Author: Erica Ezeifedi

We’re going slightly bougie but still cute, with these crispy rice salmon bites. The recipe calls for sushi grade salmon, but feel free to use cooked salmon if you’re not feeling raw! I was recently on the TikToks and saw this lady who makes the most chaotic cooking videos. The food actually looks good, though, and this was one of the things she made. I’ll include a recipe from a site, but you should def partake in the chaos that is cookingwithlynja.

And now for books…

I have been meaning to read these books for a while, and this fall might just be when I get around to them. After a terrible breakup and quitting her job, Lana Lee returns to her hometown of Cleveland to wait tables at her parents’ Chinese restaurant. She thinks it’ll be the perfect place to restart her life, except that Mr. Feng, the property manager just died because of a delivery of shrimp dumplings from her parents’ restaurant where everyone knew of his severe shellfish allergy. Now everyone at the restaurant is being looked at for the death, and Lana is desperate to clear everyone’s names. And then there’s the detective who keeps popping up for take out, looking like a snack…

Miriam Quinones-Smith is a food anthropologist (which I didn’t know existed!) and has just moved from New York to Miami, where she now has to deal with a totally new environment in addition to her husband’s and son’s middle-age and toddler woes, respectively. She luckily gets a break from all that when her friend offers her a job as a cooking expert on a Spanish-speaking morning show, but when she attends a luncheon with her newfound local fame, a woman dies. This line from the book blurb really tickled me: “a socialite sitting at her table suddenly falls face-first into the chicken salad, never to nibble again.” never to nibble again. Ugh, cozy mysteries are so punny and extra, I love!

Anyway, of course you know she starts investigating, and after another body turns up, she realizes she may be at risk because of her amateur sleuthing and what she’s been finding out. The second in this series is coming out early next month.

Is this another foodie-centric cozy mystery, you ask? Why yes, yes it is. It also speaks directly to my Southern soul, since it’s the first in a mystery series called “Books & Biscuits,” which could low-key be a description for at least part of my personality. Part of the premise was also taken right out of the Book of Me, since it follows two twins who are trying to open a bookstore/soul food café (named Books & Biscuits, if you hadn’t guessed). The backstory for the main characters isn’t your typical cozy fare: twins Koby Hill and Keaton Rutledge were separated and orphaned at two. They later reconnect and decide to indulge in their shared interests by opening a bookstore. It’s just unfortunate that Koby’s foster brother is murdered. The police are having trouble solving the murder, but Keaton and Koby acting as amateur sleuths may grant some headway. If they can balance solving crimes and having a grand opening, that is.

This book was just released in the middle of September and says it’s by Agatha Christie, but it’s actually a collection of stories written by an amazing lineup of authors (from Leigh Bardugo to Alyssa Cole!) that features Christie’s iconic sleuth Miss Marple. Each author gives their own interpretation of Miss Marple while staying true to the character and constructing a great mystery. I’ve only read one of Miss Marple’s books (Murder at the Vicarage), but seeing this collection come out makes me not only want to read it, but Christie’s other Marple books as well.

I love punkin pie, but only if it’s coupled with a great crust, and this coffee cake crumb topping sounds perfect! It also doesn’t seem too hard to make.

Now for books!

Raquel, a 16-year-old Bronx native, has been steadfast in her efforts to ignore the string of mysterious disappearances happening around her. To acknowledge them would mean acknowledging how the police aren’t doing anything about them, as they tend to only look for white kids. But when her crush’s cousin goes missing and Raquel’s mother becomes ill, she realizes that she can no long ignore what’s going on. She discovers that all of the mysterious goings-on are tied to an urban legend called the Echo Game, which traps people in an evil world beneath the city. But playing the game will expose Raquel to potentially lethal danger.

This collection has such an amazing line up of Latine authors who tell stories of monsters that come from the folklore of various Latine cultures. There are zombies, vampires, ghost-witches, and more. in addition to providing scares, this collection offers up critiques of things like gender-based violence, environmental injustice, and colonialism.

Fernanda and Annelise are so close they’re basically inseparable mirror images of each other… who happen to share a dark, violent secret. Then there’s their literature teacher, Miss Clara, whose unhealthy relationship with her mother has her on the brink of a break with reality…

The meetings that Annelise leads Fernanda and their other friends in after school — in which they pay tribute to a drag queen god — somehow culminates in Fernanda bound up on the floor of a cabin, isolated and held hostage by her teacher. This is a psychological horror novel that incorporates adolescent daring, mother-daughter relationships, pop culture, Lovecraftian horror, and other elements, making a very unique and unsettling read.

You probably heard a lot about this one last year, but here’s a reminder to pick it up if you haven’t yet — or simply to reread it if you loved it. It follows Noemí, a glamorous young woman who hails from a well-off family in 1950s Mexico. After we get a brief taste of her lifestyle — with its surplus of parties, cocktails, and handsome suitors — she journeys off to save her cousin who sent her a concerning letter. When she gets to the house, she sees how off everything is, including her cousin, who now claims that nothing is wrong. Her cousin’s husband and his family, English people who came to Mexico years ago, are hiding such a dark and terrible secret that you will literally go “wtf” when you get to that reveal. I warned you, friend!