Murder on the Menu: The first delicious taste of a mouthwatering new mystery series set in the idyllic English countryside (Paperback) - Alex Coombs

Chef Charlie Hunter arrives the beautiful Chilterns. But instead of rural peace, Charlie finds something ugly stirring under the chocolate box perfection.

'An irresistably delicious mix of cooking and murder' Trisha Ashley

Chef Charlie Hunter's arrival in the beautiful Chilterns is the fulfilment of a long-held dream: to open her own restaurant in an idyllic countryside location. The Old Forge sits on the village green (complete with duck pond and flint-faced houses) and seems just the place for the high-quality cooking she wants to be known for.

But instead of rural peace and a chance to lick her wounds, Charlie finds something ugly stirring under the chocolate box perfection. When a prominent local builder is found dead in suspicious circumstances, Charlie the outsider becomes a suspect. And the only way to clear her name seems to be to find out who the real killer is.

Luckily she has allies: her student waitress, a kitchen porter making up in muscles what he lacks in brain and a briskly efficient clairvoyant. Using all the craft Charlie's learned in kitchens - discipline, timing, preparation and grim determination - she will be as relentless in her quest to bring a murderer to justice as she is in creating the perfect meal.

About the Author

Alex Coombs was born in Lambeth in South London and studied Arabic at Oxford and Edinburgh Universities. Murder on the Menu is the first in a new series: the Old Forge Cafe Mysteries. Alex lives in the Chilterns.