A Dish Best Served Dead: A Tiffany Austin Food Blogger Mystery
by T. C. LoTempio
About A Dish Best Served Dead
A Dish Best Served Dead: A Tiffany Austin Food Blogger Mystery
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – Georgia
Publisher : Beyond the Page
Publication date : August 5, 2025
Print length : 258 pages
Digital ASIN : B0FGDRQQ81
When a food convention turns fatal, Tiffany Austin will have to cook up a scheme to catch a killer . . .
The national Foodie Fest is in town and food blogger Tiffany Austin is thrilled to report on the event, even if it means crossing paths with an arrogant and annoying chef from her past. The man can’t help boasting of his success, but he also lets slip to Tiffany that he’s publishing a tell-all memoir that will be filled with scandalous secrets about many people in the food industry. It’s a risky career move, and maybe just plain risky, as Tiffany discovers later that day when she finds the chef’s dead body mere steps from the convention center.
With any number of reputations and careers at stake if the chef’s memoir were ever published, Tiffany realizes virtually everyone at the event is a suspect. Wending her way through the convention crowd in her guise as a reporter, she cautiously questions as many of the participants as she can, hoping to unearth a telling clue or a false alibi. Because while everyone has a skeleton or two in the closet, Tiffany knows someone at the food fest has a secret they’d kill to protect—and would kill for again if she gets too close to the truth . . .
Includes scrumptious Foodie Fest recipes!
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Welcome to Branson, Georgia, and the National Foodie Fest. Food Blogger Tiffany Austin has her press pass and is ready to check out all the event has to offer. When one of the scheduled chefs cancels, another chef steps in. A chef from Tiffany’s past who happens to be writing a tell-all memoir that could impact many in the food industry. He is ready to reveal everyone’s secrets without a care for who they may hurt. Tiffany knew he was putting himself in danger, so finding his dead body wasn’t a total surprise. What is a surprise is that the list of suspects includes almost everyone at the foodie event.
Can Tiffany use her job to sleuth out the killer? She may need a little help. Maybe a Robin to her Batman . . . You can be sure her current beau, Detective Phillip Bartell, will have some input on the matter.
This was a fun read! With events like Last Remaining Chef, Market Games, a food truck competition, vendor booths, chef cookbook signings, and cooking classes, it felt like the Food Network all in one place.
Tiffany Austin is in her element, attending events, interviewing chefs, enjoying the food, and blogging about everything. She receives a significant boost when her boss assigns her a fantastic freelance photographer to handle all the images and reels. They hit it off right away and work together like they have known each other for years. Tiffany’s BFF, Hilary Hanson, is always around to chat and get together for wine and whatever leftovers Tiffany brings from the foodie fest. Tiffany and Detective Phillip Bartell’s relationship is heating up, but he knows they need to have a clear conversation about when he needs to be informed about her investigations and the risks she takes. I enjoy all the characters the author has created for this series. Photographer James (Jimmy) Devane is an excellent addition. I hope he sticks around.
Former chef and food critic Jason Barclay was never known to volunteer for anything, so agreeing to replace the headlining chef was a surprise until it was explained that he needed some “good PR” for himself because his autobiography was going to be “burning hot” and Hollywood was interested in making the movie. He thought he was holding all the cards until he was murdered. I loved that there were suspects everywhere you looked. Tiffany, with Jimmy assisting, juggled so many balls in the air to get everything needed for her blog posts while trying to question suspects, eavesdropping on others, and chasing down clues. As usual for Tiffany, she takes risks and even tries to justify herself when a person she was to meet is killed just minutes before she arrives. She thinks she has everything figured out; she just needs to confirm one more thing. Well, that one more thing put our protagonist in a very dangerous position. Wow, what a takedown!
A Dish Best Served Dead is an entertaining read with a protagonist who has guts but doesn’t think things through before she acts. I continue to have hope that the good detective will reel her in, but to know Tiffany is to love Tiffany, even with all her dangerous antics. She and Jimmy make a great dynamic duo. Foodie cozy mystery lovers will enjoy this book and this series. I am excited to see what Ms. LoTempio has planned next for Tiffany and her friends.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to Beyond the Page and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
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About T. C. LoTempio
T.C. LoTempio is the award-winning, nationally bestselling author of the Nick and Nora Mysteries, the Urban Tails Pet Shop Mysteries, and the Cat Rescue Mysteries. Born in New York City, she now resides in Phoenix, Arizona, with her two cats, Maxx and Rocco. Rocco prides himself on being the inspiration for her Nick and Nora series! For more information, check out her and her cat Rocco’s blog at www.catsbooksmorecats.blogspot.com and visit her website at www.tclotempio.net
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Find more books by T.C. LoTempio HERE.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” “As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.” I am also an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.” These funds are often used for gift cards and other giveaways.
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Sounds like a great read.