DEEP FRIED DEATH

A competition among outdoor privies turns deadly.

Robbie Jordan isn’t keen on entering the Outhouse Race at the Abe Martin Festival. As owner of the eatery Pans ’N Pancakes, though, she feels obliged to participate in one of her town’s most popular events. But Robbie’s entry doesn’t even make it to the starting line. As she and employees Danna Beedle and Turner Rao struggle to get the boxy structure down from the parking lot, the door pops open and a body falls out. Robbie recognizes the deceased as Miss South Lick Diner proprietor Evermina Martin, a rival chef who’s offered some scathing criticisms of Pans ’N Pancakes on the internet. The murder of a rival restaurateur turns the unwelcome attention of the police on Robbie. Fortunately, lots of other people in Nashville, Indiana, have reason to dislike Evermina, including her ex-husband, Zeke, and Zeke’s new girlfriend, Wendy Corbett. Unfortunately, the list of people who’ve recently quarreled with Evermina includes Robbie’s brother-in-law, Don O’Neill. As South Lick police chief Buck Bird focuses more and more exclusively on Don, Robbie, who’s solved a murder or two in her time, feels the need to investigate. Her methods are surprisingly brusque, and they ruffle more than a few feathers around town, but her persistence pays off in the end.

Day’s protagonist generates more static than your typical cozy heroine, but, ultimately, she gets the job done.