Cooked to Death: Tales of Crime and Cookery

People can be passionate about food. In "Cooked to Death" that passion is whipped into a murderous froth. Each story revolves around some aspect of food: its origin, preparation, consumption and, in some cases, its convenience as a murder weapon. Appetizers, entrees, salads, desserts--they're all here. It's a delectable menu, served up by some of the region's finest crime and mystery writers, including Anne Frasier, Carl Brookins, David Housewright, Ellen Hart, Jess Lourey, and Pat Dennis. And each story is accompanied by a recipe or two that have been tried and proven entirely non-lethal. Rare or well-done, piquant or bland, sugary sweet or a little on the dry side, no matter, these tales will leave you drooling for more. Crime has never been this tasty.AUTHORS: Carl Brookins, David Housewright, Jessica Ellis Laine, Sheyna Galyan, Rhonda Gilliland, Molly MacRae, Tes Sparks, Marilyn Jax, Anne Frasier, Ellen Hart, Emily Gorman, Randi Lundell, Kaye George, Jess Lourey, Jessie Chandler, Pat Dennis, Michael Allan Mallory

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES: Carl Brookins is a crime fiction writer and reviewer. He writes three mystery series: a sailing series (Red Sky), an academic series (Reunion) and a private investigator series (The Case of The Yellow Diamond). Jessie Chandler is the award-winning author of the Shay O'Hanlon Caper series and the National Protection and Investigation Unit Operation series. Her novels have garnered two Golden Crown Awards, an Independent Publisher Book Award, and a USA Book Award for LGBTQ fiction.Pat Dennis is the award-winning author of Hotdish To Die For, Murder By Chance, Killed by Chance, Dead by Chance, Stand Up and Die, and (writing as Nora England) The Witches of Dorkdom. Anne Frasier is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She's written for Penguin Putnam, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins Publishers, Bantam Books/Random House, and other publishers In 2011 her memoir, The Orchard, was an O, The Oprah Magazine Fall Pick, One Book, One Community read, a B+ review in Entertainment Weekly, and Librarians' Best Books of 2011. Sheyna Galyan is the National Indie Excellence Award-nominated author of the Rabbi David Cohen suspense series set in Minneapolis. Her newest book, Strength to Stand, was released by Yotzeret Publishing in September 2015. Kaye George, award-winning author, writes the mystery series Imogene Duckworthy, Cressa Carraway, People of the Wind, and, as Janet Cantrell, Fat Cat. Rhonda Gilliland was voted best home cook of October 1998 by the St. Paul Pioneer Press. She wrote, produced, and directed the award-winning Native American film ''Come and Get Your Love'', and served as president of Twin Cities Sisters in Crime 2012-2015. Emily Gorman is a member of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, The Loft Literary Center, and Sisters in Crime.   Ellen Hart is the author of 32 crime novels. She is a six-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery, a three-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award, a three-time winner of the Golden Crown Literary Award, and was made an official GLBT Literary Saint at the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans in 2005. David Housewright won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America (Penance) and three Minnesota Book Awards (Practice to Deceive, Jelly's Gold, and Curse of the Jade Lily). He was elected President of the Private Eye Writers of America in 2014. Marilyn Jax, international award-winning author, is a retired Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). Jax teaches a Mystery Writers' Workshop. Jessica Ellis Laine's essays have appeared online in Women's Memoir and Literary Mama. Her novel in progress, a mystery featuring Police Constables Castillo and Knight, recently won the Mystery Writers of America Midwest's Hugh Holton prize. Jessica (Jess) Lourey is best known for her critically-acclaimed Murder-by-Month mysteries, which have earned multiple starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist She is a tenured professor of creative writing and sociology at a Minnesota college.Randi Lundell has translated several works from the German, but Death in the Narthex is her first published short story.Molly Macrae writes the award-winning Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries from NAL/Penguin. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine since 1990 and she's a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Michael Allan Mallory is the co-creator the zoologist sleuth, Lavender ''Snake'' Jones, who first appeared in Death Roll. Michael's short stories have appeared in numerous collections. He is an active member of Mystery Writers of America and a former past president of Twin Cities Sisters in Crime.