Of Mushrooms and Matrimony

Tish Tarragon #6

by Amy Patricia Meade

Tish Tarragon is catering for a wedding, but the weekend goes from sweet to sour when a guest at the venue is poisoned.
Literary caterer and owner of Cookin' the Books cafe Tish Tarragon is pushing thoughts of her impending eviction aside to prepare an appetising welcome buffet for a wedding weekend at Abbingdon Green Bed and Breakfast. While there, Tish witnesses one of the guests, controversial TV chef and restaurant critic, Gunner Randall, threatening staff after missing breakfast and making do with a mushroom omelet.
When Randall is found dead the following day, it soon becomes clear that poisoned mushrooms were behind his demise. With no shortage of potential suspects and motives, can Tish and her new beau, Sheriff Clemson Reade, uncover who was enraged enough with the unsavoury star to silence him for good?

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery

224 pages, Hardcover

Published January 3, 2023

About the author

Author of the critically acclaimed Marjorie McClelland Mysteries, the Rosie the Riveter historical mysteries, and the recent Vermont series, Amy Patricia Meade is a native of Long Island, NY, where she cut her teeth on classic films and books featuring Nancy Drew and Encyclopedia Brown.

Later in her youth, she’d come to admire the works of Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, leading her to pursue a degree in English as well as business.

Amy currently resides in Bristol, England where she's busy adding to her Tish Tarragon and Vermont Country Living Mysteries.
When not writing, Amy enjoys travel, testing out new recipes, classic films, and, of course, reading mysteries.

Reviews

[LORI CASWELL]

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Literary caterer and owner of Cookin’ the Books cafe Tish Tarragon has lost her lease on her home and her business but she has one last catering job. A wedding weekend Abbingdon Green Bed and Breakfast. While setting up a fabulous welcome buffet she sees one of the guests complaining that the B&B’s breakfast hours end too early and demanding to be served. With him being a tv chef and restaurant critic the last thing she needs is a bad review so the owner quickly whips up a mushroom omelet to placate the man.

The next day the controversial critic is found dead. It appears he ingested some poisonous mushrooms, so the owner of the B&B finds herself high on the suspect list, but others could have fed him the deadly mushrooms too. Sheriff Clemson Reade and Tish are on the case but she still needs to be sure her catering gig goes off without a hitch.

This is the first book in the series that I have read but the author did an excellent job of making me feel right at home. I really like that Tish is a consultant for the police and that after spending so much time with Sheriff Clemson Reade a romance between them has blossomed. They do seem like a perfect match. Her friend Jules is a real treasure. I loved him! Her other friend Mary Jo appears to have gone through her own drama but has come through it strong with the help of her friends. Celestine works with Tish and has opened her home to Mary Jo and her daughter. There is a very strong bond between Tish, Jules, Mary Jo, and Celestine that I am sure was built over the course of the series. All the characters felt true to life and I enjoyed meeting them.

A strong subplot throughout the story is about Tish being evicted from her home and business which included a cafe due to breaking up with her landlord. I don’t know a lot about Schuyler but he appears to not excel at being a boyfriend, landlord, or mayor. Tish is better off without him but he has put her in a terrible position. So in addition to hunting down a killer, she is trying to find a place to live and a new home for her businesses.

The mystery is very complicated because Chef Gunner Randall ate a heck of a lot of mushrooms within the right timeframe. Tish and Reade visit every place the deceased critic visited but were unable to eliminate anyone. It was quite entertaining to ferret through the clues right along with them. I was not totally surprised though when the killer was revealed. I had a little inkling during the story that this person needed a closer look.

The final chapter was fantastic and filled with feel-good moments. I really enjoy it when an author leaves their characters in a good place with a notion of exciting things to come.

Of Mushrooms and Matrimony intrigued me from the start. The characters were genuine and engaging. The mystery was not only interesting but educational. There are many kinds of mushrooms, many are poisonous but Death Cap mushrooms are the deadliest. Thankfully I am not a fan of any kind of mushroom but I bet after reading this book I could identify the deadly fungi in an instant.

[Jeanie Jackson]

Amy Patricia Meade brings us another outstanding cozy mystery filled with warmth, tension, and real mystery in her 6th Tish Tarragon mystery, Of Mushrooms and Matrimony! I love when Reade and Tish get to spend time together whether if they are just enjoying each other for investigating. I appreciate that Reade respects her abilities even though he worries about her. For me the interactions among the characters are the best part and Ms. Meade does a wonderful job with making the friends feel and act like real people with love, concerns, teasing, support and even, at times, arguing.
The fact that a certain, not-to-be-named, ex-boyfriend has ended her lease for her restaurant puts a cloud over everything even for the first body shows up. Tish prepares for her last wedding to be catered from Cookin' the Books Cafe; it doesn't look good for finding a new space at a price that she can afford, and that building was her home so she doesn't even have a kitchen to work from.
An arrogant reality TV chef is making life miserable for everyone when he is murdered, there are too many suspects to count even among the people who are in town. Because of her expertise, Reade asks her to help him investigate and she agrees even with the weight of the wedding on her
shoulders. She can't afford to lose the catering job an the owner of the B&B where he was killed and where the wedding is taking place has become a friend.
Need to come back and work on this
My thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for allowing me to read an ARC of this just right cozy mystery. I loved it and will be telling my friends and followers all about it.
#NetGallery #SevernHouse #AmyPaticiaMeade #OfMushrooms and Matrimony #ATishTarragonMystery.

[Harlequin Books]

Mystery & Detective
Miniseries
A Tish Tarragon Mystery

[Nessa]

Love this series!!

[Amberly]

Started and finished date – 07.01.26 to 10.01.26.
My rating – Three Stars.
This book was okay, but I didn't love it and I found this book to be little disappointing. I think people who like eat, drink and drop dead by T.C. LoTempio or death on the shelf by Allison Brook may like is book. The cover of the book was simple and adequate, but the cover of the book could be better also I think the colour palette at was used on the cover of book was okay. The writing in the book was okay, but the writing was very average and the writing in the book was easy to follow also the ending of book was fine, but I think the end of the book could be better. I think the setting of the book was okay and it was somewhat enjoyable bit it needed to be flash out bit more. The book had a cozy atmosphere, but I think the atmosphere could be better. I found the plot of the book was underdeveloped and it was very predictable, but it was still enjoyable. I think the dialogue in the book was okay and it was easy to follow but dialogue was average. I found the mystery was enjoyable, but it underdeveloped and bit predictable and the suspense in the book was well done also I think author did an okay job build tension.

I think fans of the books or the adaptation of Hannah Swensen books, and I think people who like classic cozy mystery. The mystery in the book was okay, but it was underdeveloped and the suspense in the book was overall pretty good. The killer was okay, but it was bit predictable and I think the build-up to killer reveal overall fine. I wise the subplot of Tish being evicted from her home to be flash out bit more and I learned a lot about mushrooms, and I found it very interesting. I think both the friendships and relationships between characters was okay, but they needed to be flash out bit more. I think found the paced in the book was well structured and steady paced but wise it was longer. The characters in the book were fine, but they needed to be flash out bit more.

[Missi Martin (Stockwell)]

If you are a fan of Amy Patricia Meade and/or her books especially the Tish Tarragon Mystery series then you are beyond excited that the sixth book in this series is here !!! Of Mushrooms and Matrimony picks up pretty much where From Ladle to Grave left off.....with Tish having broken up with her boyfriend and landlord Schuyler so that she can follow her heart and start dating Sheriff Clemson Reade only to have Schuyler evict Tish. Not only is Tish running Cookin'the Books cafe in the building but she is living there. And her one best friend Mary Jo and her two children are living in the apartment above the cafe.

Mary Jo and her daughter move in with their friend Celestine and Mary Jo's son just started college so they are taken care in the living situation. That leaves Tish trying to figure out where she is going to live and she is also trying to find another location for the cafe.

Luckily they are all still kind of working as Tish is still doing some catering and luckily they have a weekend long wedding event that they are supplying most of the food for at the Abbingdon Green Bed and Breakfast and it is a book related event which Tish specializes in.

Tish is also a consultant for the Sheriff's department and she is put to work when Gunner Randall dies from mushroom poisoning. Gunner is the only non-wedding guest staying at the B & B because he is in town visiting a handful of restaurants for his television show Taste of America. Gunner is not a very nice guy and Tish witnesses that first hand when she is at the B & B getting some things ready for the wedding and he has a loud argument with Glory the owner.

Tish and her new boyfriend Reade have their hands full interviewing people that did not like Gunner and the establishments that he visited for his show. Unfortunately they cannot eliminate anyone from the suspect list and it seems everyone prepared something with mushrooms in it so they could have easily added the poisonous mushroom.

If you are a fan of this series you know that Tish always has a lot on her plate and no matter how much is there, she always finishes it. So it goes to reason that this case will be like all the others that she has consulted on.....sadly she, herself, will be shocked when the killer is revealed.

And, of course, the way that Meade ends this book will have readers wanting more and you will be on the lookout for the seventh book.....

And one final note.....Tish's other best friend Jules may be your favorite character and I cannot believe I didn't say anything about him in my review. He is probably a fan favorite as he is the perfect best friend for Tish and Mary Jo. The three of them have a great relationship and Jules is his amazing self and comes to Tish's rescue with something and readers will LOVE it !!!!!

[Ppcfransen]

Tish Tarragon had to close her cafe and is one catering job way from unemployment (or finding a great real estate deal so she can open her cafe again). The catering job is a few meals for a wedding party at a B&B.

One of the other guests at the B&B is a TV chef, best known for his business breaking reviews of restaurants and other places that serve food. He’s in town to film a few segments for a new episode of his show and somewhere along the way, someone has served him some poisonous mushrooms. He dies.

Two complicating details: the man was as much as jerk in real life as he was on camera, so pretty much everyone that knew him hated him. And, at every place he ate the day he was poisoned, he was served mushrooms in one way or another.

Tish and Clemson investigate.

I liked the plot, but there are a few things about the story that bothered me:
- Gunnar Randall is a bully and brings all the women over 50 he bullies to tears. Seriously, all of them. As if women that have been successfully running their own business since their twenties suddenly loose the ability to stand up for themselves as soon as they hit menopause. (The younger women also all cry.)
- Tish and Clayton slurped their noodles. Apparently, my misophony extends to when eating noises are implied in writing.
- Tish and Clemson talk to two people that give a different account of who set up a meeting. They see no reason person A would lie, therefore, person B must have been lying. (And then wonder why person B lied to them.) How about: just because you see no reason person A would lie, doesn’t mean there isn’t a reason.

Clemson and Tish are moving on in their personal relationship, which means there is zero romantic tension between them. They do quip a lot, but mostly they are just dull together.

I read an ARC through NetGalley.

[Patricia Romero]

A Tish Tarragon Mystery

Tish Tarragon is catering for a wedding, but the weekend goes from sweet to sour when a guest at the venue is poisoned.

Welcome back to Tish’s world. Tish Tarragon is the owner of Cookin’ the Books Cafe’. She specializes in literary catering. and this time she is preparing for a wedding weekend at Abbingdon Green B & B.

With her looming eviction on her mind, she is pushing on. But things aren’t so rosy in the wedding world. One of the guests, a Gordon Ramsey sort, I imagine, is already making waves. Threatening staff because HE missed breakfast and makes do with a mushroom omelet. Yep, you guessed it.

With poisonous mushrooms on the menu, Tish needs to figure out who poisoned the man and why. There are plenty of people to suspect and they are all hiding something.

Not only do we get a mystery and a murder, but some romance too with Sheriff Reade in the picture.

No matter what is going on, Tish is one of my favorite characters. And cooks. Her recipes are literally to die for!

NetGalley/ Severn House January 03, 2023

[LittleRead]

While Trish is preparing to cater one last wedding before she has to find a new place for her business, a famous chef is murdered at the Inn where the wedding is being held. With a friend on the suspect list and some other chefs that Trish has heard of in the mix too, she’s working the case with Clemson.

While Trish is always willing to help out friends and on a case, why is it so hard for her to accept help from her own friends? The two big questions in Trish’s life right now are whether she’ll find a new place she can afford for her business and whether they’ll find the killer before anyone else is hurt.

I really enjoy this series. Trish has been through ups and downs and has solved quite a few cases. But the culinary basis for the series makes a delicious outing each and every time. With recipes and a solid whodunit it, you can’t go wrong with Trish Tarragon book!

[Grace Koshida]

Tish Tarragon's latest catering job is for a wedding at the Abbingdon Green B&B. Unfortunately, another guest at the B&B is abrasive TV chef and restaurant critic Gunner Randall. Randall rants at the owner about missing breakfast until Tish offers to make him a mushroom omelet. Several days later, Randall is found dead & the coroner identifies the culprit as Death Cap mushrooms. Tish & new boyfriend Sheriff Clemson Reade find plenty of suspects who clashed with Randall and had opportunity to serve the deadly meal to permanently silence Randall.

Tish's supportive friends come through for her in a big way at the end of the book. A very satisfying ending to this ongoing culinary cozy mystery series.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley and Severn House All opinions are my own.

[Mackenzie Busalacchi]

Of Mushrooms and Matrimony is a perfect cozy with a charming setting, likeable main characters, delicious food, and a long list of suspects. While Tish is catering a book-themed wedding at the local bed and breakfast, a TV personality is discovered murdered (at the same b&b). Unfortunately for Tish and her boyfriend, who also happens to be the police chief, the list of people who may have wanted Randall dead is extensive. Now, not only does Tish need to prepare for the weekend's wedding, she also needs to solve a murder. Oh, and on top of everything, Tish has recently been evicted from her adored cafe and apartment by her ex-boyfriend. Of Mushrooms and Matrimony has absolutely everything a reader would want from a cozy. I already cant' wait to find out what Tish gets into next.

[Stephanie]

As a big fan of the Tish Tarragon mysteries, I’m always excited whenever there’s a new book in the series and this one was so much fun to read. Even though this is already book six in the series, it doesn’t feel like it – the stories still feel pretty new and fresh each time and I feel that there’s still a lot of learn about each character.

Some of my favourite aspects of this series continue to be highlights for me, including the fact that Tish is a literary caterer. The dishes (and punny names) described always make me wish that Tish’s cafe was a real place. There are recipes included so one day I will definitely have to give some of them a try.

Another unique aspect (albeit a recent development) is that Tish is a hired consultant to the police, which means that there’s no real friction between her and law enforcement officials (which basically removes my pet peeve of grumpy and antagonistic police characters in a mystery LOL).

Obviously one of the things that can keep a long-running series still interesting is the characters. I think it helps that the Tish Tarragon stories have enough sidekicks that the books will often focus on one or two of them, develop more to their backstory and character development, and then in the next book, it will be someone else’s turn.

In Of Mushrooms and Matrimony, I was super happy to see that most of character focus (aside from Tish, the murderer, and the suspects) was on Jules and Sherriff Reade, my two favourite characters in the books.

As for the murder mystery itself, there were a lot of twists and turns, quite a bit of running around, and lots of different suspects to consider and interview. There was a lot of lying and misdirection, so sometimes it felt like Tish and Reade were going around in circles and asking the same questions, but the mystery unravelled slowly and each layer added more clues and hints until the killer was revealed.

As the title reveals, there’s a lot of mushrooms in this book. And I’m not kidding. Mushrooms and mushroom recipes of every kind. I LOVE mushrooms and was pretty much ready to eat a 7-course mushroom meal once I finished reading this book!

All in all, it was a really fun book and one I didn’t want to put down once I started it. While this could easily be read as a standalone, I highly recommend checking out the rest of the books in this series first.

* Thank you to the publisher, Severn House, for providing me with an e-copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Sherrie]

This is actually the 6 book in the series and the first one I read. It evolves around Tish who has lost her restaurant and home to her ex-boyfriend who decided that he wanted to turn it into something else. In the meantime, Tish still has work to do with some catering business. In the meantime, her friend Jules, tries to find a way that he can get people to help out with getting her a new Restaurant to work out of. On top of that, there is a murder of a person who nobody really liked, by mushroom. Can Tish solve this murder, keep her friends close, and hopefully look for a new place to run a business?

[Kathleen Gray]

Gunnar Randall was not a good guy but murder? Tish is doing a catering job at the B&B where he's staying when he's poisoned. Now, of course, she's working through the many suspects even though her romantic interest Reade would rather that she leave the investigation to him. This is very much a classic cozy that can be read as a standalone despite being part of a series. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I found Tish's other issues, such as trying to find a new place. more interesting than the mystery but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy this quick read. No recipes. btw.

[Kathy]

Quotable:

"There have always been cooking competitions," Tish noted.
"Yes, but not the kind of competitions that Randall and his ilk promote - a competition that touts strength and superiority rather than beauty, art, and skill. A competition that dooes not provide careful and helpful criticism to those who fall short of expectations, but humiliates them and categorizes them as "losers." Food, as I said, is love, and the creators of food should treat each other with courtesy and respect. They should offer help and advise to each other rather than kick each other when they're down.

[Annarella]

I'm lawyers happy to read a new mystery featuring Tish Tarragon and her friends as they're solid mysteries and a lot of fun.
This one was very good and the solid mystery surprised me with each twist and kept me guessing.
I was glad to catch up with Tish and read about the evolution of her life. The characters are as likeable and flesh out as usual.
Compelling and entertaining.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

[Marie]

Well, this book had be CRYING it was so good.....and while we know that almost everything makes me cry........this is no exception.....These characters are so well written that it's like reading about your own friends.

I love the books and this time I figured out who the murderer was. SO COOL!!! But I am still lacking on the details for the why....but I am getting there.....on to book #7.....

What are you reading??

[Jennifer]

Thank you NetGalley for my ARC.

I enjoyed this cozy culinary mystery.. This is the first book in the series I have read.

Tish is a former cafe owner/ caterer, who has a wedding catering job at a local inn. All is going we’ll until one of the b&b guests is found dead in their room. Tish and her sheriff boyfriend work to solve this mystery.

[Karen Fan]

This was a fun read with a lot of interesting info on mushrooms. They worked the clues and solved the case, with enough suspects and red herrings to keep you guessing. I enjoyed the read and loved seeing how all the characters were doing; it was especially nice to see our MC grow more comfortable in her relationship, work, & crime solving.

[Kyle Fisher]

How and why a famous TV chef and reality host is murdered with poisonous mushrooms is the question. The potential suspects and the answer were interesting. A little less of the romance with the sheriff would be good,

[Jeanne]

A bit undecided on this one. It wasn't very intriguing but some of the characters were ok. Nothing stellar
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc

[TS Tan]

More about mushrooms, and weddings more than matrimony. The recipes at the end of the book are quite interesting!

[Rebecca]

Cozy garbage that goes against traditional family values. I quit the book when the author included white privilege, MeToo, and other woke terms.

[Kayla]

Oh Clemson! And what a great mystery!

[Karen Torrance]

I did enjoy the book but I seemed to have trouble staying focused. Probably just me . It was a surprise to find out the true killer and why. Great mystery book.

[Clare O'Beara]

Of Mushrooms and Matrimony is sixth in the Tish Tarragon Mystery series. I had not read the earlier books, so I didn't feel too bad that she was being evicted from her flat and cafe. Tish is a brave young woman running her business and minding her cat. She caters a wedding, which is held in a venue that also happens to be hosting a TV chef on tour. Disaster strikes when the arrogant chef gets served a toxic dish. Anyone who has provided mushrooms for his samples is a suspect. There are a lot of suspects.

I enjoyed the read very much, finding great depth of characterisation and a real feeling of suspense. When you read a lot of cosy mysteries it's easy for them to blend, but I would be happy to return to this series, I think it's probably better to read from the start.

I read an e-ARC from Fresh Fiction. This is an unbiased review.