Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

This included 4 cute cozy mystery novellas. The first book was a little flat for me but the other three were quick reads. Definitely recommend if you’re new to the mystery genre and want to get your toes wet.

This was a really good collection of mysteries, that I would definitely recommend trying!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher

A collection of Christian cozy mysteries involving food trucks. Each story was interesting and had a good mystery to it as well as Christian content. They were very enjoyable.
Many thanks to Barbour Publishing and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a great quick read and I enjoyed all the stories. If you want a great easy read then this book is for you

Overall I enjoyed the cozy mystery aspect to these mysteries. I am not a Christian (I'm a Catholic); but Christian fiction has generally been a calming genre for me. They are slower and gentler stores - I loved the idea of pushing into a cozy mystery nook. It allowed for the exploration of community, forgiveness and God's larger plan a way to play out organically.

The last 3 stories were fabulous for cozies with a good Christian aspect that was present but not overwhelming - a great way to increase people to the genre.

It was the first story (Joi Copeland) that put me off. And I think some people may be put off by it. The Christian aspect to the story was more mentioning "I'm Christian" and using the term "Christian" every page. The other stories incorporated it more elegantly with using the church, choir, bible verses or prayer within the story in ways that would occur. It alone brought my score from a 4/5 stars to 3/5 stars. It felt too overbearing and strong. While I expect that Christian fiction would be a main part of the story - it has to be a part of the story, woven in and utiliized in a way that builds the story. Hickey, Johnson and Lilly did this much more elegantly..

Thank you to Barbour Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.

I love cozy mysteries that are food centered situations, howler I just could not get through this book .
I found the stories boring and lacking .
I hope this series gets better over time .

I love cozy murder mysteries but I am sad to say that the ones in Death by Food Truck are not my favorite. I was unable to really connect with any of the characters which, when you can't connect with them, you tend to then not care what is happening to them as much as you should be. I will say that they are well written but it's the characterization. Also, I will say that the first story really set the tone for the anthology and if you don't like the first story then you probably won't like the rest.

I will be rating the books separately

Unlucky noodles , 2 stars
When i first tried to read this short story, i quit after less than 5 pages because of the number of times God was mentioned in those first few pages. This threw me off. I do support religion and religious people, everyone should do and believe what they want. However, this was quite a lot to start with in the book. I later went back to give the story another chance and read through it. I think the fact that the other stories also slightly mentioned religion, helped me ease into this one. I do like the general story line, however, the religion felt more like the main storyline than the side story. The mystery however was good!

Dead as donut, 4 stars
I really liked this story, the mystery in this one was super exciting, and surprising. I also really liked the characters, and the romance was also really cute. I also really love when main characters do their own detective work.

Lethal spuds, 4 stars
This story was also really fun, and the mystery was again quite surprising, although i figured this one out a bit sooner than dead as donut. The part i thought was especially well worked out was the not knowing who to trust really because anyone could have done it. I did really like the characters, and i adored tater and helen.

Taco tragedy, 4 stars
I did enjoy this story most out of all of them when i think back. I really liked the main characters and the story line was really good as well. However, i do think that the mystery wasnt very difficult to solve. I knew who the killer was and how they did it before anyone even died. I originally planned to give this 3 stars but i really enjoyed it too much for that!

This places the collection book at a 3.5!

Thank you to netgalley and the authors for sending me this arc in exchange for an honest review

I absolutely loved all of these short story’s in this book!! They each felt like a cozy mystery that I couldn’t wait to follow along and solve!! 5⭐️

I had never read any of these authors before, but the concept of stories about murders set around food trucks was very intriguing and cool. I enjoyed these stories and they mostly kept me guessing until the end. It was a fun read and I enjoyed the different novellas that were related in the setting and some of the characters. Would like to read more from these authors.

A collection of 4 novellas, all centered on the Birch Point Lake Park's food truck plaza.

While the 4 stories all take place within yards from each other, I was surprised by how little interaction there was between the trucks and the stories. I'm a cozy mystery fan, and I liked the premise of the collection, as well as the Christian themes of the stories, but had some trouble connecting to the characters and the stories. I especially liked the grandma in the story about the doughnut truck!

Overall, this wasn't my favorite novella collection. I feel like as a whole it would have been really fun if we had seen more friendships between the trucks and helping each other out through their hardships.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you, for allowing me to read this book. I did, however, not finish this book. I had a difficult time getting into the story.

I read about 25%. The first story is about Mey and her food truck. She left town with her best friends, to get away from a terrible ex. They settle in a lovely town in Maine when her ex finds her.

Four cozy mystery short stories with their backstory set in and around food trucks. The food truck trend is still growing and the competition is hot. When the owners in each story face the suspicion generated by a death at their door, they do lean on their faith. The story lines are good and the authors do manage to get the story's who, what, where, when and why all packed into a few chapters.

This was a good, fast read for me. I love short stories and I love cozy mysteries so combining the two was sure to keep me reading.

This book consists of four short novellas centering on the food truck rodeo held every summer near the beach of Birch Point Lake, Maine. Lucky Noodle was the home to Japanese cousine enjoyed by many. But then Mey Hirano’s abusive boyfriend showed up from Texas. He never did understand the word “No!”


Except the next day Paul is found dead and suddenly Lucky Noodles’ business takes a dive and finds itself in the middle of a murder investigation. The author weaves in the music of Mercy Me, Toby Mac, etc., providing an entertaining faith-based story.


DreaM Donuts provided, as the name suggests, donuts for the daily crowd. Glazed, sprinkled, frosted, and filled donuts were on the menu; but it was not clear whether the frosted or glazed chocolate donuts were the weapon of choice.


The catch was that the local construction company did not have a good reputation and it looked like someone was out to get revenge. The result is another faith-based suspense that will hold the reader’s attention for two to three hours.


The third novella in this collection focuses on the Spudmobile = serving baked potatoes with all the toppings one could want. The store’s mascot was a “cross between Mr. Potato Head and Mr. Peanut” along with a menu of the daily offerings.


The Spudmobile offered a unique service - delivery. But one of those deliveries goes awry and ends in a customer’s death. The question becomes “Who spiked the order?”


The Crunchy Taco had won the honor of being the best Mexican restaurant in town four years in a row - and being a small town it was surprising that there were four restaurants vying for that honor. And a fifth was being proposed. It looked like jealousy was a key factor in this last murder.


With four authors offering four stories, it is no surprise that the stories are somewhat uneven. However, taken as a whole, the book was a fun read. I enjoyed spending the summer in Birch Point Lake and getting to know the various venders that spent their days offering food to the locals and the tourists. It would have been nice if the various trucks had offered a favorite recipe to share. I give the book four-stars - good reading!

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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

Thank you NetGalley; Joi Copeland; Cynthia Hickey; Linda Baten Johnson; Teresa Ives Lilly and Christian | Mystery & Thrillers.

I wish I would have known going into this that these were Christian mysteries because that is just not for me, I tried to put that aside and love this book but it was just too hard. While I feel like it is my fault I missed that I have noticed I am not the only one who feels that way. I felt like the first story shoved it down my throat almost every paragraph. I didn't really enjoy the characters or the stories, I find myself trying to skip ahead to see how much I have left until it ends.

However, I do feel like if Christian mysteries are for you then check out this book, if that's not your thing then I would suggest staying away! I did like the food truck murder mystery idea though, I just think maybe executed in another way!

I enjoyed the faith aspect of these stories. However, I was expecting more focus on mystery and less on romance. The writing was okay but felt like the authors were trying to cram a lot into a novella which made the writing feel clunky at times. Overall a clean, wholesome read.

Death by Food Truck brings together a collection of cozy mysteries involving food trucks and the people who run them. I really enjoy reading cozy mysteries and these did not disappoint. I requested a copy through Netgalley. A review was not required.
Each of these stories were well written. I do enjoy being able to finish a story in one sitting so having four small stories was a bonus. I do like that these were clean and fun.

I finished this because it fulfilled a personal reading challenge prompt, otherwise I would have DNF'd it. The stories are frustrating, the setting is unbearable, the writing inconsistence, and the faith all over the board. Never heard of any of these authors before and am NOT motivated to seek out any of their works.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Barbour Publishing for approving my request to read Death by Food Truck: 4 Cozy Culinary Mysteries by Joi Copeland, Cynthia Hickey, Linda Baten Johnson, and Teresa Ives Lilly. I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for my honest review. When I requested to read this book, I didn't realize that the stories had religion in them. Had I known this, I wouldn't have requested it.

Overall, I would have enjoyed the stories much more had they not been religious, especially the first novella. I felt like the first author was cramming religion down my throat. The other three novellas were a little less religious. There's nothing wrong with Christian books, but they're just not for me.

The culprit in all four stories were very obvious to me from the beginning despite the authors trying to throw suspicion elsewhere. Each novella also had a strong romantic element to it, which didn't bother me in the least bit. The reason I chose to read these stories were because of the food themes, which I did end up enjoying immensely.

Three out of five stars is what I rated Death by Food Truck: 4 Cozy Culinary Mysteries by Joi Copeland, Cynthia Hickey, Linda Baten Johnson, and Teresa Ives Lilly. If you like Christian Fiction, then you'd likely enjoy these stories, but as I said before, they weren't really for me because of the religious elements.

I like the concept of this collection of stories but a few things made this difficult for me to get through: 1) the stories were very short so I didn’t really connect with the characters; 2) the stories themselves were very simplistic and had a heavy romance element to it (more so than mystery); 3) while I don’t mind Christian fiction, some of the religious aspects felt thrown in and were a little awkward, particularly in the end of the first story. This just wasn’t for me and I ended up stopping halfway through the second story.