Murder with Macaroni and Cheese: A Mahalia Watkins Soul Food Mystery

Sweet-tart and wickedly wholesome as the heroine’s fresh citrus margaritas, Herbert’s second book follows the surefire recipe of the series opener, 2015’s Murder with Fried Chicken and Waffles. The menu’s sure to include mayhem when 40-something Halia Watkins, proprietor of Mahalia’s Sweet Tea in Maryland’s Prince George’s County, agrees to cater her high school reunion, despite nightmare memories of organizer Raynell Rollins. Now a rich realtor, Raynell has a fatal fall post-reunion. The cops call the death accidental, but folks with motive to kill abound. Cue bighearted Halia to suss out the murderer, “helped” by her hilarious trash-talking young cousin, Wavonne, who mainly sleuths Raynell’s closets for designer duds. Herbert's African-American cast and culture offer refreshing spins on the default white tropes of cozy fiction. Instead of a jumble sale at the rectory, there’s a high-end charity auction at the Rebirth megachurch. Diet-busting recipes punctuate the action. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider/ICM Partners. (Sept.)