Deep Fried Revenge

I’ll admit, I rolled my eyes at first when I saw *another* food-themed cozy mystery—until Susan Boyce’s narration pulled me in with the first chapter’s snarky asides and the clink of a chef’s knife hitting a cutting board. Boyce’s performance is a masterclass in pacing: she lets the humor breathe (Angie’s internal monologue about ‘accidentally’ poisoning a rival had me laughing out loud) but tightens her delivery during the investigation scenes, making the tension feel like a slow-simmering roux about to burn. The real surprise? How Cahoon uses the farm-to-fork angle not just for atmosphere, but as a narrative device. The victim’s death ties directly to a disputed heirloom tomato variety, and the clues hide in seed catalogs and farmers’ market rivalries. It’s clever without being gimmicky. That said, the romance subplot feels tacked on—Angie’s love interest might as well be a cardboard cutout with a flannel shirt, and their scenes drag compared to the razor-sharp dialogue with the suspects. And while the revenge motif is compelling, the final confrontation leans a little too hard on monologuing; I found myself wishing Cahoon had trusted the reader to connect the dots without the villain spelling everything out. Still, the audiobook’s production is flawless (no jarring volume shifts or mispronounced foodie terms, thank goodness), and Boyce’s ability to voice a cast of eccentric locals—from the honey-voiced matriarch to the twitchy intern—keeps the energy high. If you love mysteries where the setting is as rich as the plot, and narrators who can deliver a threat with the same ease as a recipe, this is your next listen. Just maybe skip the romance bits.