When Albuquerque TV journalist Casey Brandt and her steady guy, food-obsessed deejay Stu McKnight, decide to spend Thanksgiving deep in the Catskills with Stu’s half-sister and her husband, they’re looking for some turkey and pumpkin pie. Instead, they get a hefty helping of murder wrapped up in a 26-year-old mystery that whets Casey’s insatiable appetite for news.

More than two decades ago, prom queen Kirsten Daniels disappeared during the dance and was never seen again. An investigation, later abandoned for lack of evidence, focused on Kirsten’s prom escort. But when Kirsten’s mummified, and surprisingly pregnant, corpse is discovered just before Casey and Stu arrive in Mink Creek, the dead girl’s secretive behavior in the weeks before she was killed sparks a feast of speculation by the locals.

The suspects are as bountiful as the holiday meal Stu’s sister has planned. They include Kirsten’s high school beau, back in town after a prolonged absence … the prom queen runner-up, still aggrieved after all these years at not snagging the coveted tiara … and an elegantly aging actor who once shared a summer theater stage with the victim. But when one of the chief suspects turns up dead, and Casey herself is threatened, the race is on to beat the killer to his next punch.

Bursting with delicious characters and tart repartee, Dated to Death explores the smorgasbord of romantic relationships, a subject close to the hearts of Casey and Stu. As they struggle to identify Kirsten’s killer and clear the way for another pair of middle-aged lovers, can Casey and her hungry paramour clarify their feelings for each other—and still be on time for Thanksgiving dinner?

If you have a craving for small-town homicide, help yourself to this tasty tale that manages to be simultaneously cozy and sophisticated. I guarantee you won’t spoil your appetite for more of Carolyn Rose’s engaging mysteries.

-Judith, lighthouseliteraryreviews.com

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