Charcuterie Shop Mysteries

Next time you rent a house, make sure you're the only occupant. If it wasn't for a flamboyant, self-absorbed ghost occupying Katie Aubrey's rental house, the thirtysomething former business tech turned charcuterie chef would be able to concentrate on her new sandwich shop and catering business. But as luck would have it, former food critic and septuagenarian Edith Ellory will not let go. Not until she convinces Katie to find out who killed her. In spite of a coroner's report stating Edith had died peacefully in her sleep, her apparition insists she was murdered. Not only that but she's convinced she knows who did the dastardly deed. Vowing not to give Katie, or her laidback beagle a moment's peace, Edith takes them on a wild goose chase through all the restaurants that received scalding reviews from her. If Katie ever expects to have her new charcuterie business up and running, she'll have to do more than arrange cured meats and cheeses. The real killer is closer than she thinks, and no amount of culinary design sense will prevent her from the same fate as Edith's.

Charcuterie chef Katie Aubrey is overjoyed when asked to create charcuterie boards for the summer fashion show at the prestigious Hidden Boulders Community in Cave Creek. However, the challenge for Katie isn't designing the complex cured meat and cheese platters but rather, how to deal with Edith Ellory, the annoying food critic ghost who pesters her while she works. Lamentably, that becomes the least of her worries when the fashion show coordinator is found dead in the food pavilion clutching a handful of Katie's pancetta rosettes. Toxicology reports indicate food poisoning, and Katie's charcuterie shop immediately falls under suspicion, even though none of the other meats showed any hint of foul play. To make matters worse, the victim had a long and unpleasant history with one of Katie's employees. To save the shop's reputation and vindicate her employee, Katie needs to ditch her white apron and don some decent walking shoes before she becomes the next victim.

It's tough to teach the art of charcuterie with bodies piling up at your doorstep Just as burgeoning charcuterie entrepreneur, Katie Aubrey, gets ready to teach a charcuterie class for a handful of adults, the body of a retired investigative reporter is found behind her sandwich shop and the gift store next door. The reporter had broken the story about a gold heist in the '80s, but has been out of the limelight for years. Until now. And while Katie tries to conduct business as usual, rumors abound. To make matters worse, the adults in her class are as backbiting and obnoxious as possible, including one gentleman who tries to strong-arm Katie and her business neighbor into relinquishing their leases so he can start an internet café. Tempers flare and the unexpected happens-the man is found dead behind Katie's shop, and all fingers point to Katie. It doesn't help that the other occupant in Katie's house, the ghostly spirit of food critic, Edith Ellory, decides to find out who the real murderer is, compelling Katie to take the helm for fear Edith will mess things up and send her to the Fourth Avenue Jail for the next decade.