much we found out about these characters in this first book. My mother ran a restaurant/cafe for years in our small town. Aunt Abby reminds me a lot of my mom. She cooked comfort food too. She was also very independent just like Aunt Abby. Darcy is a little like I was back then, I couldn’t cook worth a darn and sometimes was a little too nosy for my own good. Thankfully my life was never in danger.
This story is a lot like the food Aunt Abby served, comfortable with a few surprises to keep those pages turning at a pretty speedy pace. My only problem with the story is that it didn’t come with food samples. I know there are recipes included but I sure could go for a Dreamy Cream Puff or 2 or 3, any flavor drizzled with chocolate and sprinkled with powdered sugar right now and the whole time I was reading this story!!
August 20, 2015
VERY average at best. I loved this author's party planner series, but this one doesn't measure up to that one. Didn't care for the characters and the story just never grabbed me, so I skimmed parts of it. J.J. Cook's (Joyce & Jim Lavene) food truck series is much better. The only thing this one had going for it was the location. Love San Francisco. Have the 2nd one, but no hurry to read it.
August 14, 2014
Fantastic! This is the first book in the new Food Festival mysteries. Darcy loses her job at the newspaper she was working for, and goes to work for her Aunt Abby helping her out in her food truck. One of the chefs who has a restaurant across from the food truck, is found murdered, and Aunt Abby is blamed. So Darcy sets out to prove her Aunts innocence. I loved the setting of this book, San Francisco is one of my favorite cites, and I love the dialogue between Darcy and her cousin, they are hilarious! I absolutely cannot wait for the next book in the series, this one will go on my favorites of the year list. Do not miss this one!!
September 7, 2014
I had a great time with this first-in-a-series book by Penny Pike (Warner). Not surprising, since I also loved her party planning series. I especially liked the inclusion of a character with Asperger's as well as the fun setting in the food-truck business. Here's hoping this series lasts a very long time!
November 7, 2025
Pues es un cozy misterry de checklist, cumple con cada uno de los topicos y cliches del genero, ambientado alrededor de foodtrucks.
3 stars
popsugar 2025, 29 A book about a food truck
3 stars
popsugar 2025, 29 A book about a food truck
June 13, 2021
3.25 stars
When newspaper restaurant reviewer Darcy Burnett gets laid off from her job she's down and out but luckily her Aunt Abby, a former high school cafeteria cook, offers Darcy a job helping out in her tricked out school bus turned food truck. With the food truck festival season coming up and her college dropout son Dillon frequently MIA Aunt Abby could use the help. Since Darcy needs the money, she accepts never dreaming she's about to get involved in a murder investigation! Oliver Jameson, owner of Bones 'n Brew, a restaurant across from the food truck park, is killed and the police suspect Aunt Abby who was seen arguing with Oliver the day of his death. While Aunt Abby is busy cooking, serving and flirting with the hunky detective and cousin Dillon frequently MIA, it's up to Darcy to solve the mystery. When another chef turns up dead, Darcy worries Aunt Abby will be next. Nothing, not even threats from the murderer, will stop Darcy. She can, however, be distracted by a "Dream Puff" an the dreamy chef who makes them.
This mystery is very interesting an engaging. I wasn't sure about the seafood festival aspect, feeling the exact same way about oysters as Darcy, but there's plenty of cream puffs and some fancy coffee drinks to make up for Aunt Abby's savory cooking. The wide variety of food trucks made the story more interesting. The plot kept me turning pages and I couldn't put it down. I just wasn't able to put all the pieces together. What keeps me from giving this a higher rating is the frequent fat shaming and the term "illegals" and "illegal aliens". The undocumented get reduced to stereotypes here. There are also a number of inconsistencies. This book, published by Penguin in 2014, was in need of a better editor. Dillon is Darcy's cousin and mostly acknowledged as such but once she refers to him as her nephew. When Detective Shelton asks Aunt Abby if Travis has a last name, she shrugs. The in the very next line she says his last name and Detective Shelton doesn't raise an eyebrow. Darcy can't remember Oliver's sister's name, which is easy enough - Oliver and OLIVIA (Livvy) and after Darcy's adventure when she needs a shower and to have a cut on her arm taken care of, she's alone in close proximity with someone else who doesn't question or comment her appearance or odor. She doesn't shower until the next morning. I can see why she was too tired from the crazy events of the night but I would think she would push through the tired and shower before sleeping. I also found some of the characters a bit annoying.
In many ways I can relate to Darcy, especially her feelings on seafood (oysters should stay in the sea, crab pops? gross!) and cream puffs (YUUUMM). I love how she eats cream puffs for breakfast, lunch and dinner and any time she can. I like how much she loves her eccentric aunt and how far she's willing to go to save Aunt Abby. What I don't like is that she can be very judgmental. She comments on how large Oliver and Boris are, especially Oliver who must have eaten too much of his own cooking-says the woman who eats cream puffs all day long! She's also prejudiced against undocumented immigrants and here they're described as paying $$$$$$ for fake IDs, inferring, of course, they're drug dealers and other types who break the law in other ways. She doesn't even know any undocumented immigrants, that she knows of anyway. Darcy also tried to label her cousin as having Asperger's, based on her reading of the subject, not that she knows anything about that or anyone with Asperger's. She's simply a smug reporter. Darcy isn't a very good sleuth. She breaks and enters, forgets to shut off her ringer and she COMPLETELY misunderstands the rat comment. Why on earth does she automatically assume rat refers to ratty? Did she forget the rat under the stove? That was weird. She stumbles across the killer at the last possible minute only because the killer was more dumb and let the clue slip too easily.
Darcy's quirky family is a lot of fun. I have mixed feelings about Aunt Abby. She must have been an exceptional lunch lady - excuse me- school cafeteria cook- and she sounds like a creative food truck owner serving up comfort food out of an old school bus. I also liked her Disney obsession. That was fun. I can see why Darcy's mom doesn't appreciate her sister. However, when it comes to being a murder suspect, she's completely oblivious to the danger she's in. Her constant eyelash batting and flirting to get information really, really bugged me. Also her blind devotion to her son. Dillon is a loser. He's an overgrown man child who dropped out of college, acts like a slob and spends all his time playing video games. Then when he reveals what he's done, Abby aids and abets a fugitive without fully understanding or caring about the consequences when she's already under suspicion. Dillon's appearances are too funny and so obvious. I guessed right away much like Jake.
The victim, Oliver Jameson, was the owner of a once popular restaurant that has turned into a greasy spoon dive. He was crazy stubborn and refused to update the menu for changing tastes and also refused to change the shabby, dated décor. Oliver resented the success of the food trucks and was convinced they were the reason his business was failing. He was determined to ruin the food trucks and not fix his own problems. His methods sure left a lot to be desired. He was nasty, angry, vindictive and dumb but didn't deserve to be murdered.
My first suspect was Jake, the Dream Puff guy. He put a "back in 5 minutes" sign on his truck shortly after Abby's confrontation with Oliver. Where was he and why? As the story went on and he kept plying Darcy with amazing cream puffs that made me drool, I didn't want him to be the murderer! I didn't fully 100% trust him even though he seemed like a nice guy. My second guess was Darcy's crazy cousin Dillon. Finally, we meet the real suspects: Boris, the owner of the meat truck next to Aunt Abby's. Boris sells disgusting "exotic" meats that no one wants to think about what they actually were when they were alive. Some suspect he sells roadkill. He seems slimy just because of his food and he seems creepy because of his size and somewhat menacing nature. Boris, too, had a feud with Oliver. It seems like everyone did. Willow, the coffee cart owner, had a beef with Oliver for hitting on her after she said no multiple times. Willow seems too cool and laid back to be a murderer. She's busy making amazing coffee concoctions that even I think sound good and I HATE coffee! She doesn't seem like a murderer to me but she does have a strong motive. Sierra and Vandy own a vegan food truck. They've clashed with Oliver because he doesn't understand vegan and they're easy targets. I think Sierra seems nice but Vandy has a hot temper and Sierra seems worried about something. Does she suspect Vandy is a murderer? There's a bit of shaming of them too for being REALLY into animals as part of a niche subculture. There's nothing wrong with that. They're VEGAN of course they love animals and what they're into isn't weird, it sounds cool. Vandy's secret is silly. When did that happen? Perhaps she became vegan afterwards or was participating in a contest or something.
Also high on the suspect list is Travis, the meat delivery supplier for the food truck vendors and possibly Bones 'n Brew. I want it to be him because he's sleazy. He leered at Darcy, spit a chewed toothpick on the ground and from his manner of dress, he thinks he's all that. Travis is surely up to no good. Cherry Washington, who works for Boris, is also a suspect. She seems to know Travis and has some secrets of her own. What's going on and how is she involved? What about Livvy, Oliver's sister? Would she kill her own brother? That doesn't make much sense. She seems to be in over her head dealing with the cleanup and restarting the restaurant to attempt to save it. I feel bad for her but she's not very smart. There's a killer on the loose and she leaves her door open all the time so anyone, even Darcy, can slip inside. She seems to accept Darcy's lame cover story right away too. I don't see her murdering her brother but I CAN see her killing someone else she thought might have killed her brother. Are there two murderers?
I already put book 2 on hold because I absolutely need to read anything with the word chocolate in the title! I hope it's a little better edited than this one.
Recommended for those who like more silly food themed cozies. Not for new cozy mystery readers though because it's super tropey.
When newspaper restaurant reviewer Darcy Burnett gets laid off from her job she's down and out but luckily her Aunt Abby, a former high school cafeteria cook, offers Darcy a job helping out in her tricked out school bus turned food truck. With the food truck festival season coming up and her college dropout son Dillon frequently MIA Aunt Abby could use the help. Since Darcy needs the money, she accepts never dreaming she's about to get involved in a murder investigation! Oliver Jameson, owner of Bones 'n Brew, a restaurant across from the food truck park, is killed and the police suspect Aunt Abby who was seen arguing with Oliver the day of his death. While Aunt Abby is busy cooking, serving and flirting with the hunky detective and cousin Dillon frequently MIA, it's up to Darcy to solve the mystery. When another chef turns up dead, Darcy worries Aunt Abby will be next. Nothing, not even threats from the murderer, will stop Darcy. She can, however, be distracted by a "Dream Puff" an the dreamy chef who makes them.
This mystery is very interesting an engaging. I wasn't sure about the seafood festival aspect, feeling the exact same way about oysters as Darcy, but there's plenty of cream puffs and some fancy coffee drinks to make up for Aunt Abby's savory cooking. The wide variety of food trucks made the story more interesting. The plot kept me turning pages and I couldn't put it down. I just wasn't able to put all the pieces together. What keeps me from giving this a higher rating is the frequent fat shaming and the term "illegals" and "illegal aliens". The undocumented get reduced to stereotypes here. There are also a number of inconsistencies. This book, published by Penguin in 2014, was in need of a better editor. Dillon is Darcy's cousin and mostly acknowledged as such but once she refers to him as her nephew. When Detective Shelton asks Aunt Abby if Travis has a last name, she shrugs. The in the very next line she says his last name and Detective Shelton doesn't raise an eyebrow. Darcy can't remember Oliver's sister's name, which is easy enough - Oliver and OLIVIA (Livvy) and after Darcy's adventure when she needs a shower and to have a cut on her arm taken care of, she's alone in close proximity with someone else who doesn't question or comment her appearance or odor. She doesn't shower until the next morning. I can see why she was too tired from the crazy events of the night but I would think she would push through the tired and shower before sleeping. I also found some of the characters a bit annoying.
In many ways I can relate to Darcy, especially her feelings on seafood (oysters should stay in the sea, crab pops? gross!) and cream puffs (YUUUMM). I love how she eats cream puffs for breakfast, lunch and dinner and any time she can. I like how much she loves her eccentric aunt and how far she's willing to go to save Aunt Abby. What I don't like is that she can be very judgmental. She comments on how large Oliver and Boris are, especially Oliver who must have eaten too much of his own cooking-says the woman who eats cream puffs all day long! She's also prejudiced against undocumented immigrants and here they're described as paying $$$$$$ for fake IDs, inferring, of course, they're drug dealers and other types who break the law in other ways. She doesn't even know any undocumented immigrants, that she knows of anyway. Darcy also tried to label her cousin as having Asperger's, based on her reading of the subject, not that she knows anything about that or anyone with Asperger's. She's simply a smug reporter. Darcy isn't a very good sleuth. She breaks and enters, forgets to shut off her ringer and she COMPLETELY misunderstands the rat comment. Why on earth does she automatically assume rat refers to ratty? Did she forget the rat under the stove? That was weird. She stumbles across the killer at the last possible minute only because the killer was more dumb and let the clue slip too easily.
Darcy's quirky family is a lot of fun. I have mixed feelings about Aunt Abby. She must have been an exceptional lunch lady - excuse me- school cafeteria cook- and she sounds like a creative food truck owner serving up comfort food out of an old school bus. I also liked her Disney obsession. That was fun. I can see why Darcy's mom doesn't appreciate her sister. However, when it comes to being a murder suspect, she's completely oblivious to the danger she's in. Her constant eyelash batting and flirting to get information really, really bugged me. Also her blind devotion to her son. Dillon is a loser. He's an overgrown man child who dropped out of college, acts like a slob and spends all his time playing video games. Then when he reveals what he's done, Abby aids and abets a fugitive without fully understanding or caring about the consequences when she's already under suspicion. Dillon's appearances are too funny and so obvious. I guessed right away much like Jake.
The victim, Oliver Jameson, was the owner of a once popular restaurant that has turned into a greasy spoon dive. He was crazy stubborn and refused to update the menu for changing tastes and also refused to change the shabby, dated décor. Oliver resented the success of the food trucks and was convinced they were the reason his business was failing. He was determined to ruin the food trucks and not fix his own problems. His methods sure left a lot to be desired. He was nasty, angry, vindictive and dumb but didn't deserve to be murdered.
My first suspect was Jake, the Dream Puff guy. He put a "back in 5 minutes" sign on his truck shortly after Abby's confrontation with Oliver. Where was he and why? As the story went on and he kept plying Darcy with amazing cream puffs that made me drool, I didn't want him to be the murderer! I didn't fully 100% trust him even though he seemed like a nice guy. My second guess was Darcy's crazy cousin Dillon. Finally, we meet the real suspects: Boris, the owner of the meat truck next to Aunt Abby's. Boris sells disgusting "exotic" meats that no one wants to think about what they actually were when they were alive. Some suspect he sells roadkill. He seems slimy just because of his food and he seems creepy because of his size and somewhat menacing nature. Boris, too, had a feud with Oliver. It seems like everyone did. Willow, the coffee cart owner, had a beef with Oliver for hitting on her after she said no multiple times. Willow seems too cool and laid back to be a murderer. She's busy making amazing coffee concoctions that even I think sound good and I HATE coffee! She doesn't seem like a murderer to me but she does have a strong motive. Sierra and Vandy own a vegan food truck. They've clashed with Oliver because he doesn't understand vegan and they're easy targets. I think Sierra seems nice but Vandy has a hot temper and Sierra seems worried about something. Does she suspect Vandy is a murderer? There's a bit of shaming of them too for being REALLY into animals as part of a niche subculture. There's nothing wrong with that. They're VEGAN of course they love animals and what they're into isn't weird, it sounds cool. Vandy's secret is silly. When did that happen? Perhaps she became vegan afterwards or was participating in a contest or something.
Also high on the suspect list is Travis, the meat delivery supplier for the food truck vendors and possibly Bones 'n Brew. I want it to be him because he's sleazy. He leered at Darcy, spit a chewed toothpick on the ground and from his manner of dress, he thinks he's all that. Travis is surely up to no good. Cherry Washington, who works for Boris, is also a suspect. She seems to know Travis and has some secrets of her own. What's going on and how is she involved? What about Livvy, Oliver's sister? Would she kill her own brother? That doesn't make much sense. She seems to be in over her head dealing with the cleanup and restarting the restaurant to attempt to save it. I feel bad for her but she's not very smart. There's a killer on the loose and she leaves her door open all the time so anyone, even Darcy, can slip inside. She seems to accept Darcy's lame cover story right away too. I don't see her murdering her brother but I CAN see her killing someone else she thought might have killed her brother. Are there two murderers?
I already put book 2 on hold because I absolutely need to read anything with the word chocolate in the title! I hope it's a little better edited than this one.
Recommended for those who like more silly food themed cozies. Not for new cozy mystery readers though because it's super tropey.
September 23, 2018
Adorable! I'm on such a cozy mystery kick and this one really hit the spot.
May 20, 2016
Darcy is a newspaper journalist who recently lost her job. With nothing else to do she soon starts working part-time for her aunt on her aunt's food truck. But soon a body of a rival appears, and then another body appears. Can Darcy stop the killer before it's too late, or will she be the next on his hit list? This was fun-filled debut to a new series. Death of a Crabby Cook, was a fast-paced interesting read that left me craving Crabby Cheerleader Grilled Cheese and Science Experiment Spaghetti.
I really liked Aunt Abby, every story needs one character that you sometimes question if they're crazy or not, and Aunt Abby is that character in this book. She is a smart, funny former cafeteria worker who isn't afraid to speak her mind. Jake and Dillon, the love interest and Aunt Abby's son, respectively are also really good characters. Dillon reminded me a lot of a person I know and Jake filled the cozy mystery's mold of what a love interest should be. Some of the background characters, Willow especially, I really want to hear more about in future books.
However, I really did not like the main character, Darcy. I found her to be arrogant and just really dumb at times, she didn't use bluntness when talking to her suspects, which was a good thing, but yet she made some extremely rude comments to her family and about other people multiple times.
The mystery was okay, I didn't see the killer but it really lacked that "wow" factor that I like in my mysteries. There were also a few small editing errors, for instance Dillon is Aunt Abby's son, but yet Darcy calls him her cousin in one part of the book, and in another part Jake says he noticed one of the suspects carrying trashbags, when really it was Darcy who noticed it.
Overall, however this was actually better than I expected. With great characters and a good mystery, but an annoying main character and multiple editing errors, I give Death of a Crabby Cook 3/5 stars.
I really liked Aunt Abby, every story needs one character that you sometimes question if they're crazy or not, and Aunt Abby is that character in this book. She is a smart, funny former cafeteria worker who isn't afraid to speak her mind. Jake and Dillon, the love interest and Aunt Abby's son, respectively are also really good characters. Dillon reminded me a lot of a person I know and Jake filled the cozy mystery's mold of what a love interest should be. Some of the background characters, Willow especially, I really want to hear more about in future books.
However, I really did not like the main character, Darcy. I found her to be arrogant and just really dumb at times, she didn't use bluntness when talking to her suspects, which was a good thing, but yet she made some extremely rude comments to her family and about other people multiple times.
The mystery was okay, I didn't see the killer but it really lacked that "wow" factor that I like in my mysteries. There were also a few small editing errors, for instance Dillon is Aunt Abby's son, but yet Darcy calls him her cousin in one part of the book, and in another part Jake says he noticed one of the suspects carrying trashbags, when really it was Darcy who noticed it.
Overall, however this was actually better than I expected. With great characters and a good mystery, but an annoying main character and multiple editing errors, I give Death of a Crabby Cook 3/5 stars.
August 8, 2014
Death Of A Crabby Cook is the first book in the A Food Festival Mystery series.
Darcy Burnette, after losing her job as restaurant reviewer for a local paper, decides to help out in her Aunt Abby's food truck. One day hears Aunt Abby is a very heated discussion and see that she is arguing with Oliver Jameson who owns a restaurant across the street from where all the food trucks park. Jameson feels that the food trucks are killing his business and wants to get rid of all of them. If the truth be told, the loss of business is basically poor management on his part. In addition, Aunt Abby feels he is stealing recipes from the food trucks and in order to prove it she sneak into his restaurant to look for them. But what she finds is the dead body of Oliver. Aunt Abby, who likes to talk a bit too much, becomes a prime suspect and sets off to prove her Aunt's innocents. Aunt Abby's son Dillon, who has to go into hiding because he was once a hacker and the police are looking for him helps Darcy as much as he can.
Oliver has had run-ins with all of food truck owners, so Darcy will have her plate full in finding the murderer.
I really enjoyed this series. A great story with enjoyable and believable characters. There's even a possible romantic interest for Darcy, Jake, who has a Crème Puff truck.
Recipes are also included with the book.
Looking forward to the next book in the series.
Darcy Burnette, after losing her job as restaurant reviewer for a local paper, decides to help out in her Aunt Abby's food truck. One day hears Aunt Abby is a very heated discussion and see that she is arguing with Oliver Jameson who owns a restaurant across the street from where all the food trucks park. Jameson feels that the food trucks are killing his business and wants to get rid of all of them. If the truth be told, the loss of business is basically poor management on his part. In addition, Aunt Abby feels he is stealing recipes from the food trucks and in order to prove it she sneak into his restaurant to look for them. But what she finds is the dead body of Oliver. Aunt Abby, who likes to talk a bit too much, becomes a prime suspect and sets off to prove her Aunt's innocents. Aunt Abby's son Dillon, who has to go into hiding because he was once a hacker and the police are looking for him helps Darcy as much as he can.
Oliver has had run-ins with all of food truck owners, so Darcy will have her plate full in finding the murderer.
I really enjoyed this series. A great story with enjoyable and believable characters. There's even a possible romantic interest for Darcy, Jake, who has a Crème Puff truck.
Recipes are also included with the book.
Looking forward to the next book in the series.
August 12, 2014
Darcy has taken a job helping her aunt in her San Francisco food truck. On her first day, Aunt Abby gets into an argument with the chef at a nearby restaurant who wants the food trucks, which he views as competition, gone. When he is murdered that night, Abby becomes the chief suspect.
This was a wonderful debut. The characters were real and fun to spend time with. I absolutely love how the romance is already progressing. The plot is strong with plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing right until the very end. I'm already hungry for the sequel.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
This was a wonderful debut. The characters were real and fun to spend time with. I absolutely love how the romance is already progressing. The plot is strong with plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing right until the very end. I'm already hungry for the sequel.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
March 8, 2015
In my opinion, it's good cozy mystery debut series. the plot was simple and not complicated. every chapter, describing about snooped and investigated about murder in road food area only. I enjoyed reading without boring. Ms. Pike writing style was easily understood. however, Heroin and another character has one-dimensional character. especially her aunt and nephew. Because named A Food Festival mystery and super cute cover, i bought it immediately. sadly, it did not tell about Festival in San Francisco.
this book do not have love triangle and suitable for people that love desserts. you will see cream puff words in each chapter and i really feel sick sugary puff so much. LOL
i will Looking forward to the next book on June 2, 2015
this book do not have love triangle and suitable for people that love desserts. you will see cream puff words in each chapter and i really feel sick sugary puff so much. LOL
i will Looking forward to the next book on June 2, 2015
August 20, 2015
Oh my god, the typos and inconsistencies.
So many... please get a better editor! Or pay attention while you're writing! There was an entire chapter that she referred to Darcy's cousin as her nephew. Totally ruined my immersion.
Good twist, though. I would read another one, but I don't think I can stand to read another published book full of typos.
I can forgive self-published books and newer author's typos... but apparently this lady has been writing forever. Come on.
So many... please get a better editor! Or pay attention while you're writing! There was an entire chapter that she referred to Darcy's cousin as her nephew. Totally ruined my immersion.
Good twist, though. I would read another one, but I don't think I can stand to read another published book full of typos.
I can forgive self-published books and newer author's typos... but apparently this lady has been writing forever. Come on.
June 20, 2016
Good start for the first novel in the Food Festival series.
The Death of a Crabby Cook had all of the things I want in a cozy:
- Likeable main character
- Fun secondary characters
- Cute romance, but the couple wasn't shoved down your throat
- Good and surprising mystery/killer
I'm excited to read the rest of the novels in the series.
The Death of a Crabby Cook had all of the things I want in a cozy:
- Likeable main character
- Fun secondary characters
- Cute romance, but the couple wasn't shoved down your throat
- Good and surprising mystery/killer
I'm excited to read the rest of the novels in the series.
August 13, 2015
Loved it! Kept your interest & by the end I couldn't put it down till I was done.
June 17, 2017
I picked this up at the library because I forgot a book at home I already had in the progress of reading. Right now my daughter is doing the reading program at the library and I read while she is taking a break from reading to me and I read while the day's program is going on.
From the moment I picked up this book, I was pulled in. I loved the characters and how each one of them are like their own little group that the main character is trying to solve a murder while figuring out secrets of people she kind of knew already to prevent her Aunt from going to jail for a murder she didn't do.
This was amazing as the newspaper reporter tried to fit into a world where she didn't know much about food while trying to help her Aunt both in the food truck and solve who done it. I couldn't help but to be eating up the pages, both as the yummy food was talked about and as she learned more and more about the people she saw everyday in this good book. I loved this book so much, I ordered the next book in this series.
From the moment I picked up this book, I was pulled in. I loved the characters and how each one of them are like their own little group that the main character is trying to solve a murder while figuring out secrets of people she kind of knew already to prevent her Aunt from going to jail for a murder she didn't do.
This was amazing as the newspaper reporter tried to fit into a world where she didn't know much about food while trying to help her Aunt both in the food truck and solve who done it. I couldn't help but to be eating up the pages, both as the yummy food was talked about and as she learned more and more about the people she saw everyday in this good book. I loved this book so much, I ordered the next book in this series.
June 2, 2018
When Darcy looses her job as a restaurant reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle, she decides to write a book on the new trend in up-scale Food Trucks. Conveniently, Darcy is living in a trailer parked in back of her Aunt Abby’s home in SF. Abby used to be a school cafeteria cook and now operates a food truck made from a converted school bus. Abby has a prime spot for her truck at San Francisco’s wharf area. The food trucks parked there are having a problem with one of the old time restaurant owners who blames them for loss of business…. Until the man winds up murdered. Shortly thereafter one of the food truck venders also winds up dead….. What’s happening? Darcy decides to put her reporting skills to work helping the police find the killer(s) while helping her Aunt run her food truck. … Darcy as a detective is something like Stephanie Plum (Janet Evanovich novel) as she blunders her way around. OK but somehow I didn’t really connect with the characters.
February 14, 2022
Oh boy, I wanted to like this so bad. I loved the food truck setting and I want to see more of Aunt, Abby, but the main character, Darcy, was so incredible annoying. She always had these snarky little comments about literally everyone while being a complete idiot. Pot, kettle. There was also some pretty problematic phrasing and mindsets coming from the author. I didn't understand the "romance" at all and there wasn't much detective work happening, from either the police or Darcy. The murder just fell into her lap. If it wasn't for Aunt Abby, I would have given it 1 star and probably dnf'd it.
February 8, 2025
I hate to give a book such a dismal rating but this one really was kind of nonsensical. I mean there was a whole bit where they were trying to stop the detective finding out that the aunt was drunk because he wanted to interview her. Why? Its not illegal to be drunk. In fact they probably could of used it to delay the interview because her being drunk literally invalidates any evidence the police might have collected from the interview. There was more, bits that didn't make any sense plot wise or practically or from a commercial kitchen perspective. Its a pity because it was a really good premise
October 20, 2019
I am reluctant to rate this first in a very different series. One set in the Food truck community. Darcy is a former reporter who was downsized from he newspaper. She begins to help her on on her good truck a converted school bus. There is a murder followed by a second one. Darcy sticks her nose in and investigates. There is some history of the San Francisco area. The murders and other happening are solved after many false leads
August 6, 2017
When Darcy isn't craving caffeine or drooling over one of Jake the Dream Puff Guy's cream puffs, she's being a busybody and trying to solve two murders while at the same time proving her aunt Abby had nothing to do with either one. I didn't like either the story or the characters. There were some very obvious inconsistencies in the story.
September 10, 2019
I recently listened to the audio of a cozy mystery series but this is my first cozy mystery that I have physically read and it was great! Just made me crave more cozies! The characters were funny and very likeable. It was fun to figure out the mystery with the characters. Can't wait to read the next book in this series.
January 18, 2021
This cozy mystery is about food trucks. Darcy just lost her job. Her Aunt Abby has a good truck so Darcy decided to work with her temporarily. Darcy thinksJake with the yummy cream puffs food truck is so cute. But when Oliver the restaurant owner that did not like the food trucks gets murders. And then another who is the one killing them
April 21, 2018
A little slow to start. Interesting characters and food trucks. Darcy at least has a backup plan since she lost her job as a journalist. She learns about the Foodtrucks, how they run, what is good. Something is not right when she runs into some late night activities. Overall, a good start.
April 10, 2022
This book had such a nice flow to it! Just made you want to keep flipping pages to find out what was happening to Darcy and the soft romance with Jake. Plus the murder to be solved kept me on my toes! Just loved the ending! Book two looks very promising as well.
September 23, 2023
I thought it was a really fun concept, but I enjoyed that concept more than the execution of it. Darcy never really clicked with me, and I felt the side characters were underdeveloped. I still had a good time, though, and I’ll probably pick up the next book in the series.
October 14, 2017
Funny enjoyable read. Good recipes.
July 23, 2018
I didn't think anyone was a bigger Disney fan than I was!
June 21, 2019
A light read that is basically a modern day Scooby Doo episode with adults as the characters. It was enjoyable and fun.
November 28, 2019
I really enjoyed this book. While not one of the best, I did enjoy Darcy and the other characters. It was fun that it was in a food truck too
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews