Foodie Files Cozy Mysteries

Foodie Files Cozy Mysteries, Books 1-3

By: Christine Zane Thomas

Narrated by: Angel Clark

Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's Summary

This box set includes the first three books from Christine Zane Thomas' Foodie File mysteries starring Allie Treadwell. It also includes several recipes mentioned in the audiobooks. Grab your copy today!

Includes:
Book one: The Salty Taste of Murder
Book two: A Choice Cocktail of Death
Book three: A Juicy Morsel of Jealousy

From The Salty Taste of Murder:

The food here is to die for....

Thirty-year-old Allie Treadwell is a singleton. She's a foodie, and a runner. A restaurant reviewer by day, and a Netflix aficionado by night.

Even if it doesn’t make her the most popular dinner guest in the charming Southern town of Lanai, Georgia, Allie’s reviews are always honest.

And her latest is no different from any other.

But Allie’s review isn’t the only thing to hit the newsstand. The restaurant’s owner and Allie’s one-time high school nemesis, Jessica Hayes, is found murdered. When Jessica’s husband, Miller, is labeled the prime suspect, Allie’s convinced the police are mistaken.

As if dodging the bad press while she works to clear Miller’s name isn't enough, one false step could put the real killer onto her.

Can Allie clear Miller’s name without winding up with the next obituary?

©2019 William Davis (P)2019 William Davis

Romance, recipes, murders

These three novellas are a good value purchase if you like cozy mysteries without swearing, gore, sex or cliffhangers. Set in a small town in Georgia, they have a strong sense of place. Allie is a likable main character whose struggles with finances, romance, friendships and work provide context for the murders which she stumbles on and quickly solves. The stories themselves are interspersed with descriptions of yummy sounding recipes. Clark's neutral US-accent is sometimes a bit flat.
I was given this free review copy at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review.

Good short cozy mystery pack

I’ll be honest- I do t usually use a credit on a short book because i want to get the most bang for my buck- so i wouldn’t pick these up singly but they make a great set! The stories have a good mix of character development and who-dun-it with some food and recipes mixed in. I really enjoyed it as a good quick listen!

The best cozy mystery I’ve read

What’s not to like about these stories. Narrator did a great job of adapting her voice to each character; the characters were so realistic I think I’ve already met each one; and the stories held my interest so no matter where I stopped I look forward to more.

Quick and clean

I reviewed this all individually. Overall, this is a series of quick and clean mysteries.

Foodie Fun

I enjoyed these three cozy mysteries. They were short fun mysteries. Nothing too complex but they were enjoyable.

Good enjoyable

They are fun, and good enjoyment to read. I liked the characters, and Detective Javier being understanding when Allie investigates. The audio of these three was brought to life by Angel Clark.

Narrator or computer voice?

This trilogy was completely destroyed for me by the incredibly inept narration.
I had to put it at 1.5 speed just to be able to listen to it without screaming out loud. It’s never good to scream out loud when you’re listening to an audiobook because nobody knows the problem but you!

Chef Veronica Mars?

A truly fun foodie murder mystery that reminded me of veronica mars, if she was a foodie, with a little romance as well. Wonderful narration that brings you into the story. A wonderful boxset of the books.

Note at the time of this review Audible did not have chapter titles for this title.

This title was provided free for review, however, the thoughts and opinions of this review are my own.

Left very little impression

(As posted in Goodreads)
This is actually the first three books of the series (of four at this point I think). Their short and non-particularly complex. I wanted something that didn't require much brainpower a requirement satisfied by this book (understatement). It wasn't particularly engaging, and in the and didn't lead to was a lot of anticipation for further adventures, but it was okay – I didn't DISLIKE it. It did do what I needed done at the time, but, well, just meh.

As an illustration, I read it yesterday, and as of now I don't have any memories of any of it whatsoever…

Read this one on Kindle

I know I received this book for free. I do not remember if it was in exchange for an honest review or not, but regardless, this review is left honestly and of my own volition. This review is also left after only listening to the first of three books in this collection.

I like CZT's work. The stories are interesting and I very much enjoyed the other series by her (them?) that I've read. Im dinging the story a star because the protag isnt really involved in solving the crime. Maybe that isnt the point of cozy mysteries, but them just going to a place where the bad guy happens to confess what they did takes away any agency of having helped solved the case.

The narrator comes across as a slightly more emotive Siri who was taught sentence structure and how to speak by William Shatner or Christopher Walken while putting emPHAsis on weird words in the sentences sometimes. I appreciate that she tried to do extra voices for the other characters, and that is pretty much the only reason you can convince me that this wasnt narrated by a robot.
All of that said, the narrators voice is pleasant and I'd be happy to listen to her narrate more books if she doesnt read them like this one.

I'll definitely be continuing the series, but it'll be on Kindle, not Audible.

Delightful Listen!

Foodie Files Cozy Mysteries is three books in one by Christine Zane Thomas. I found myself pulled into these stories. I loved the imagery, found the recipes to sound scrumptious, enjoyed the murder mystery and the romance. I liked how the books were woven together with characters. Angel Clark brought the characters to life. She gives them distinguishable voices, so I know who is speaking.. I will definitely listen to more books by this author and narrator.