Dread on Arrival * Claudia Bishop * Hemlock Falls Mysteries #17

When a highly volatile reality television cooking show invades an elegant upstate New York inn, the local sleuthing sisters must navigate a recipe of toxic egos and backstage sabotage to unmask a killer before their business is ruined.

The Story: Written by prominent cozy mystery author Claudia Bishop (Mary Stanton), this fast-paced seventeenth installment in the iconic Hemlock Falls Mysteries chronicle transforms a quiet country estate into a highly strategic criminal workspace. Sarah "Quill" Quilliam, a savvy innkeeper, and her sister Meg, a talented, temperamental chef, have spent years running the historic Inn at Hemlock Falls. Their predictable monitoring parameters permanently fracture when a prominent, cutthroat television production crew moves in to film a high-stakes culinary competition broadcast.

The production hits a highly volatile boundary when the show's notoriously ruthless producer turns the inn's professional kitchen into a toxic battlefield. Tensions hit a critical deadline when a body is discovered on the property, making it clear that someone has added murder to the menu. Dropping her standard innkeeping routine, Quill must use her advanced investigative diagnostic toolkit to sort through a suspicious ledger of cutthroat chefs, bitter assistants, and competitive local residents. Bishop guides readers step-by-step through a clever, multi-layered puzzle where backstage television logistics and old small-town secrets collide. Bypassed by slow-moving official legal channels, the sisters must drop their defensive armor and form a sharp tactical alliance to gather hidden evidence. Working against a strict ticking clock before the live broadcast timeline resets and the killer slips away under an administrative shield of cameras. 

Includes recipes!

Perfect For: Devotees of traditional, fast-reading culinary cozy mysteries and amateur detective stories; readers who love warm innkeeping settings, backstage entertainment drama, and witty sister duos; and dedicated book collectors maintaining a complete shelf of the long-running bestselling Hemlock Falls saga.