Murder on the Menu (Paperback or Softback)

The Murder on the Menu mysteries, written and produced by the Second-Act Sleuths, span the globe, from Victoria, BC to London, England. This anthology will not only have you flipping pages, but also laughing out loud with its cunning humour.

Step back into the 1980s and the life of Nick, “The Bookie,” who owns The Acropolis Café in the sleazy part of downtown Victoria. Vasilios Sideris knows too much about his past and demands that Nick cover his gambling debts. He refuses. Two days later, Sideris is found dead in the alley behind the café.

London, 1973. Seventeen-year-old Lucy is a naive young writer desperately in need of real-life experiences. One late night, aboard a slam-door suburban train, she witnesses something terrible. Fifty years later, she's back in London on a publicity tour—and a cold case unlocks a memory she didn't know she'd buried.

When Taylor Feldspar and three of her cozy mystery writer friends are invited to stay with celebrated author Bertie Caroway, it seems like the perfect literary getaway. Then Bertie ends up dead...leaving Taylor to use her plotting skills—and her better judgement—to figure out what—or whodunnit.

Zosia, a Polish immigrant living in Sacramento, drops out of college when her older brother is shot and killed during a convenience store robbery. She buys a food truck and sells chicken wings to support herself but making ends meet is a challenge. Angry when a customer appears to be conducting criminal activity at one of the tables she sets out, Zosia decides to investigate. But taking on foul play proves a dangerous game. Can she bring the culprit to justice or will she become a victim like her brother?

When Maxi Mandeville inherits her deceased mother’s home, she also inherits a skeleton buried in the wine cellar, a peeping Tom, and more information than she ever wanted to know about her family. The police get involved and she meets gorgeous Detective Rossi. Maxi goes to the house to retrieve her mother’s fur coat and the gun she always kept in her lingerie drawer before the police find it. The coat and gun are gone and another surprise awaits.

Why would a killer poison his victim, steal his ugly ornament and leave a piece of decadent dark chocolate beside the body? Soon-to-be-retired Detective Newton Figby is hot on the trail. Because his last case is personal. This victim is family.

Gabrielle Maisonville’s memories of her deceased mother are tied to the espresso cups and Italian espresso machines found in her mountainside café. Gabrielle’s hopes of keeping her mother’s memory alive are dashed, when her father’s new trophy wife decides to turn the café into a tanning salon. Young Peter Murray, a man with a dodgy past, shows up at the café looking for a chance to turn his life around. His loyalty is challenged when the new wife gives him an ultimatum: get rid of Gabrielle, or she’ll expose him to a vengeful criminal gang.

Will the elderly lady in pink share with Sorcha Lewis, an ambitious podcaster, a long-withheld secret from June 1988 when three young women, with Joan Jett in their hearts, did the unspeakable? What really did happen to the politician’s son? Are the women guilty of murder, or did they have an accomplice?

Joanna Vander Vlugt is an author and illustrator. As a child she hated to read, and it wasn't until she read Enid Blyton's adventure series, The Famous Five, that Joanna's world changed. Joanna's short mysteries have been published in a variety of mystery anthologies. She draws upon her 13 years' experience working in the prosecutor's office and 10 years working in the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner for inspiration for her thriller novels. She has taken SFU's structural editing, and stylistic editing courses, and looks forward to continuing her editing education in the Fall.

Winona Kent was born in London, England, and immigrated to Canada at age three, growing up in Regina, Saskatchewan. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC and a screenwriting diploma from Vancouver Film School. Her writing career began in 1989 with the spy novel Skywatcher, a finalist in the Seal Book First Novel Awards. She has since published numerous short stories and eleven novels, including three time-travel romances and the Jason Davey Mystery series. A Past Chair of Crime Writers of Canada, Winona lives in New Westminster, BC with her husband and a concerning number of disobedient houseplants.

Judee Fong took a writing class on telling a good story and fell into a world of crime, murder and food. Death With Chocolate is her first published crime cozy.