A Taste for Murder: A Novel

by Matt Baker

Genres: Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

Published August 4, 2026

About the author

Clarence Matthew Baker was an American comic book artist best known for drawing early comics heroines such as the costumed crimefighter Phantom Lady, and romance comics. Active in the 1940s and 1950s Golden Age of comic books, he is the first known African-American artist to find success in the comic-book industry. He also penciled an early form of graphic novel, St. John Publications' digest-sized "picture novel" It Rhymes with Lust (1950).

Baker was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2009.

Reviews

[Mark Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

DCI Joe Mottram is spending the summer in Capri with his teenage daughter, Angelica, visiting his in-laws in hopes to deal with his grief over losing his wife. But he gets pulled into a case when an English businesswoman falls to her death on one of the cliffs. Is it murder?

I wasn’t sure from the title, but this is a police procedural, not a cozy. Having said that, there is plenty of talk about food. The mystery itself is strong, with some good twists. It also falls into some cliches, so I saw some things coming early. The issue was that the book really wasn’t very focused. Dealing with grief was as big a storyline as the mystery, although the grief storyline got a weak climax. There are three viewpoint characters, which was at least one too many. The characters are mostly good, but one has a twist part way through that really doesn’t feel supported by the rest of the book. While the main mystery is wrapped up, a subplot leads to a cliffhanger that isn’t enough to get me to come back. We also had conversations partially summarized, which was very weird as I was reading. Others seem to enjoy this book, but it wasn’t for me.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Jen Ryland (jenrylandreviews & yaallday)]

Thanks to fellow reviewer Scarlett for pointing that this is actually a novelization of an April 2026 British TV show. I looked it up and yes, this book was written by the creator of the show. That explains so much!

The setting and premise were interesting: a widower (also a British police officer on leave) takes his daughter to visit her maternal grandparents in Italy. (His wife was killed in a hit and run accident.)

My main issues with the book were the stilted writing (perhaps because this was more of a summary?) and the cliffhanger ending.

If you have a chance to try the show, maybe that will be better???

Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review!

[Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Taste for Murder feels like somebody looked at The White Lotus, a British crime drama, and an Italian food documentary and said, "What if we put all of these in a blender and then added unresolved grief?" Which, to be clear, is exactly the kind of chaos I enjoy.

Joe Mottram arrives in Capri with what is genuinely a very reasonable goal: spend time with his teenage daughter Angelica, reconnect with his late wife's family, maybe process approximately one emotion after the devastating death of his wife Sofia. Unfortunately, Joe suffers from a condition common among fictional detectives where the universe sees them trying to relax and immediately drops a corpse nearby. Within about five minutes of arriving in paradise, he's getting dragged into an investigation involving a dead British businesswoman, suspicious circumstances, and enough secrets to keep everyone employed for several hundred pages.

The Capri setting is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, and I mean that as a compliment. Every time somebody wasn't discovering evidence or arguing with family members, I was getting distracted by descriptions of food, beaches, restaurants, lemon groves, and sunshine. The book had me wanting to book a flight while simultaneously reminding me that apparently every beautiful location in crime fiction has a murder rate that should trigger international concern. Capri is gorgeous here, but it's also packed with smugglers, criminals, suspicious locals, and people making catastrophically bad decisions. Basically paradise.

What worked best for me was Joe himself. He's grieving, exhausted, and trying very hard to be a father while also being completely incapable of turning off the detective part of his brain. His relationship with Angelica felt far more interesting than the actual murder at times. They're both carrying the same loss in completely different ways, and the awkwardness between them has that painful realism where nobody is technically saying the wrong thing, but nobody is saying the thing they actually need to say either. It's messy in a way that felt human rather than manufactured.

I also really liked Lara, the local investigator who gets stuck working with Joe. She has the deeply relatable experience of being a competent professional forced to deal with a visiting detective who keeps accidentally becoming involved in her case. Their partnership starts with enough tension that I briefly wondered if one of them might throw the other off a cliff before they caught the killer. Instead, they settle into a fun dynamic that carries a lot of the middle of the book.

That said, this thing is juggling a lot. Murder. Family drama. Smuggling. Drugs. Local politics. Mafia connections. Joe's dead wife. Angelica's questionable choices. Various suspects behaving suspiciously in every direction. At one point I felt like I needed one of those corkboards with red string because every new subplot arrived carrying its own suitcase. The mystery stays engaging, but there were definitely moments where I was flipping pages thinking, "Wait, are we solving a murder, dismantling organized crime, fixing a family, or all three?" The answer is mostly yes.

The emotional stuff lands better than the mystery mechanics in a few places. Some of the twists require a little trust from the reader, and occasionally the investigation felt less like solving clues and more like desperately chasing the next problem before it escaped on a Vespa. But the book has enough heart that I was willing to go with it. I cared about Joe. I cared about Angelica. I cared about whether this family could survive their grief. The murder mystery was sometimes sharing space with a stronger story about loss and rebuilding.

Half mystery, half family therapy session, half Italian vacation fantasy. Yes, that's three halves. The math works because grief and murder both bend reality. 3.5 stars.

Whodunity Award: For Turning a Supposedly Relaxing Family Vacation Into the Most Stressful Capri Tourism Campaign Ever Created

And a huge thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the ARC. Thanks for letting me spend several days craving pasta, side-eyeing everyone on a scenic cliff, and becoming emotionally invested in a detective who desperately needed both a hug and a nap.

[Scarlett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

3.25 ⭐️

A Taste for Murder was more than a murder mystery book. It had a heart to it.

We follow a father on sabbatical and his daughter, spending the summer break in Capri were her grandparents from her mother's side live and own a restaurant. Having recently lost his wife, Joe who is a London detective is having a hard time adjusting without his better half. His break is cut short when a British woman is found dead, which leads him into the investigation...

(Wait a minute! I just decided to double-check I got Joe's name right by searching it up and this book is the written version of a British TV show? What? Well now I wish I had BritBox to watch. It explains why the writing sometimes felt like each chapter was ending in a cliffhanger [not all chapters]. No duh! Because TV shows are written that way to create hype for the following episodes and make the viewer come back. That being said, doesn't work that well on paper and left me scratching my head as to why it was being written that way.)

Anyway, tangent over, I liked that Joe was a complex character. He had his rough sides he needed smoothed down, the ones his wife was able to bulldozed through, but he meant well. He just wasn't the best at communicating that.

I also really liked Lara. She was a strong headed detective who knew that being a women made it harder to prove herself.

There were a few things I didn't like, as mentioned before some chapters read like I needed to comeback in a week to find out what happened. There some red herrings, but the mystery was pretty straightforward. The characters you knew were bad, turned out to be bad. Again, typical of shows. I also didn't like the way some things were described. Wording was a little off. Weird to say the least, leaning on sexual/misogynist. I also did not like at the end when the grandma went behind Joe's back to try to persuade Angelica (the daughter who just went through a traumatic event) to stay in Italy. It felt out of character for her do this when she knows Joe is grieving and they have issues. Especially because she had previously made sure her husband try to understand and open up to Joe.

What I liked, the way this family spoke to each other was through food. Food brought them together. The descriptions of the food were so good, you could see why it is said that Italians gather for meals. That was nicely written.


What I disliked the most: you can't call this a novel by then ending in the way that says it can and may be a series! That ain't right! I have to know if my gut feeling was right! WHY DID SHE DIE?!?!!!

[Jack Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Taste for Murder is an enjoyable, atmospheric crime novel that left me with quite mixed feelings.

Matt Baker's greatest strength is his ability to transport the reader to Capri. The setting is wonderfully realised; I could almost feel the heat, picture the restaurants and taste the food. Unsurprisingly given the title, the descriptions of food are a particular highlight, adding a richness to the novel that makes it an ideal holiday read.

The characters are another real success. Lara is a refreshing detective and I'd happily spend more time with her, while Joe's family relationships and backstory provide genuine emotional depth. The dynamics between Joe, Angelica and their wider family kept me invested throughout, and by the end I found myself wanting to return to these characters more than I wanted to revisit the mystery itself.

Unfortunately, that's where the novel fell a little short for me. Around the halfway point I felt the investigation overlooked an avenue of enquiry that seemed too obvious to ignore, leaving me unsure whether I was witnessing deliberate misdirection or simply an investigative blind spot. While later developments explain some of this, it nevertheless disrupted the flow of the mystery for me. The last third of the book felt rushed, whereas the first two were perhaps too long.

More significantly, I found the central murder plot itself somewhat underwhelming. The eventual solution makes sense within the story, but I never had the satisfying feeling of watching an intricate puzzle click into place. Some of the methods required a greater suspension of disbelief than I was comfortable with, and the underlying motivation felt rather conventional, leaving the finale more anticlimactic than revelatory. The novel also leans on a little more miscommunication than I'd ideally like, with a few situations that felt as though they could have been resolved much earlier through straightforward conversations.

Despite those criticisms, I still enjoyed my time with A Taste for Murder. It's an immersive, easy-to-read mystery with an excellent sense of place and a cast I'd gladly return to. If there's a sequel, I'd certainly be interested, not because I was blown away by the murder mystery itself, but because Baker has created characters whose company I genuinely enjoyed.

With thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an advance reader copy ahead of the paperback publication in the US.

[Audrey Gillies · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Taste for Murder by Matt Baker is a decent read that kept my attention enough to see it through to the end, but it never quite had me glued to the pages.

Here are a few of my main takeaways:

More Police Procedural than Mystery: The story reads much more like a detective novel than a classic murder mystery. You are never truly "introduced" to the victims; you only learn about them through the evidence the detectives uncover. Because of this distance, I didn't feel a strong emotional investment or attachment to the case they were working on.

Dysfunctional Characters: I struggled to connect with the cast. All of the main characters are dealing with a lot of heavy relational issues and dysfunction, making them not particularly lovable or easy to root for.

Forced Culinary Elements: For a book with food themes, the cooking factor felt a little forced rather than an organic part of the story.

Withheld Clues: One of my biggest pet peeves in a mystery is when the detectives figure something out, but there were no prior breadcrumbs provided for the reader to potentially piece it together themselves. This happened a few times in the book, which made the puzzle-solving aspect much less engaging.

Content Notes: For those who prefer cleaner reads, it is worth noting that there is a fair amount of swearing, as well as frequent sexual references throughout the story.

Overall, it is an okay detective novel, but the lack of solvable clues for the reader, the heavy character dysfunction, and the somewhat forced elements kept me from fully loving it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Mary Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

While visiting the isle of Capri, on the picturesque Amalfi Coast, Joe and his daughter Angelica , are hoping to come to terms with the recent loss of their wife and mother respectively. Joe is a British police officer who can't quite leave the job behind when a tourist is found dead at the bottom of a local spot known for suicides. While investigating this case with the local police, another murder occurs. There is also the involvement of the local smuggling and drug trade which possibly has ties back to his in-law's restaurant.

This is a rather complex mystery with a lot of characters and things going on - there is a primary mystery, then another mystery then possibly even another mystery....all the while navigating the deteriorating relationship between Joe and his daughter and his deceased wife's family. His involvement in the case is a sore subject for all involved, his in-laws who are hiding something about their restaurant business, his daughter who already thinks he works too much, and the Italian police detective also resents his involvement in her case, as it's hard enough being a woman detective in Italy.

While this book held my interest enough for me to want to know how it ended, ultimately there was just too much going on - too many plot lines, too much family drama, and too many characters. This was a 2.5 star read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing this ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

[James M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this as Capri and the bay of Naples is one of my favourite places in the world and I do think the setting helped me to enjoy this book a little more.

You can almost see that this book was written to be turned into a TV show but the plot whipped along at a decent pace and some of the characters were enjoyable to get to know.

The daughter (Angelica) was a truly off-putting character to the point where I disliked seeing her appear. The bits about the detective’s sexuality seemed both unnecessary and insensitive. The misdirect was so blatant as to pretty much stick a sign on their head saying “didn’t do it” and the actual resolution just felt a little “meh”. Two supposedly great detectives never thought to check the authenticity of a photo or realised that a person and their phone might be two different entities? How was the all important selfie actually taken (“Here, let me take a selfie style photo or just you on your phone.” Doesn’t seem plausible to me).

It was fine in that I enjoyed it as I was reading. At points there was too much going on and it took me out of the novel a bit and made me start thinking “these people just wouldn’t be behaving this way” after what had gone on. If I’d given a rating the moment I shut the book, probably 4⭐️, but on reflection I just wasn’t convinced.

That said, I’ll definitely read the next book which has been so blatantly set up, end-of-series-cliff-hanger style.

[Homerun2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This feels like a series debut, complete with a cliffhanger ending. When I read that the author was a screenwriter, it made perfect sense.

Scotland Yard DCI Joe Mottram is spending a forced leave in Italy with his teenage daughter. His wife was killed in a hit and run and neither Joe nor Angelica is coping well -- and they don't seem to be able to provide any comfort to each other. So they go to spend a month with his late wife's family.

It doesn't take long for Joe to become embroiled in a murder case, quasi-officially helping the locals including Italian detective Lara. There are puzzling and well-plotted quirks about the death in question. When a second death occurs, they know it's not just a coincidence.

Meanwhile Joe's daughter falls in with a sketchy boyfriend and Joe is quick to combust, which only deepens their estrangement.

Well-plotted, clever, with likable characters and realistic family interactions. I found the ending a bit over the top but it certainly was exciting and feels like a foreshadowing of the next book. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[BigLiga]

3,5 miss lager of hoger
Het is een prima boek maar ik heb wel een paar punten:

1. Waarom maak je een karakter die in het ene hoofdstuk alles zelf kan en in het andere hoofdstuk een soort nietsnut is. VOORAL WANNEER ZE ONZEKER IS IN HAAR BAAN.
2. Waarom laat je dit karakter in het einde dan zelfverzekerd zijn met de rede dat het hoofdkarater haar goed vind, alsof dat het enige is wat belangrijk voor haar is, ze kan toch ook zelfverzekerd zijn door het feit dat het haar is gelukt?
3. WAAROM IS HET NODIG OM DE TIENERDOCHTER 3 KEER AAN TE RANDEN??? Ik wil niet spoileren maar geloof me wanneer ik zeg dat het drogeren en bijna verkrachten NIET nodig was voor het verhaal. AL HELEMAAL NIET WANNEER HET HOOFDKARAKTER HET HOOFDSTUK DAARNA GEEN EENS MET HAAR GAAT ZITTEN OF PRATEN. (Hij praat later wel met haar maar dat was ook snel voorbij). Hij doet oprecht alsof hij boeit maar hij gaat alleen half achter die gast aan inplaats van volledig OF MISS PRATEN MET JE DEPRESSIEVE DOCHTER!!??

Wss veranderd mn mening met tijd maar er waren echt momenten die een beetje raar werden geschreven of beschreven.

[Cozy Champagne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Taste for Murder by Matt Baker is a destination mystery about murder detective Joe Mottram, who takes a summer vacation with his teenage daughter after his wife's death to visit his in-laws' idyllic beachside restaurant on the beautiful Italian island of Capri. After a British businesswoman is found dead at the foot of a notorious cliff, Joe teams up with a local detective to investigate the mystery.

A Taste for Murder is part cozy mystery, part police procedural. The setting in Capri and the food elements are good reasons to read this mystery, but the emotional storyline and the intriguing whodunit really turn it into a story worth reading

The main character is a sympathetic widower who is struggling with his grief and struggling to connect with his teenage daughter. These conflicts play as big a part in the story as the mystery itself. The family bits are supplemented by fun cooking lessons and Italian food descriptions that will make you very hungry!

And if you enjoy the book, there is a television adaptation that is equally entertaining.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC.

[The Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too Long

This is showing on Good Reads as not yet published which isn’t correct. I bought it for 99p on Kindle a couple of weeks ago.

This book just went on and on - I got to the stage where finally things seemed to been wrapped up and then there were STILL another 40 pages to go.

The author successfully writes dramas for TV and this has already been adapted and is showing on UK streaming channels. I suspect the book was written to ensure enough content for series 1. And with things finishing on a new storyline, I anticipate the next will follow the same length and story format. I don’t think I’ll be reading it though, although I may watch the TV series as Capri is a stunning island.

[M Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read from my local library. DCI Joe Mottram is forced to take leave after the loss of his wife Sofia, so he travels to Capri with his seventeen years old daughter Angelica. While staying with his wife's parents who run the well known restaurant, Da Vinales, Joe finds himself unexpectedly drawn into assisting detective Lara Sarrancino following the suspicious death of an English tourist. When there is a second death, Lara and Joe must find how the two cases are connected. Throw in illegal drugs and the Mafia and the narrative gets really interesting. Hopefully this is just the start of Joe and Lara's adventures and Matt Baker will continue their search for the truth.

[Shraddha Sahi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matt Baker's visual writing pulls you into the story right away. The opening image of the dead woman in a red dress lying against the cliffs is one that remains on your mind throughout the story. I enjoyed the food descriptions, the Capri setting and the local flavour that's so different from the touristy expectations. Multiple subplots, family, career politics and the dangers that follow make for a riveting read. I'm sure there will be a sequel and I look forward to what Joe and Lara find next.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

(this book was available on my library app, I didn't know it wasn't published yet?)

Well what else wasl going to read while heading to Capri

Murder, mystery, broken detectives. Family secrets and good food.

DCI Joe is on sabbatical, staying with his late wife's family in Capri. Unfortunately, there's been a murder or an accident - and he ends up helping out Lara from the Italian police as the web of mystery grows.

[Jo Donnelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised when I read this that it said not published yet, as I got it form my local library - maybe published different dates in different places? I wasn't sure at first as it can be a slow burn at times but the book develops well and I really liked the two leads (British male detective and Italian female). The characterisation and plot are good and the end sets itself up for the next book - which I hope there will be.

[Sherry Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want a great taste of Murder. This one tastes very good!!! Great character! Great storyline from beginning to end!

[Stephen Devonport · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this kept me enthralled from start to finish and I felt like I was in Italy
I want to go to naples and capri with Ruth very soon

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to follow

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This will not be inline for a nobel literature prize of the man booker...but a frivilious okay read on the couch with the fore burning !

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 a decent read but not great.

[Hanna Ericsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spennene historie og miljø. Bra skrevet. Bra avslutning.

[Matthew Bell · Rating 1 out of 5]

A weak storyline with attempts to be woke which rather ruins it.

[LV Lady]

Decided to watch the TV series by the same name so I get the views of Capri, and extra mysteries.

[Kristi K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly like the 6-part series on Prime Video. I don’t know if the video or book came first (both written by Matt Baker) but I liked them both.

[Anton · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 stars for the book cover! It was the reason for purchasing the book.

The characters seemed unnecessarily complicated and made them less interesting. The mystery was fine. At times it seemed more like an Italian cooking book? Made me hungry and dreaming about a trip to Italy.