Review
The Second Literary Dining Mystery
After the success of their Jane Austen Event Allie Catt, caterer and personal chef, and her best friend bookstore manager Tegan decide to move forward in time and host a soiree based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s THE GREAT GATSBY. Guests will dress up in jazz era inspired fashion and Allie will dream up delightful food dishes inspired by the period. When developer Jason Gardner shows up at Feast for the Eyes bookstore Tegan and Chloe are swooning, but Allie isn't so sure. The man intends to turn houses in the historic district into a mall! But his charming manner has started to thaw Allie, which makes it even more devastating when she finds his murdered body. What's even worse, her friend, Detective Zach Armstrong, considers her a suspect! Surely their disastrous kiss isn't behind this suspicion? Allie knows she'd better find him more suitable suspects, perhaps the Asheville developer known to use shady tactics or the local contractor who seemed to have a beef with the victim.
I really like the idea of literary themed events and I really love that almost the whole town of Ashevelle gets behind them too, even dressing up in period clothes. I appreciated the quotes from THE GREAT GATSBY that head each chapter and it was fun seeing Allie and Vanna come up with appropriate food. Vanna playing nice was almost as shocking as the murder!
The mystery was enjoyable, realizing Jason's ties to the town, his lost love, and the possible motives for his murder. I love how Allie and Tegan investigated while also working and preparing for their big event. Allie teasing out alibis and uncovering clues, with a little help from some friends.
MURDER BY THE MILLIONS combines classic literature and scrumptious food molding them into a delightful cozy mystery. I look forward to seeing what book the next themed party will be based on.
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Murder by the Millions (A Literary Dining Mystery) by Daryl Wood Gerber
About Murder by the Millions
Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series
Setting - North Carolina
Publisher: Kensington Cozies
Publication Date: October 28, 2025
Print Length: 320 pages
In a beautiful mountain community near Asheville, North Carolina, caterer and personal chef Allie Catt serves up mouthwatering, literary-themed dinner parties inspired by her clients’ favorite books. Her next event is sure to be a roaring success—if a murderer isn’t a killjoy . . .
If it were true that the best thing a girl can be in this world is a fool, then Allie Catt would be out of luck. Fortunately, Allie’s business is a smashing success. And following her Pride and Prejudice event, grander plans await . . .
Feast for the Eyes bookstore manager and Allie’s best friend, Tegan, is hosting a book club soiree and wants it to be a glittering affair based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic Jazz Age-set novel, The Great Gatsby. Soon, Art Deco table settings and visions of flappers are dancing the Charleston in their heads. Even Tegan’s prickly sister, Vanna, is on board. And surely, Allie’s tuxedo cat, Darcy, thinks it’s the cat’s meow. Amid the planning, charismatic developer Jason Gardner arrives in town to buy some historic buildings on Main Street. He, too, has plans: to create a modern mall. Allie is more than concerned. She even wants to protest. But when Jason invites her to cater a lavish party, she finds him surprisingly likable. Then she’s summoned to his estate for a meeting—and finds him dead.
Once again Allie’s landed in the middle of a crime scene. Worse, one of her earrings is later discovered near the body. And when police learn she was upset about the mall, she’s suspect #1. Allie’s blossoming sleuthing skills once cleared Tegan’s name, but can she save herself—before a killer writes her a not-so-great Gatsbyesque ending . . .
About Daryl Wood Gerber
Daryl Wood Gerber is the Agatha Award-winning, nationally bestselling author of the Literary Dining Mysteries, the Fairy Garden Mysteries, the French Bistro Mysteries, and the Cookbook Nook Mysteries, as well as the Cheese Shop Mysteries written under the name Avery Aames. She also writes standalone suspense novels and the Aspen Adams Novels of Suspense. Prior to her career as a novelist, she was an actress with roles in television shows including "Murder, She Wrote," and she wrote for the popular TV sitcom "Out of this World." Originally from the Bay Area, she now lives in Southern California, where she likes to cook, garden, and spend time with her frisky Goldendoodle named Sparky.
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