In CHAI ANOTHER DAY, the latest Spice Shop mystery, Pepper doesn’t have as much time for reading as in the earlier installments. But she does love a good mystery, and she’s got a few other new faves, as well.
Here’s the link to earlier installments of Pepper’s Book Self, filled with recommendations for her favorite foodie mysteries and historical mysteries, along with a few cookbooks and spice references.
In CHAI, Pepper is still working on the food education of Matt Kemp, one of her new hires, and gives him a copy of Spice: The History of a Temptation by Jack Turner, her go-to guide on the history of spice and its role in the global economy. She also gives him a terrific history of Pike Place Market, and Soul of the City, by Alice Shorett and Murray Morgan.
She’s been saving the last few Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters, and finally dips into A Rare Benedictine, a trio of Cadfael short stories. She’s tempted by Murder in Union Square, the latest in Victoria Thompson’s Gaslight Mysteries, set in turn-of-the-last-century New York, and Turning the Tide, one of the adventures of Edith Maxwell’s Quaker midwife sleuth.
And of course, she once again consults The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Private Investigating, by Steven Kerry Brown.
Some of the new culinary mysteries she and the Spice Shop crew are excited about: books by Barbara Ross, Ellie Alexander, Cleo Coyle, and Lucy Burdette.
Happy reading — and happy eating!
Finally, it’s time to CHAI ANOTHER DAY! The fourth Seattle Spice shop mystery is out today, in trade paper and ebook, from Seventh St. Books. (The audio is coming August 6th.)
I heart indie booksellers. I was a Teenage Bookseller, my second-favorite job ever. (Top job? Mystery writer, of course!)
What do you love most about being a bookseller? Almost everything. What I get to do that online stores don’t is be involved with my customers. I get to pick out books for baby showers, help the harried parent find something new to read because if they have to read (fill in the blank) one more time they may lose their mind — I get to hold that child on my lap and read to them during story time, I get to help them spend that money from Grandma on a new book, I get to celebrate that move from easy reader to chapter book and I get to talk to them about all the books along the way. I am now seeing children of kids who hung out here when they were kids. I get to see the look in their eyes when they find that book. I still get goosebumps when I walk through the door, every day. I love that I get to be surrounded by books all day and talk to people who love books all day. I am better at reading books than doing books, so I have an accountant!
What’s flying off your shelves this winter? Becoming by Michelle Obama, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Beneath a Scarlet Sky, Royal Wulff Murders, The Meateater Cookbook, Educated, and anything by Mary Oliver. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of Maid, by Stephanie Lund of Missoula.
“Clean-as-a-whistle dialogue, endearing characters, and a solid plot make this cozy a winner.” – Publishers Weekly
Oh, look, a book! By me! You may be used to it by now, but if it ever stops thrilling me, it will be time to hang up my pen — or my keyboard!
And here’s where I’ll be this summer, 
June 16 – 
“The Last Best Book” is my occasional post on a favorite recent read — playing on one of Montana’s many nicknames, The Last Best Place. A handful were published in 2016; others go back a few years. I’ve included audio books—yes, listening to a book is reading it, albeit a different experience. And I love audios—the narrators create their own worlds for me, and I get to read books, especially nonfiction, that I might not otherwise pick up.
In ASSAULT AND PEPPER, the first Spice Shop mystery, Pepper discovers the joys of the Brother Cadfael mysteries by the late, great Ellis Peters. In later books, she dives into the Dame Frevisse mysteries by Margaret Frazer—one of my very favorites—and the Sister Fidelma mysteries by Peter Tremaine.
Of course, Pepper’s Seattle Spice Shop carries a wide range of cookbooks and food fiction. Readers have asked me for a list of the books Pepper mentions. 
