Deadly Delights — Judy Carlough

In the tradition of Susan Wittig Albert and Lucy Burdette, extra-virgin olive oil and Andy Warhol spice up the perilously peppery proceedings in Judith Carlough''s first piping-hot Savannah Catering mystery.

Savannah caterer Dee Delacroix has just the recipe to win a cook-off...but can she take the heat when her jalapeño cornbread becomes a customer''s last meal?

Dee Delacroix is boiling over with frustration. Every year, the chef/caterer brings one of her finest creations to the South''s biggest cook-off competition...and every year, she slinks home to Savannah, Georgia, with the second-place trophy. She''s not sure what''s worse--falling just short of the big prize, or enduring the taunts from the notorious shock-jock who broadcasts live from the cook-off. But this year, Dee is sure she''s found the winning recipe. Her celebrated molasses-jalapeño cornbread is hot, hot, hot--but one customer who devours the treat ends up stone cold dead.

Suddenly, Dee''s catering company is circling the drain. What''s worse, the unfortunate victim was no stranger to Dee Delacroix. The two went together about as well as banana pudding and red-eye gravy, and Dee quickly becomes the prime suspect in what looks increasingly like a murder.

Between the Savannah police and a rough-and-tumble band of out-of-town thugs, Dee is feeling the heat. But to prove her innocence, she''ll have to confront her cheating ex and her college arch-rival. Along the way, she meets a couple of unexpected (and unwitting) allies: a wild hog and a Georgia alligator. Then, when the thugs murder one of her friends, Dee risks life, limb, and ladle to serve a full plate of justice to the killer.