At the site of a fatal blaze, Val’s boyfriend, a firefighter trainee, is shocked to learn the victim is known to him, a woman named Jane who belonged to the local Agatha Christie book club—and was rehearsing alongside Val’s grandfather for an upcoming Christie play being staged for charity. Just as shocking are the skeletal remains of a man found in the freezer. Who is he and who put him on ice? After Val is chosen to replace Jane in the play, the cast gathers at their house to get to work—and enjoy Grandad’s five-ingredient parfaits—but all anyone can focus on is the bizarre real-life mystery. When it’s revealed that Jane’s death was due to something other than smoke inhalation, Val and Grandad try to retrace her final days. As they dig into her past life, their inquiry leads them to a fancy new spa in town—where they discover that Jane wasn’t the only one who had a skeleton in the cooler. Part of a series it reads well as a standalone but you will want to go back and read the rest after you read this one! Fun cozy and it even has recipes!

Wonderful story for anyone that likes mysteries.

Val and her Grandfather find themselves in a murder mystery in more ways than one! A perfect story for the Agatha Christie fans. "The mousetrap" mystery (By Christie) is being performed by Val and other community members on stage, but it quickly turns into a real life mystery with the death of one of the performers. But wait, there isn't just one body, but 2. Never shying away from a good mystery Val's Grandfather finds himself investigating if the new spa owner is connected to the actor's death and what his fellow thespians know. They are driving the narrative with revealing only very little tidbits throughout the story. The bodies keep building up and multiple layers to more than one mystery is slowly revealed. I have read previous books in the series, but I do feel that this can be read as a standalone. Just a terrific story with the mysteries accumulating in an ending that Val never saw coming. (And neither will the reader!). Well written and I LOVE the cover.

Thank you Kensington and Netgalley for the free eArc. 4 stars and looking forward to the next book in the series.

This is book 9 in the series, Five Ingredient Mystery series. Val and her grandfather are back. Living together in a small town near the Chesapeake Bay, Val is still manager of the local cafe and dating a firefighter who discovers a dead body at a house fire. When they find another body in the freezer of Jane's house the town is rife with rumors. As Val and granddad try to keep the local fundraiser play on time they are trying to find Jane's killer. Several good recipes included.

Val's grandfather is easily my favorite character in this series. Val is a close second. This is a fun and smart cozy mystery. I look forward to more in the series.

This is a perfect mystery for any reader who loves complex and twisting small-town mysteries with a large cast of recurring characters.
The main storyline centers around a performance of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap and focuses on the very different members of the amateur cast and their connection to a new spa in their town.
I particularly enjoyed the relationship between our sleuth, Val Deniston, and her grandfather and their connection to the local community.

I have not read all of the books in this series but I intend to start with the first. The plot was clever and paced well, with some twists along the way. I really liked the characters and they were well developed. I look forward to the next installment.
Many thanks to Kensington and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A Parfait Crime was the best of the Maya Corrigan books I’ve read. The mystery started right away with a woman involved in community theatre being found dead after her house burned. The big surprise was really the body in her freezer. As Val and her grandad work to solve the mystery, they find links to others in the theatre group as well as a new spa. Overall the characters are likable, the mystery moved at a nice clip, and I really how the killer was found.

A Parfait crime is a very moving book. This 5 ingredient mystery series is amazing how Val and her grandfather work together to solve crimes while making his easy to go recipes. I really enjoyed reading the book Thank you Netgalley for this book.

Cafe owner Val Deniston is worried about her boyfriend Bram Muir’s first big shift as a volunteer firefighter. While he’s been called out to minor fires before, this latest blaze is taking a lot longer to control than usual. Fortunately, he returns physically unharmed but with bad news: the fire had been at the home of someone they knew. Worse, their friend hadn’t survived it.

Jane Johnson had been a tireless volunteer in their Eastern Maryland town of Bayport, and had been set to play a leading role in an upcoming Readers Theater performance that Bram and Val’s granddad are also participating in. Since the show, as always, must go on, director Millicent Rilke recruits Val to take Jane’s place. Granddad volunteers to take over the rehearsal hosting duties that had previously been Jane’s, giving both himself and Val front row seats to the speculation amongst her closest theater friends regarding both Jane’s death and the skeleton shockingly found locked in her freezer.

When Granddad is subsequently hired to keep an eye on the grand opening of a nearby Med Spa by its nervous manager Ron Melgrem, he and Val can’t help but wonder whether Jane’s death has anything to do with the threats that Ron has recently been receiving. Jane’s friends in the Readers Theater have nothing good to say about the spa, but won’t do more than drop cryptic hints as to why. Will Val be able to convince any of them to open up to her when it seems like a killer could be getting away with murder?

This was another fun installment of the Five-Ingredient mystery series, as Val investigates what could possibly link five thespians with the new spa in town, and whether that link could drive someone to murder. Everyone’s a suspect as the plot twists and turns. I was especially impressed by how Maya Corrigan keeps the secrets of The Mousetrap, Agatha Christie’s legendary play, well under wraps despite it taking a central role in the proceedings.

There were five recipes included here of dishes described in the book, all with five ingredients or less. I was in the mood for a savory entree, so decided to try out this one, lightly edited here for space:

QUOTE
Baked Fish with Basil Pesto

10-12 ounces of salmon filet (<i>The recipe also works for other fish, like grouper, bass, and halibut.</i>)
2 tablespoons fresh, frozen, or store-bought basil pesto
¼ cup bread crumbs
¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a baking pan with foil or parchment paper, and place the salmon filet on it.

Mix the bread crumbs and cheese together.

Spread the pesto on the salmon. Top with the breadcrumb mixture.

Bake for 10 minutes or until done to your likeness. The baking time will vary depending on the thickness of the salmon and your own taste.

Serves 2.
END QUOTE

I figured I’d use up the last of the salmon filets in my freezer with this dish, and just eyeball a little extra pesto, cheese and breadcrumbs for the topping. Luckily for me, this is a very forgiving recipe that encourages you to add more rather than less, as the point of the topping is to keep the fish nice and moist while baking. I whipped up some quick mashed potatoes and sauteed peppers to go with this, making for a delicious and complete meal. I do recommend using parchment paper instead of foil, if possible, to avoid any accidental scraping up of foil with your fish.

Next week, we travel a short ways north to figure out whether ghosts did in a paranormal investigator, while whipping up a delicious pie. Do join me!

Princess Fuzzypants here: Val gets deeply involved in the various goings on around town after one corpse is found in a burned house and a second corpse is found in a freezer. She is going to have to deal with her acting debut, catering a spa opening, and some highly suspicious goings on between the employees of the new spa and a group of senior citizens who were friends with the deceased.

All this unwinds along with the production of The Mousetrap and the similarities are many. There is also revenge and comeuppances galore as Val and her granddad try to figure out who did what to whom. And when the villain is revealed it is thanks to a big con.

Four purrs and one paw up.

A new spa is coming to town, and it isn't all that healthy for everyone. Unfortunately a death means the reading of Agatha Christie's"The Mousetrap" is down an actor. Vals grandfather suggests that she step in, and look for clues at the same time.

A Parfait Crime is the ninth installment of the A Five-Ingredient Mystery series set in Bayport, Maryland and featuring caterer Val Deniston and her grandfather Don, the "Codger Cook". Val's boyfriend Bram has joined the local volunteer fire department and he suffers a shock when a late night fire results in the death of Jane Johnson. Jane was a tireless organizer, volunteer at the homeless shelter and local library and led the Readers Theater.

The Readers Theater was rehearsing for an upcoming performance of The Mousetrap, and Val's grandfather along with a few of his friends from the retirement village have parts in the play. Val gets talked into taking Jane's role and quickly discovers that some of the performers are hiding secrets. The owner of the new Med Spa, Ron Melgrem is the second person to die and the two deaths seem to be related. With the help of Bram, her grandfather and the members of the Christie book club, Val finds herself tracking down a killer.

Another fun adventure with Val and her friends that can read as a stand alone. A great cast of characters, easy and delicious recipes and a romantic surprise at the end make for another cozy afternoon read. I received a copy of A Parfait Crime from NetGalley via Kensington Publishing and while not required to write a review I am happy to offer my honest opinion.

A parfait Crime is the next book in Maya Corrigan’s series and is a great read. Please check out her entire series from the beginning and you will not be disappointed. Bravo Maya👏📚🙋‍♀️🇨🇦❤️🙏

Release Date: October 24, 2023
📖📖📖

At the site of a fatal blaze, Val’s boyfriend, a firefighter trainee, is shocked to learn he knows the victim. Jane who belonged to the local Agatha Christie book club—and was rehearsing alongside Val’s grandfather for an upcoming Christie play being staged for charity. Just as shocking are the skeletal remains of a man found in the freezer. Who is he and who put him on ice? After Val is chosen to replace Jane in the play, the cast gathers at their house to get to work—and enjoy Grandad’s five-ingredient parfaits—but all anyone can focus on is the bizarre real-life mystery. When it’s revealed that Jane’s death was due to something other than smoke inhalation, Val and Grandad try to retrace her final days. As they dig into her past life, their inquiry leads them to a fancy new spa in town—where they discover that Jane wasn’t the only one who had a skeleton in the cooler . . .

I liked this book. The backstory was confusing as I had not read the previous book and that made the book drag a bit for me. The interaction between the characters and the play was interesting, but the actions at the spa were a tad convoluted. However, the resolution was quite clever.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

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A Parfait Crime is my first taste of Maya Corrigan’s Five-Ingredient Mystery series, but it was easy to jump into without feeling lost. The author quickly gives readers the pertinent information they need about the setting and the main characters without it feeling like that’s what she’s doing. I found Val to be relatable and likable, too, and I really enjoyed the light romance subplot between her and Bram – light enough not to annoy mystery purists but present enough to please hopeless romantics like me. I also adored her grandfather who was always ‘just resting his eyes’ and referencing classic movies/plays whenever possibly applicable.

The mystery that Val and her grandfather find themselves solving in A Parfait Crime is deliciously layered … much like the titular parfait … and was enjoyable to solve along with them. I absolutely loved the parallels to the Readers Theater play that the author works into the plot, something which also served as a helpful story device on more than one occasion. (On a side note, I also appreciated that the author didn’t spoil the culprit for Christie’s The Mousetrap for readers for me who haven’t read it yet but now want to.) Val and her grandfather and their circle of friends make a good sleuthing team, and they’re smart about it, too – proving that just because you’re an amateur crime solver doesn’t mean you have to make dumb decisions lol.

Bottom Line: A new deluxe spa in town, a classic mystery, newcomers with secrets, longtime Bayport residents with secrets, dead bodies piling up… will Val and her grandfather be the cats or the mice when all is said and done? A Parfait Crime by Maya Corrigan entertains readers with multiple layers and engaging characters. The premise behind this series – five-ingredient recipes, five clues, five suspects – is so clever and worked really well with the Readers Theater subplot in this particular book. An enjoyable choice for your next mystery read!

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)

A Parfait Murder is the 9th book in the Five Ingredient Mystery series and Maya Corrigan has penned another interesting and fun story. Café manager Val Deniston and her recipe columnist grandfather are once again invested in finding a killer. Val's boyfriend, Bram, is working as a volunteer firefighter and is called to a blaze at a home. They find the owner of the house dead in the kitchen, a dead male in a freezer and the fire deliberatley set. The victim is Jane Johnston, a relative newcomer to their village, and a member of the local theatre group. The police can't find any evidence of foul play, but the group is sure someone killed her. If Val and her grandad can figure out a motive, they will catch a killer.

Although this is the 9th book in this series, each book can be read as a standalone. I have recently been trying to catch up on the series, but had no trouble jumping in at this point, as each book is a complete mystery. The character stories continue in each book, but they are also easy to follow and relatable. I really like Val's and her grandfather's relationship as they live and work together sleuthing. The main characters and secondary characters that appear in each book are ones that I really like. The mystery in this one was well plotted and the motive was very timely. The pacing was great and with many suspects, I enjoyed seeing them find out more about them and dismiss them as that information came to light. Because the police didn't think there was foul play, Val and her grandfather were on their own. I like how they use technology to do a lot of their sleuthing, so as not put themselves in so much danger. The mystery is loosely based on Agatha Christies The Mousetrap, to which there are many references throughout the story. Personal relationships are part of the story, but not a huge part and don't overwhelm the mystery. I am continuing to enjoy this series and definitely recommend it to cozy mystery readers and those who like a lighter mystery. There are always easy recipes in these books and I am definitely going to try the one for my favourite dessert, the Tiramisu Parfait!

Probably if I had read any of the previous books in the series, I wouldn't have had so much difficulty keeping the characters straight. The death by fire (arson) of a well-liked woman raises even more questions when a dead body is found in a freezer on her property. Val, the main female sleuth, is then drafted into a performance reading of Agatha Christie's play, The Mousetrap. Most of the action is centered either with the play or at the new spa opening. The interaction between the characters and the play was interesting, but the actions at the spa were a tad convoluted. However, the resolution was quite clever. So my recommendation is if you have read other books in the series, you should enjoy this. If not, try reading some of the earlier books first.

Absolutely love Val and her grandfather. Their relationship is so close. They are perfect at solving mysteries and especially this one. Two murders and maybe more. Can they figure out who and why in time. Loved it.

Maya Corrigan has created another amazing addition to her Five Ingredient murder mystery series, A Parfait Crime. In this story, Val and her granddad set out to solve a series of murders that starts with arson and ends during a dress rehearsal of Agatha Christie’s famous mystery play, The Mousetrap. Ms. Corrigan gives each of the new characters a great backstory and adds new depth to the regular cast of characters with every story. This helps tell the tale and move the plot along. I have enjoyed getting to know Val, her granddad, and Val’s friends thru these nine books. In this story we see romance added to the plot with Val and her boyfriend, Bram being a little more at the forefront which is a fun addition. And as always the recipes at the end of the book are a nice bonus. If you’re looking for a cozy murder mystery for the fall this is the perfect book.

Another awesome mystery in this series that’s also packed with some great-sounding food. I’m so proud of how far Granddad’s come with his cooking and his column. The name Codger Cook always cracks me up! I love his character and his crazy way of sleuthing, but hey sometimes he might be right. I guess Val figured there’s a fifty-fifty chance one of the two of them might be right about whodunit.

The showdown was really cool especially when more about it was revealed. Never underestimate the power of these seniors! They knew exactly what they needed to do to solve this case, and they did. I thought the ending was super sweet and now I’m eager to see what happens next in the series!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Kensington Cozies via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.