Although this is book 4 in the Five-Ingredient Mystery series, it's the first one I've read. I had no trouble falling in love with Val and her Grandfather. He's just finished his PI course and has accepted a job impersonating a local author. Val continues to be busy running her cafe and catering local dinners. The two of them begin investigating a murder of a man and the death of his dog. Lots of action and I found myself smiling now and again at some of granddad's exploits. This is a well written cozy mystery with great characters and a fine crime story centered on Edgar Allan Poe's Fall of the House of Usher.

This was an interesting book. The Poe facts were a neat addition and helped make the story feel a little more real.

A great cozy mystery. The book has a great plot and setting. I loved the author's writing.

When Val's Grandfather suddenly changes his appearance and starts acting suspicious, Val knows he is up to something. And when she spies a man who looks just like him near the mall, she watches as he suddenly keels over dead.

When Val and her grandfather finally join forces to find out who wants who dead they make a pretty good team of investigators. The book is full of Poe facts and myths. Very interesting reading.

For a cozy mystery, her characters are not at all cliched! This is one series I'll keep up with!

I'm always curious about what kind of trouble Val's grandpa is going to get into.
This time, he is acting as a stand in for an author who is not making any public appearances.

When it seems someone is after the author, Val tries her best to convince her grandfather to give the gig up.

True to his personality, he refuses to give up and before long, Val finds herself embroiled in murder.

I love this book with its five-ingredient recipes and five clues that blends together perfectly to bring me a delightfully engaging whodunit that whets my appetite for more stories. The story was set at a comfortable pace that flowed easily from chapter to chapter keeping me engrossed in all that was happening as Val sought to clear her boyfriend’s name and protect her grandfather from an unknown killer. This well-written mystery was nicely done with a homage to Poe in how certain characters were portrayed and where everyone was suspect. Adding strategically placed twists and turns enhanced the telling of this tale and making this one of the best book in this endearing series.

This mystery was sort of a middling one for me. I liked Val, the main character, and enjoyed her relationship with Granddad. The mystery was OK, but wasn't the strongest part of the story to me. I guess the problem was that I found the business subplot (a minor part of the story) rather more interesting than the mystery. There just didn't seem to be enough tension or danger in the mystery plot. I would read another title in this series, but I wanted more of a can't-put-it-down story.

The Tell-Tale Tarte is the fourth book in Maya Corrigan Five-Ingredient Mystery series. Ms. Corrigan provides enough character background that this book can be read as a standalone. The storyline is well thought out and this is a clean read. The characters are well developed and there are lots of twists and turns to keep the reader engaged.

Val Deniston lives in Bayport in Chesapeake Bay area, manages, Cool Down Café, at a local fitness center with her assistant, Bethany, and caters on the side. She lives with her grandfather, Don Myer, who’s taking online private investigator course, writing a recipe column for the local newspaper, and plans to publish The Codger’s Cookbook. Don has a taken on a new job and a completely new look. The relationship between Val and her boyfriend, Gunnar Swensen, is progressing at a slow pace, which is what they both want. Val’s worried the café maybe replaced by a sportswear boutique and decides to extend her hours of operation, and hires her nemeses, Irene Pritchard, and her son, Jeremy, with the hope of boosting the café’s profits. While Val and Bethany are at the mall, Val sees a man who she mistakes for her newly ‘made over’ grandfather collapse and rushes to help him. Fortunately, it isn’t Don, but sadly, the man passes. The man is identified as Emmett Flint, an actor who known for impersonating Edgar Allan Poe, and it’s suspected he died from an overdose of blood pressure meds. Gunnar, who received an inheritance when his great-aunt passed, left a secure government job and moved to Bayport to pursue his dream of becoming an actor, had recently argued with Emmett and his understudy in a local play, and is a suspect in his death. After catering a book club dinner, Val discovers that Don’s new job and makeover are connected to Rick Usher, a local author captivated by Edgar Allen Poe’s works. Don has been hired to ‘represent’ Rick at public appearances. Val starts investigating because she wants to clear Gunnar’s name and to protect her grandfather since it appears the murder might be related to Rick Usher.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. I thoroughly enjoyed Val and her grandfather's sleuthing. As a Poe fan, the constant references to Poe made my mystery-loving heart happy. The mysteries of what was really going on with Rick Usher, who killed Emmet, what was buried in the yard, and others kept me guessing. I also appreciate the fact that the culprit was not obvious from chapter 3, as so often happens. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

I can only give Tarte an OK review. It just didn't engage me and I could have easily not finished it despite liking the other books in the series. It's hard for me to point out what the issue was, I just didn't care about the characters, what was happening to them, who did it or why.

The story line itself has elements that I would think would appeal to me. It's about the sinister happenings around a famous author and his household. Edgar Allan Poe and his writings play a role as well. Again, the author realistically used Val and Grandpa in relation to the bad goings on. The story made sense and there were a decent amount of suspects though it could have gone another way, I had figured out who it was.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was just a fair read for me. Everything about the book sounded great, but it just wasn't for me. The characters seemed a bit superficial, and the plot just didn't hold my attention. Sorry, but just three stars for this one.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.
The characters and mystery were well written.
This is the first in the series I have read, which did not hinder my ability to enjoy the book, but I now look forward to reading the previous books in the series.
I voluntarily read an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Thanks to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I really liked The Tell-Tale Tarte, and thought it was the best entry so far in the Five Ingredient mystery series. This is the 4th book that series, and the books get better and better. It moved along quickly and kept my interest throughout the book. Using Edgar Allan Poe as part of the plot was an inspired idea.

Val Deniston lives with her grandfather Don, who has taken some private eye courses in addition to his food columnist job as the Codger Cook. Val, who is the real cook in the family, caters on the side and runs a cafe at her local fitness center with her assistant Bethany. She and her boyfriend Gunnar, a local actor, are slowly working on their relationship.

Val is catering a dinner for a book club reading the author Rick Usher's books, which take Edgar Allan Poe tales and reimagines the titles as horror stories. She and Bethany are at the mall when a man who looks exactly like her grandfather (who recently had a makeover) collapses in front of them.

It turns out the dead man is an actor in the play that Gunnar is in, and Gunnar becomes one of the main suspects. Val gets involved to clear Gunnar, and to protect her grandfather, because he has been hired to impersonate the famous author Rick Usher. The story continues with a lot of twists and turns, and involves characters that range from a ghostwriter to an actor with shady motives.

The plot was very interesting and the Poe references were fascinating. I thought the characters were, as always, interesting and true to life. There are delicious recipes at the end of the book, which I always appreciate.

I liked this book very much, and highly recommend it to cozy mystery readers.

This was an enjoyable, fun book to read. There is humor, a complex mystery with plenty of misdirection and, as an added benefit, the chance to learn some interesting facts about Edgar Allan Poe. I especially love the relationship between Val and her grandfather. Despite the banter and bickering that goes on between them, you can tell how much they really love each other. And, as an added bonus, there are some delicious recipes that come along with the story.