Chef Jessica Vasquez had a rough childhood. With her father in prison for murder and her mother remarrying, then favoring her new siblings over her, she becomes the forgotten child. With her friends Sawyer and Vee, she gets in trouble after trouble until one day she is given an ultimatum, “Get a skill or you will find yourself on the same path as your father.”
That’s when she meets Duncan Jones, the culinary arts teacher at the alternative high school. He sparks her new found passion for cooking. In her final year, she learns of a cooking competition. The theme is “Schoolhouse Recipes.” It can be anything from foods you would eat at school to education inspired.
Jess enters with an Alphabet Soup. It is her grandmother’s Chicken Noodle soup recipe paired with Jess’s flair. She won and the price gave her an idea. Save for her own restaurant.
Years of grinding and participating in many competitions, have finally led to this day. Opening Night of her new restaurant….
This will be a 26 Books Series! The first three books are previewed below. Links for all will be coming soon.
Appetizers and Alibis
The first in the Alphabet Soup Mysteries and opening night.
It’s here. Opening night of Chef Jessica Vasquez’s new restaurant: The Crock Pot. With the media spotlighting the opening on the evening news and food bloggers featuring the restaurant online, the pressure is on.
At the end of the night, The Crock Pot is a smashing success and Jessica is beaming with pride. That is until she realizes her Sous Chef, Earl is missing. She finds him by the dumpsters shot to death.
Suspicion is cast on Jess. She doesn’t want to be compared to her father, so she is thrust into the role of sleuth to clear her name and save her business. Along with her two besties, Sawyer and Vee, they quickly find the murderer may be closer than they thought.
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Biscuits and Bodies
Jess has some time off, so for the first time in a while, she is going on a date. It’s a blind date set up by her General Manager, Noah. However, after waiting for two hours, Jessica is devastated to think she’s been stood up. He seemed so nice via texts.
As she is leaving the restaurant they were meeting at, she sees police have blocked off the street two blocks down.
That’s when she learns the truth about her date, he was murdered. For her peace of mind and at the begging of Noah, she begins investigating his death.
She receives a cryptic email which leads her into a corrupt world she didn’t even know existed.
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Cornbread and Coffin
Chef Jessica is asked to cater a funeral service for a family friend. Not something she typically would say yes to, especially with her commitment to the restaurant. But if she can pull this off, it could mean another source of income.
But, as she and her team are setting up, they find the assistant funeral director dead near the kitchen area.
Why do bodies keep ending up dead around Jess? Was this another plot to sabotage her business? With the help of her two besties, she is determined to find out.
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More names and covers will be revealed in the near future! As mentioned above, this is a 26-book series and you guessed it, it will follow the alphabet. I hope you are as excited about this new series as I am.